Are they really worth the money ?

[spch]

Hi,

 

To diffuse any headline reaction, I love Panerai for their military roots, lug finishing and relaxed largesse. 

 

What I doubt is whether a robust Neuchatel movement really commands haute couture ? 

 

Please feel free to disabuse, abuse and otherwise lay in !

 

Thanks,

 

S

 

 

[Jkay]

When it comes to luxury items, most of the price is driven by popularity. As they say, Rolex makes an excellent $500 wristwatch.

 

The other $8000 on the price tag is pure illusion.

[Lobster]

When it comes to luxury items, most of the price is driven by popularity. As they say, Rolex makes an excellent $500 wristwatch.

 

The other $8000 on the price tag is pure illusion.

 

That's true. Luxury and value are interesting domains and I reduce them to merely being to what an individual really perceives.

 

Personally, I could never buy a gen Pam again after seeing the quality of some our reps. I am a fan of the 111 you see. 

[Nightwatch]

They come in limited series as a marketing gag that really works. If the model sells well they make another similar limited series with a nicely decorated ETA:)

In fact they are difficult to justify. I don´t have a Radiomir, neither a black PAM so wanted to go for the PAM505. Now comes the tricky part. If I wanted to buy a gen I possibly couldn´t justify more than one (because I need a Rolex/ an AP etc,) and if just one it would have to be one with CG lever and crownguard because it´s what makes them special.

Summary: I simply can´t find a way to justify me spending another $8600 on a Radiomir assuming I already own one PAM. If I had none it would have to be another model as said with cg-lever. So - except for movie-stars -  they are just too expensive.

[cc1024]

Panerai's were in the $1000 range back in the early 90's which to be fair was not inexpensive back then. The little shop in Florence had everything but the movement made in country. The shop was owned by a lady from the same family that supplied the Italian Navy in WWII. It had heart and soul. After she sold her company to Richemont, they cut all ties to the people who made the watches and took everything to Switzerland. The new PAMs are merely Swiss made reps themselves now and hardly worth the price they are asking. Everything is mass machine made, so the high prices are just for profit.