Has Panerai has deliberately veered away from its history...

...and headed towards what I have called in the past the "Cartierization" of the brand?

Is this bad?.....

Well, not necessarily. For a long while, Panerai buyers either bought and then got into the history OR got into the history and the purchased their Panerai. After this first step, with the help of Panerai Enthusiast forums, all of us dived right in to the Brand, History, lessons and nuances of these prized watches. The hunger for information led to so many of the Negretti books, the Zei books and much of the information in the reference sections of Viapaneristi.com.

People like Mario Paci and Fabrizio Ciampi lived this history and were able to pass down this wonderful knowledge. With the changes in the marketing of the brand, after Richmont established it presence as the new owner, Panerai went after the Macro instead of the Micro and this is why we have seen so many new Panerai Enthusiasts...as well as seeing the brand go more "upscale" in pricing but more available in supply. As the prices increase with very little change in the production, they are now on par with so many other brands. Do they have too many models? Well, I for one have trouble keeping up with all the new model numbers but that is my problem and not the Company's headache. When I see a Pam 183, 190 (yes, I know about the movement), 232, 287, 210 and 268 there can be confusion but each one has a subtle difference whether it is date or Base, Power Reserve or GMT etc, etc.

So while there are so many models compared to what we had just a few years ago, it is quite obvious that the "New to Panerai Enthusiast" has found the beauty of this watch and brand appealing and has broadened the scope to more corners of the earth than ever before. Panerai Watches are still quite unique, still have their history, still enable you to change the look with so many strap choices readily available, 350 Authorized Dealers spread worldwide...it's a beautiful thing. Now we have the Vintage, Pre-Vendome, "A" "B" watches for one segment of the audience and the New Models with variations on a theme (sorry Eric Satie)to quench the thirst of those coming to the brand in 2008.

Thank you

Elliot