Subexplorer[Moderator - WristScan]
30019
Hello dear friend Zabreg! I will play with one of my favorite stories...
Jan 24, 2019,14:05 PM
In Watch & Wonders 2014 (Ends of September 2014) Panerai unveiled their reference Pam 587. Just viewing the first pictures in Internet I madly fell in love with it and I was determined to get it asap!
In November 2014 I made a two week trip to Europe with my wife and daughter visiting Milano, Venice and Paris. In all mentioned cities I visited their Panerai Boutiques and several AD´s asking for the 587 (Paris had two Boutiques!!) and in all places the answer was the same: model was recently launched and Panerai was just beginning with tiny deliveries. A long list of interested customers already existed and I was requested to sign and wait.
In all cases I talked with the store manager and explained how much I wished to have the watch and though I visited the same boutiques several times and almost begged for it the answer was always the same: I had to wait.
I visited one of the Paris boutiques again on Friday 21st. The store Manager who already knew me finally said: I will see if I can do something for you. I explained him that my flight was scheduled for the following Monday at two PM so there was very little time and left the store with little hope.
On Saturday morning I assisted to an unforgettable GTG in Paris meeting some nice PuristS friends and I forgot about the Panerai in the thrill of that event. But in the afternoon upon returning to my hotel I found a message from the Boutique manager inviting me to visit them on Monday morning. They had "found" a 587 for me!
As you may understand I couldn´t sleep well that night and following night!! How could I do to get my watch and arrive to the airport in time!!
Monday morning a few minutes before 10 AM I was standing in company of my daughter waiting for the store to open. The store manager saw me from the inside. He smiled and asked me to wait till the window was arranged.
As soon as they let me in the store I explained I was in a rush.
It was like a dream when the watch was shown to me and I finally tried on my wrist!
I extended my credit card and asked the manager to charge the required amount for the watch.
Everything was going smoothly till the cashier returned and informed that for security reasons it was required a confirmation from the Account Officer of my bank located in Miami. That was impossible due to the 5 hours difference in time! I was desperate! The 587 I had pursued during all my days of vacations was finally on my wrist and I was not willing to leave it in the store!
I asked if I could pay it cash. The cashier looked with awe to the manager who thought for a moment and said yes.
I proceeded to empty wallet and my pockets and found I could not reach the total amount. OMG!
I asked my daughter to empty her pockets and bag!
Together we reached the amount of the invoice and left a little cash to take the taxi back to the hotel were my wife was impatiently waiting with our bags to travel to the airport.
My heart was pumping hard and loudly when I took this picture in the front of the hotel with the Pont Neuf in the background just before jumping inside the taxi which took us to the airport.
Have a nice week end dear Zaberg and all our dear friends here!!
Abel.