Officine Panerai

 

A good title to start a discussion

First thought ' ofcourse NOT' Why would we want to pay more for our watches. I wish the 372 was 6000 and not 6900 euro When we need to pay we all want to pay the cheapest price

But look at 2 icons. The Rolex submariner and the Panerai 111

In 2002 The Panerai 111 was yours for 3000 euro, also in 2002 the Rolex submariner was yours for 3900 euro. I know, there is a difference between a Rolex 16610 and a newer 116610 but let's be honest, basically it is the same watch. A ceramic bezel and a solid bracelet won't cost more than 100 euro (production cost)

Today we can still buy both icons. For the PAM111 you'll need to pay 4100 euro........ for the Rolex sub 6250 euro........ Hmmm Panerai became 30% more expensive in 9 years, Rolex added 60% over the same period !

The Panerai 111 should cost 4800 euro and not 4100 if they did the same as Rolex. And I do have the impression most brands became a lot more expensive since 2002. I mean a lot more than 30%

Another example is the new 372. Look at the 127 which costed 6900 euro in 2002. A simple watch with a cheap ETA movement. Today the 372 with a totally new case and a completely inhouse made movement will cost you exactly the same ... 6900 euro.  I know, it has only 2 hands and not 3 hands but that won't make the difference, does it ? So Today you can get a GREAT watch with a nice inhouse movement and a new stunning case for the same price as what you would have paid 9 years ago for something which looks similar but with a much cheaper movement.

Imagine the 372 would be 30 or even 60% more expensive than the 127 in 2002 ...

I'm glad Panerai still offers us great watches for very acceptable prices

I hope they don't read this post in Switserland / Italy   LOLOLOL

 

Please share your thoughts

 

 

 

But I am sure my wife will still complain. 

But I find it interesting that the 372 is the same price at launch as the 127 with in house movement and new case. 

On the flip side, is the 375 overpriced for the composite?

Food for thought Bruno!

readjusted their price points.  I believe Zenith watches have become a little more reasonable since the new guy took over.  Perhaps Panerai wants the person looking at their watches vs a Rolex and other brands to consider their lower price as a good reason to choose Panerai.  There are so many choices that price can be an important factor if one is not a Paneristi and is just getting into higher end watches.

Stewart 

but the reason is because the previous CEO went mad. Those ugly Defy's didn't sell and definitely not for 15 or 20 K

Now they offer very nice watches for very sharp prices ... they need  to convince people again but I'm sure if they will get more attention and the demand goes up, prices will go up too

for fears of higher authority reading about this...  But in all fairness, I do think OP hasn't been too over the top when it comes to price hikes over the years, which in my opinion somehow contributed to the success of the brand.   Imagine if the 372 were priced at say 10k EUR list, the interest level might not be that high and there will be a lot less speculators lining up at the boutiques/dealers. 

and I think they would not sell 1 piece less.

The only mistake they made was the 341. That watch should have cost 12 - max 13 K (euro). The 20K is just insane. And this is imo why they are pretty easy to get. The 339 is the better looking piece and it has the same 8 days inhouse movement ... and this for half the price. I really want to know what they were thinking when they decided to ask 20K  euro for a 341.

 

probably played a role in it?  

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My observation leads me to believe that Panerai have been very consistent in pricing their watch according to movement / case material instead of design nor their would price to take avantage of the market response. 41X, 339, 372 and 368 are perfect examples, as Bruno.M1 stated, they wouldn't sell 1 piece less even with a +30%.
Don't think Panerai are too cheap either, e.g. 10K for a time only steel watch give us lot of competitive choices. Even worse, other tier one brands price their products way over their products inherent values, because some hot new markets allow these brand mangers to "overdraft" their brand name and history. I believe in a long run, this deviation will be corrected as the collectors from those market mature.

It's getting more and more expensive to buy a nice watch.  Retail pricing just keeps going up and up.  Sooner or later, it's going to cost $10k to get an entry stainless steel Panerai.

Look how much it costs to buy any of the new limited edition AP Offshores nowadays.  That's one of the reasons why I haven't purchased one in the past several years.

With all the high prices today of watches, it makes me enjoy the watches I have more.  I'm not sure if I'll be able to afford any of the higher priced watches I've wanted to try out over the years - Patek 5970 & 5960, Journe Centigraphe, etc.  Prices are just too expensive for me right now.  I really need to win the lottery if I want to expand my collection in the future

Cheers,
Anthony

 

What make the situation worse are speculatory buyers. They don’t necessarily enjoy the watches they buy. Some don’t even intend to wear them. Anticipating future price movements based on the popularity of certain models, as it is easy to spot the stars on forum like this, speculators buy watches in the hope of making quick and easy money.

One of Panerai’s most successful marketing strategies has been to limit supply. Prices of Panerais are already high as it is. Speculators make them even scarcer.

Some of them are not average Joes. You have to have special connection with an AD or Panerai Shop to get a popular model. Pam372 is certainly popular. How many of you think you’ll get it as soon as it is ready for sale.

I want one too. As soon as I learn about the 372, I called Panerai to order one. However, I don’t think Panerai will be calling me anytime soon, if at all, coz I’m not a VIP to them (I only own a few Pams.) That’s understandable in the world of business. No hard feeling.

What I feel bad about is, there will be Pam372 in the 2nd hand market as soon as it becomes available, costing much more than the official retail price. I feel bad not because I’ll have to pay more for it when it is hot off the grill. I just despise those people who have little passion for watches and prey on average Joes who are not well connected.

The law of supply and demand is natural. But it is also artificial and sad.

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The price increases beyond material costs specifically when you talk about Rolex and Panerai is that they hold their price in the after market.  Forget the anomalies like the 127 being a 20k+ watch today if you can find a willing seller and look at the the full product range offered by both and the relative performance. 

The key for me in their success is the demand to supply ratio and strong Retail controls on pricing.  Looking at Panerai I will comfortably pay full retail price in any or the offerings they have because I know the next guy is not going to get a 35% or even a 45% discount down the street.  By removing the discounting nonsense and keep control i.e not flooding the market the aftermarket performance remains strong.  What all this means is if you paid full retail for you PAM 000 two years ago you can most likely fetch about what you paid for it to years ago and there will be a lot of buyers looking to pick one up.  On the other hand with many other brands if you bought a watch and walked out onto the street and decided to sell you would be offered 50% of the retail price.  Now if you had paid retail for the watch you would not feel so good so the strong discounting causes a lot of anxiety in the market and pricing flux.   tPanerai for example does not suffer from that condition and the buyer buys confident of the price others will pay to buy a new watch.

I congratulate Panerai and this strong market approach and I can only hope they maintain this policy int the future.  I suspect that the opening of more boutiques will bode well for the strategy.

I think this topic would make for a good discussion on HoMe.

Bill

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