The Breitling Watch Blog

One of the things about Panerai’s that draw me towards them are the numerous strap options and how nice they look. My tastes likely lean towards the rougher, ammo looking straps which don’t go well with dress shirts and suits, but for those occasions, I switch to an OEM Gator strap of some sort usually.

I don’t know if I qualify as a Strapaholic, but I own about a dozen or so aftermarket straps, give or take. They are cheap to buy, and adds some fun to your watch collection without having to shell out the cash for a whole new watch to satisfy the I-need-something-new addiction. I am actually in the process of building an aftermarket strap directory complete with reviews of all the straps I have purchased. This should be a useful resource in the future for new Panerai owners.

From browsing the Paneristi forums, I’ve seem some Strapaholics collect hundreds of straps, and some of them of the rare Pre-V Variety that costs in the thousands of dollars.. for a single strap. I couldn’t afford to do that even if I wanted to!

I’ll be posting a brief informational video on straps on youtube soon, keep your eyes peeled Straps are a great way to add some diversity to your hobby without spending an arm and a leg. And its not just Panerai collectors that can get in on this strap stuff… any watch is suitable for a change of pace by adding an aftermarket strap!

Here is a sampling of some of my straps:

Just a heads up on my buddy Lee at Swiss Watch Store UK. He has launched his new site and deals with a lot of diamond bezeled Breitlings and other Breitlings primarily, though he sells other brands as well occasionally.

A great place for UK-based collectors to pick up their Breitlings and accessories.

http://www.swisswatchstore.co.uk/

Some of you might be familiar with this brand, but I would hazard a guess than most of you are not. Rama Swiss is a luxury brand of Swiss made mechanical watches who’s signature is a unique crown that pops out and turns into a miniature crank to turn the hands. Rama Swiss is not a new company; they have been around since 1914 producing high quality wristwatches. For the uniqueness of the designs, the watches seem to be priced very reasonably. Both models below retail around $3000-5000US in steel.

A couple of their unique peices include the Nazca:

And the Outland:

Very cool watches with very unique and masculine styles. I am very interested in picking up something from them when I can get a chance to see them in person!

Franck Muller put out a set of 4 complicated watches last year, dubbed the Aeternitas Mega series 1, 2, 3 and 4. The fourth watch is the one of interest here. With over 1200(!) parts this is one of the most complicated watches in existance.

Here is the list of impressive features:

• Grand tourbillon
• Grande and Petite Sonnerie Minute Repeater - Westminster Carillon Tune
• Split-Seconds Chronograph
• Eternal calendar
• Equation of Time
• Normal leap-year cycle
• Indication of secular years
• Moon phases
• Day and Month
• Retrograde Date
• Day/Night/24 Hour Indicator
• Two Additional Time-Zones

The Mega 4 comprises all the complications included in the first three, making it an extremely impressive peice of horology. This watch measures 40.8mm x 33.8mm with a width of 7.3 mm.

Have you ever wondered what the different styles of Panerai cases are? If you’re already a seasoned Panerai collector, this will not be anything you already don’t know, but if you’re new to the brand, this article might be of interest to you. I know from personal experience that it was difficult to tell the difference between the difference case styles as they kind of look the same in pictures.

I wrote an article on Paneraisource.com that illustrates and explains the differences between the cases styles from Panerai. Hope you enjoy it:

Panerai Case Styles Article

After having a conversation over the phone today with a fellow about watches, I noticed he pronounced the word “Submariner” as in Rolex Submariner as sub MAH ren ner. Like the baseball team the Seattle Mariners but with Sub in front. I pronouce it Sub mah REEN ner like the word Submarine with an R on the end.

I decided I would check it out and find out what the proper way of saying it is. I thought it would have been easier. From gathering the information all over the net, I have found that the old school sailors that would be in the submarines, would use my pronunciation, Sub mah REEN ner. However, there are a lot of British folks that swear that sub MAH ren ner is the way its pronouced.

Reading several sources tells me that the people that actually work as Submariners elected to use the pronunciation Sub mah REEN ner at some point in time and that is what they use. Dictionary tells me that both pronunciations are acceptable.

So next time you walk into a Rolex store and use one of the pronunciations, and the Rolex salesperson corrects you not-so-discreetly by intentionally using the other pronunciation, you can throw this in his face

I’ve been working hard for the last few months collecting data and building a new site: Panerai Source. This site is intended to be a culmination of information on all the Panerai watches in an easy-to-use format similar to the one used for Breitling Source, but this time for Panerai Watches. Every single Pre-V and Current model should be in the database and on the site. I am still looking for photos of models especially discontinued ones, and looking to eventually add a vintage section as well. I’ll also slowly be building up the articles section to provide users and especially newcomers with useful information.

If anyone has some Panerai photos they have taken and would like to contribute them for use on the site.. please email me and let me know! I would be very grateful for them. Even pics of different straps and buckles would be exceptionally useful. But please take a look, join the forum and help make the Panerai Watch Source a great friendly community for everything

http://www.paneraisource.com/

It has been brought to my attention that Chuck Maddox, a legened in the Watch community, providing us with an amazing amount of information on watches, especially Omegas, has passed away yesterday. A moment of silence for one of the most knowledgeable watch guys on the net.

Chuck’s Blog:
http://chuckmaddoxwatch.blogspot.com/