Officine Panerai

There had been many responses on this topic. Anthony, has there been any update on your insider news on whether or not the current production of 317 will continue after K series only with smoked glasses?

I would really love to have an update.  I'm keen on knowing whether there is still a chance the PAM 317 I order a while back be delivered one day.

Regards,

George

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It's been confirmed by numerous 'official' sources that PAM317 from L series onward will all be made w/ movement WITHOUT PVD coating but fitted with smoked sapphire crystal display back, like PAM335.   So the 500 pieces of K serie will be the ONLY ones w/ PVD'ed movement.

Apology for the lack of response until now as there have been a fair bit of conflicting information and I finally managed to clarify w/ consistent info from all my sources.

This message has been edited by Jester on 2010-05-05 20:59:21

THANKS for the update

I guess that this would imply that the new prices would be lower no?

George

but I doubt it.   If anything I'm guessing that given the reject rate of the PVD coating, the K serie 317 wasn't ecnomically justified.

I just recently picked up a K series, and was informed by the NYC boutique that the 317 is now discontinued.  Again, seems there is conflicting information, but the person who told me said that they got the official word from Panerai about 2 weeks ago.

Their information should align now. 

It is highly likely that mangement at Panerai had decided to discontinue it 2 weeks ago and then changed their minds and then finalized that "why not just use smoked glasses since the P 2004 is already on the 311?"

I would aligh with Jester's view. There were miscommunications before. The price remains the same but for those in USD zone, the falling Euro would make this cheaper overall... and any Euro denominated goods per se as price adjustments don't reflect the falling Euros instantaneously?

If we're talking about FX related pricing fluctuation within certain economic entity,  this is a much broader topic.

Above I was merely doubting about the reduction in price in CHF terms.     

Agree Jest. The point is if you fly into the Euro zone today with the euro around 1.27 and going as low as 1.26 in last night's trading session (not to mention the 999/1000 erroneous inputting billions instead of millions like on PS 3 by a trader)...  you can buy Euro a lot cheaper with your USD... that is if you can find a 317 somewhere in the Euro zone. However, it is highly likely that to counteract this Euro drop and or the possibility of a hung parliament leading to further weakness in the GBP, OP will just raise prices using it as an excuse or not.

However, I think the price will neither go lower nor go higher in the USD zone over here.

Overall, I think the 317 to me is more special if you can get one with blackened movement compared to the AP ROO Grand Prix limited which is also another stunning piece. They are at a different price point but in terms of fit and finish, the AP maybe slightly ahead but I do like the 317. How would anyone rate this watch's durability, wearability compared to AP's Survivor, which is also a blacked out look? Maybe professionals like Jester can shed lights. I certainly own neither.

it's funny you can never win.  

They'll increase the foreigh currency denominated price if EUR appreciated as the importer would cite the increased cost due to EUR appreciation.

They'll increase the EUR price if EUR depreciated just so that the EUR price is in line w/ rest of the world.  (They cannot lower the foreign price as this would hurt the brand's image!)

Sig Bonati says:

a) Has this model been discontinued? Or will Panerai continue to produce 500 pieces each year?
The PAM00317 has not been discontinued and Panerai will continue to produce it.

b) Is the reason why production is slow is due to the PVD coating of the movement?
The movement coating is a complex process. This is the reason why we cannot produce more quantity and this is also the reason why we are obliged to have the product available only at our boutiques.

c) Will future PAM317 models have a non-PVD movement but will have a black smoked display back instead?
The PAM00317 millesimation "K" has the black PVD coating (P.2004/B movement).
The millesimation "L" will adopt the smoked sapphire on the back and not yet the PVD coating on the movement

Cheers,
Anthony

 

 

This message has been edited by AnthonyTsai on 2010-05-07 05:58:51

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this could be a good move for Richemont. I mean, without allowing for "fancy" models to be sold in the Boutiques, the usual suspects would end up with all the goodies. You enter a Boutique (the main vehicle for the brand) and all you find are 231s, 111, 114 etc. Apart from that, the "insiders" end up hogging the "fancy" models that resurface in the "dealers markets" on websites such as this one, for a substantially higher amount of money. In all this Richemont makes.....zero...additional profits. Where's the fun in that?....

Cheers

Anthony, I presume that in going forward, the 317 is only going to be available through boutique which means there is absolutely no discount off MSRP.

However, as George asked, ADs took orders before so was 317 ever available outside of a pam boutique? I supposed so.

Nonetheless, the good news, George, then is that 317 will be available and more and more so through the boutique just like the 292. It was rare during the J production but now they are becoming more available with K and L. With ongoing production, you will only see MORE and MORE 317 and not less so it is going to become more widely available. There was 500 during K, another 500 in L and 500 more in M and in a few years more time you will have 2000-3000 in circulation? So you will be able to get one and it is only a matter of time and even if you don't get it first hand, the secondary market will soon have more of these pieces for sale. They are priced around 290K USD now a fairly standard price on collectors' market. I see that price will go down which is good news for those who want to acquire this piece.

Finding one is not the problem.  I'm sure that I will always be able to manage that part, one way or another.

What bothers me is the way Panerai has treated this whole thing.  They are aware of all the orders placed by AD's by their clients and of the fact that down payments have been made long ago to purchase one of these watches.  Then suddenly out of the blue, Panerai says listen your not a good client because you ordered your time piece through and "Authorized Dealer" and we are not going to honor those orders anymore.  It's just an outrageous approach.

Panerai is clearly aware of the number of orders that have been placed by AD's and today is basically saying that if you don't buy through a Boutique, you are not a client of ours.

I take due note of the fact.

Regards,

 

George

I certainly hope so. Well, if this is at all true that 317 is only available from boutique, you better move your deposit from AD to the boutique. I hope the AD's deposit isn't non refundable and they force you to eat up the quota on another watch (saying that the deposit is still good but you can move it to the 339... may not be so bad as 339 is the LE and 317 is run of mill anyway?)

Getting my money back from my AD is not a problem and never was. Getting Panerai to respect orders that were placed a long time ago now that is a real problem.

Regards,

George

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I have just cancelled my order for the 317 with my dealer. Not just me who is extremely disappointed but my dealer as well, as until two weeks ago Panerai has been telling him that he would still receive the watch (however, they did not say it will be a less appealing version with the smoked glass and not the real-deal 317 K-series. I basically had to provide this information to my dealer, who did some further research, contacted some other dealers and when he had enough comfort that he was right then enquired with Panerai who gave him the news).

I know of various people who, just like me, have cancelled their orders as well, all for the same reasons. And the feeling that prevails is that Panerai has made a joke of themselves recently and even worse: has tried to make a joke out of us: their most loyal customers (and a lot of those unfortunately do not have the luck of living next to a boutique....). Two years of waiting, two years of lies and now trying to 'satisfy' us by giving a lousy smoked glass version?

Then the 339: myself and other collectors I know subscribed for this watch based on an edition of 1000 pieces. This seemed still somewhat rare and therefore somewhat justified a hefty price tag. So I put down a deposit only to learn, completely out of the blue, that Panerai increased the number of pieces to 1500. As the price of the watch was not subsequently revised downwards, I decided to cancel my order for the 339 as well.

The long and the short of it is that Panerai has just lost a long time collector. I have about 15 Pams in my collection and they are being sold as we speak. As for my friends and fellow collectors: I know some of them are doing exactly the same. Some other have decided to still keep their older pieces, but have decided not to purchase any new stuff. Perhaps a bit rigorous, but if you just sit and watch these guys will never learn (not that I expect my solo action will change the world, but at least I have given a signal / made a statement). If this is where my hard-earned money is going to: no thanks I can think of better things.

So bye bye Panerai! It was fun for as long as it lasted.