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OEM Ceramic... Is it all its cracked up to be..?


PeteM

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I saw these pics of a gen ceramic... I was surprised to see the extent of the damage to this.... but I had heard the ceramic was a brittle material.... in that case I wonder if OP offer an extended warranty on the ceramic elements and if not then shouldnt they...?

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hey Pete,

OP does NOT offer any warranties on the ceramic. What is worse is the fact that you have to pay $3000 for a new case if something like the pictured one happens!!!!

I already know of 3 owners that have damaged their cases either by dropping it or knocking it against something. I have seen a CG complete break off of the case as well as 1/2 of one lug.

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Guys, forgive me, but putting this strap on is asking for the gods to strike down in blind anger!

Val.

+1 that strap is hideous. For a person who can afford a 29k watch, they could splurge on a nicer strap. I've seen the bill for repair for that exact watch with damage and it's not pretty

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3000k for a case? my god. reps it is then.

Knowing a little about very high tolerance machining, I can tell you that it does not cost anywhere more than a few hundred dollars (parts, operator time and tooling) to make those ceramic cases... The tungsten carbide machining tooling is very expensive, but each can make hundreds of cases, and tooling doesn't break that often.

PANERAI is seriously taking the [censored] charging 29K for that watch... 3-5k is about 2k too much, IMHO.

"is it all it's cracked up to be"

- very nice little pun there :)

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+1 that strap is hideous. For a person who can afford a 29k watch, they could splurge on a nicer strap. I've seen the bill for repair for that exact watch with damage and it's not pretty

Yes, I think I remember seeing case like this one (or maybe this one) on TZ or 'Risti ... repair bill was something like 5-6k € or USD I can't remember.

I guess that is why OP is experimenting with "composite" cases - it should be considerably more durable. To quote them:

"The material used for the case is truly innovative in the field of fine watch-making: the Panerai composite is a material whose features and performance are exceptional, being practically immutable over time. The result of an electrochemical process of ceramization of the aluminium, this material is harder than the ceramics normally used for cases in watch-making (zirconia), and also harder than metals like steel and titanium, as well as being lighter. Thanks to its qualities of ductility and reliability, the Panerai composite allows for complex and extremely precise workings and is the result of processes that, up to now, were employed in the creation of components for the aeronautic industry and for car and motorcycle races requiring the highest levels of performance."

regards

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  • 1 month later...

Ceramic is really a pretty awful material for a watch.. especially taking a steel component and making it from ceramic without a redesign, Steel and Ceramic have totally different properties so the design should account for that. i.e. Ceramic should not have thin bits to crack, where as steel will flex so thin parts survive.

The ceramics being used by watchmakers were mostly created for bearings and wear surfaces, where the loading is strictly controlled, and direct impacts non existent. Every watch is guaranteed to suffer a few good sized knocks during it's life and the materials used should survive this with minimum damage.

If you look at pic one you can see the crown guard has moved and damaged the case itself, making the damage bill way higher. A steel or titanium case would have survived this impact and at most might have required a new crown guard.

Yes the ceramic is vary hard, but hardness does not equal strength.

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Ceramic is really a pretty awful material for a watch.. especially taking a steel component and making it from ceramic without a redesign, Steel and Ceramic have totally different properties so the design should account for that. i.e. Ceramic should not have thin bits to crack, where as steel will flex so thin parts survive.

The ceramics being used by watchmakers were mostly created for bearings and wear surfaces, where the loading is strictly controlled, and direct impacts non existent. Every watch is guaranteed to suffer a few good sized knocks during it's life and the materials used should survive this with minimum damage.

+1

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