The Breitling Watch Blog

First was the obscure and rare Panerai PAM195, which was made for Paneristi members in a limited edition of 200 pieces, each with the name of the member engraved on the back of the watch.

Now we have the new Panerai PAM360, produced in a limited edition of 300 pieces, sold at the discretion of the Paneristi Moderators. With such a limited production, these are sure to be gone in no time.

Interesting that this one ‘appears’ to have what looks like an aftermarket style strap on it, as opposed to the usual dressier Panerai straps. Not sure if its just the prototype photograph or if its the final production strap. They’ve also used a antiqued yellowish lume to give it that aged tritium look.

Here is a photo of the back. $6700 is the price, which is fairly steep for a basic PVD Base Logo.

While most automobile brands that associate themselves with watch brands tend to be exclusive in their partnerships, Mercedes seems to suprise with every new watch venture they embark on. Some of the brands that Mercedes has associated themselves with: IWC, Graham, Tag Heuer, Fabien Cacheux, Ulysse Nardin, and their own Brand created with Tourneau. There are very possibly others that I have missed too!

Most recently is the addition of Graham to the mix to celebrate the Mercedes GP Petronas Formula 1 Team. The Mercedes watch they introduced is kind of ugly in my opinion. Designed more in the style of Graham than Mercedes, and features lots of discord with the mix of design elements making a watch that is overall not too tasteful.

While Mercedes has chosen to associate themselves with so many brands, they have for the most part made tasteful watches. However, unlike Ferrari by Panerai and Breitling for Bentley, the watches have very little association with each other.

Personally, I think the most successful and tasteful Automobile and Watch team-ups would be Breitling for Bentley and Jaeger LeCoultre and Aston Martin. The most Epic Fail Automobile Watch brand would be Tonino Lamborghini. Why would you license your brand out to a company that cannot market your product properly? Didn’t the 80’s and 90’s teach companies anything about licensing your brand – now we see Tonino Lamborghini products fill the shelves in discount stores and ebay.

Here is a gallery of some of the Mercedes collaboration watches out there:

Panerai’s new Radiomir Regatta Split Seconds PAM343 is amazing! 47mm Titanium Radiomir case with Split Second OPXXI 40 Jewels movement. The watch features a exhibition back and curved sapphire crystal. The model is a limited edition 2010 model commemorating the Classic Yachts Challenge.

While not anything extremely different from any of Panerai’s offerings, its a very cool 47mm Radiomir with a Split Seconds Chronograph, something my collection would welcome with open arms.

I’ve never owned an homage Panerai before, only real Panerai’s and I have handled a fake that a friend of mine purchased. This is the first Homage I’ve owned, and I bought it used on Timezone. The watch has had a few owners already, and when it came to me, the brushed finish looked a bit re-done, at least compared with any of the factory finished watches I’ve purchased in the past. Overall, however, the watch is very nice with excellent lume and an awesome crystal.

As you can see, the dial is a black sandwich-style, with Swiss Super Luminova. This baby glows BRIGHT and long, just like my real Pannies. While this watch is meant to be similar to the original PAM127 “Fiddy”, its not meant to be an exact replica. The device protecting the crown does not have the “REG TM” marking on it, and also the protector lever points upwards on this Homage, as opposed to downwards on the original. The handes are all gold, just as they are on the original. The case, while well made and finished in 316L stainless steel, does not have quite the same level of precision that my real Panerai cases have. The surfaces around the lugs are not perfect, which is typical of lower-quality finished watches.

As you can see, the dial is marked “Marina Militare” as many of the Homages are. Under a loupe, the writing a crisp and precise. The replica that I examined did not have the same level of quality in the printing. The dial on this watch is marked Swiss, but I’m not sure if its because the dial is Swiss made or what. JOA is an Engineer based in the US and he makes the watches himself, so I don’t know how that works.

The edges on the device protecting the crown are not as sharp as the real ones, with a bit more rounded edges, either as a result of too much re-touching or lower quality final finish. The super-domed sapphire crystal looks amazing, giving the distorted edge look around the dial, making the numbers have that vintage look to them. When winding the watch, there is very little friction and and the winding crown bounces back quickly, this leads me to believe there is no o-ring or gaskets in the crown itself.

Movement in the JOA is an ETA/Unitas 6497, essentially the same movement that is used in the PAM127. This movement, however, is a base calibre without the frills such as bevelled gears, swan’s neck fine adjustment and polished screws. The Panerai movement also has their custom decorated bridges and plates. Here you get a basic swiss-made 17 jewel movement.

Overall, its a wonderful watch. Likely not very waterproof, since there are no gaskets in the crown, but not a big deal for me. I think its a great Homage watch, and doesn’t carry the stigma associated with fakes. While I don’t think that an Homage is a fake, it is still a copy, and this watch still feels like a copy of a genuine item. I only buy real watches, and while this is not a replica, it still doesn’t feel like the real deal. This watch costs 1/20th of what a PAM127 would cost, so its much more affordable, and the quality of the watch is more than what would be expected at the pricepoint. However, its still has that feeling of being a copied watch. That will be a personal point for purchasers, and won’t apply to every buyer.

Otherwise, I think its a great watch for the money, and gives you a lot of the fun of owning a PAM without buying a fake. Many of the Homage dealers out there also sell fakes, but Johel (JOA) does not sell fakes, which makes the watch a little better on the Karma scale.

Panerai released an amazing clock at SIHH 2010 named the Jupiterium. The Clock is based on Galileo’s interpretation of the Solar System, and was unveiled at the Nobel Museum in Stockholm. The Clock shows the position of the Moon, Sun, Jupiter and the Stars as viewed from Earth. There are Three of these clocks in existence.

The clock has a 40 day power reserve, and has the time mounted on the wooden base. The ironic thing about it I suppose is that the Earth appears in the centre of the clock, when Galileo was in fact the first person to suggest that the Earth was NOT the center of the solar system. This clock conveys their relationship rather than the position of the different celestial bodies.