The marketing genius behind Panerai

[Vuggy]

Hard to believe this article is almost a decade old:

NOTICED; Telling Time Is Not Enough: Some Watches Stop Traffic

By WARREN ST. JOHN

Published: March 24, 2002

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/24/style/noticed-telling-time-is-not-enough-some-watches-stop-traffic.html

Edited June 5, 2011 by Vuggy

[Watchmeister]

Fabulous article from 2002. I never saw it the first time it came out and yet I think that was around the time I bought my first Panerai while on vacation in the Carribean. And how true it was at the time. Who would have thought Panerai would have developed the extensive in-house movement capability, marketing prowess and volume. Pretty funny to see the AP guy talking about the inappropriateness of large watches and now selling the Survivor, Shaq, etc.

Thanks again.

[Jkay]

You simply can not get away from the Panerai marketing machine on television in the USA .. every TV show has Panerai on wrists.

[crossbones]

great read.

thanks for posting

[Vuggy]

So the question now is: where will it end? Just as bell-bottoms died a crashing death in 1979, when will folks go back to the under-40mm watches of, well, basically the entire 20th century? Will it take a double-dip recession to do it?

My theory is that the more irrelevant wristwatches become (due to basically everything else in our lives having a clock on it--ipods, phones, DVD players, cars, computers) the larger they will become. Because they no longer have much functional value, they now inhabit a place that is pure ornament. And with men, anything that becomes pure ornament--hence a status signalling device--gets bigger and bigger and bigger.

Like this

Edited June 5, 2011 by Vuggy

[Watchmeister]

Just remember as those men who bought them get older their eyes get worse. Then again that watch will be pretty heavy when you are 90 years old.

[JoJo35]

Great article, although some watches will probably never go out of style

[PatronSaintofChainsaws]

So the question now is: where will it end? Just as bell-bottoms died a crashing death in 1979, when will folks go back to the under-40mm watches of, well, basically the entire 20th century?

Probably whenever t-shirts go out of style.

[Dave123]

The marketing genius of Panerai is that they don't spend a dime on marketing yet somehow you guys have heard of them....

[subbiesrock]

The marketing genius of Panerai is that they don't spend a dime on marketing yet somehow you guys have heard of them....

+1! lol those Italians and their grassroots marketing...

How about that Beverly Hills dealer douchebag near the end. I paraphrase loosely:

"we have an empty Panerai cabinet. I have a few in the safe, but if I'm not impressed with the cut of your jib, I'm not taking them out for you"

What a douche! And yet Panerai owners seem to be suckers for cruel punishment. By 'limiting' production and distribution, they increase the perceived worth of their products. Just like Ferrari. They also have a liquid new and used trading network in Paneristi, they don't actually need to have a store presence. But I suppose having an empty case adds to the mystique.

I read an article where Ferrari controls the used market by buying back second-hand Ferraris and selling them through their showroom network. That way they maintain the high used prices, enabling them to charge much more than the market might otherwise allow for their new cars. Clever bastards...

Damn you Panerai, AND Ferrari, and all your gorgeous offerings, damn you! Crept where credit is due, they both really make you want one of whatever they have... )

[_brian_]

There are always trends, just like it was in the 70's, 80's with those ugly, tasteless, colorful timepieces - some had even the "darth vader" or "bullhead" design - or quartz watches. Now the 44mm, 47mm etc. watches seem to be a trend too. However it seems that it does not always mean that these watches are more popular: Like the 42mm IWC Aquatimer Slevin or the newer 44mm Aquatimer like the Galapagos - the older 42mm design is still preferred by the majority.

Panerai had a hit with those 44mm watches, they have their own style and a classic, unique look. I think the trend with watches over 44mm will go away, so for the next decade most watches will be between 40 and 44mm. I do not think it will go back under 40mm.

[Watchmeister]

The marketing genius of Panerai is that they don't spend a dime on marketing yet somehow you guys have heard of them....

I don't know about that. I have never heard about the Breitling Yacht Challenge.

[Vuggy]

Probably whenever t-shirts go out of style.

I don't think I agree with that. T-shirts are cheap and simple, big watches are expensive and gaudy. Kind of like these were:

And the most disturbing thing about them? The people who wore them thought they looked great. Incrementalism breeds monsters.

When I try to talk people out of spending much money on big watches, I feel like I'm back in the 1970s talking a friend out of spending $thousands on wide lapels and bell-bottom trousers. It's a losing battle until a decade later people stumble upon my posts and go "Hmm, why could Vuggy see the cycle and nobody else could?"

If you have huge wrists, then fine you should probably be wearing big watches. But if you don't, yet you think that big watches "look good" for some reason that you can't quite comprehend, you're just like those poor shmucks who bought into the 6-inch-wide tie phenomenon in 1976 because everybody else was doing it. I don't know how else to say it, and the fact that more people don't understand it makes me very nervous.

Edited June 6, 2011 by Vuggy

[sul]

Golden words:

''If the ends of the lug extend beyond the edges of the wrist, that's the limit of aesthetic taste.''

-Thomas Mao, a collector who runs a connoisseurs' Web site, thePurists .com.

For me there will be always a big watch. No matter what "fashion will tell ".

I have big hands, big wrist`s and I need a more that 40 mm watch.

Ok 60 mm EGI is even for me so -so, almost too big but, 44mm- 50mm is quite ok.

[TeeJay]

I don't think I agree with that. T-shirts are cheap and simple, big watches are expensive and gaudy. Kind of like these were:

And the most disturbing thing about them? The people who wore them thought they looked great. Incrementalism breeds monsters.

When I try to talk people out of spending much money on big watches, I feel like I'm back in the 1970s talking a friend out of spending $thousands on wide lapels and bell-bottom trousers. It's a losing battle until a decade later people stumble upon my posts and go "Hmm, why could Vuggy see the cycle and nobody else could?"

If you have huge wrists, then fine you should probably be wearing big watches. But if you don't, yet you think that big watches "look good" for some reason that you can't quite comprehend, you're just like those poor shmucks who bought into the 6-inch-wide tie phenomenon in 1976 because everybody else was doing it. I don't know how else to say it, and the fact that more people don't understand it makes me very nervous.

:thumbsupsmileyanim:

The ideology behind my rebuilt/rebuilding collection, is practicality and wardrobe compatability: Watches for activity/climate-specific and wardrobe-specific occasions. I wouldn't wear my Rolex 1655 on leather cuff to the beach, likewise, I wouldn't wear my Tudor Heritage with a suit and tie. Having tried on the DSSD, I now know that, popular as it is, it simply "isn't the watch for me", so I'd never buy or wear one. I'm a big believer in "to each his own" but it can be pretty funny when seeing things which are just fad/trends, rather than truly lasting classics

[Edit to add]

Need to get me a pair of those belbottoms though, just to be proper retro