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The Watch Appreciation Thread (Reviews and Photos of Men's Timepieces by Rolex, Patek Philippe, Brei

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http://panerai.watchprosite.com/show-forumpost/fi-717/pi-5889558/ti-865153/s-0/

Just saw this on TPP. That is some serious watch damage! The owner was quoted a repair bill of $8,700! It really is kind of sad the type of end user service we are provided with these luxury gifts. Maybe I live in fantasy land, but service related woes seem all too common for what people spend on this hobby! This comment is of course not related to this incident entirely, but the industry as a whole.
 
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in stitches

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If I had to choose I much more prefer to have the Jaeger-LeCoultre Gyrotourbillon Three. HD vid at factory:
The Gyrotourbillon II is my fave of the series. It is one of my many JLC grail watches.
842641
842642
 
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mimo

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Awesome. Never mind grumpy old Dino's "hairball". I think it looks like the teleport machine Jodie Foster went in in "Contact". I like Jodie Foster, I like teleporting machines, and I like this. I could stare at that little thing for hours, whichever watch it happened to be in. I dig this one a lot though. ^^^
 

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in stitches

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@ mimo

:nodding:

i looked at that pic for about 5 minutes before and after posting it.
 
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no frills

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That Gruebel Forsey GMT sold for $354k yesterday... unbelievable. Amazing watch, but totally unwearable.

http://www.hodinkee.com/blog/auctio...tches-at-christies-hong-kong-nears-20-million

Not sure why they didn't mention in Hodinkee - the Patek pocket watch I photographed went for close to 1.6

That's why my $1.2 million bid in absentia was ignored! Kidding.

Rereading this book by Stacy Perman about the creation of the Graves Supercomplication:



Also provides a decent history behind watchmaking, the impact of the Great Depression and the rise of quartz and its effect on the mechanical watchmaking industry, etc. One claim is that by running a business based largely on individually commissioned super pieces (like the Patek pocket watch ChicagoRon photographed and shared with us), Patek was basically left vulnerable to the downturn from the Great Depression as they just weren't profitable enough through volume. That's when the Stern family snapped them up. By inference - at least the way the book is written - the era of "mass manufacture" (and today's stratospheric pricing decisions undertaken by PP and most other Swiss watchmakers) sustains profitability for companies like PP, allowing the Sterns to keep the company "in the family." For good or for ill for the end user.

Review from the NY Times for the book:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/books/review/a-grand-complication-by-stacy-perman.html

Personally I think the author uses a bit too many superlatives to describe how "awesome" specific pieces are, but it's a quick and fun read nonetheless.
 

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http://panerai.watchprosite.com/show-forumpost/fi-717/pi-5889558/ti-865153/s-0/

Just saw this on TPP. That is some serious watch damage! The owner was quoted a repair bill of $8,700! It really is kind of sad the type of end user service we are provided with these luxury gifts. Maybe I live in fantasy land, but service related woes seem all too common for what people spend on this hobby! This comment is of course not related to this incident entirely, but the industry as a whole.

Perhaps they deserve it for buying a wristwatch made from such a fragile material. I don't get the who ceramic thing at all. It's not a precious metal or gemstone, and it's not a material that add technically to the watch design, so it's basically pointless. Somebody said to somebody else that ceramic would be cool to use, and damn the consequences.

I've held my peace up until now on Panerai. But the fact is they are overpriced for what they are, they started the whole idiotic giant watch trend, they look silly when being worn by anyone under 200 pounds. Nor am I particularly enamored by their history. Don't get me wrong, some of my best friends either own or covet Panerais. But every time I see one it impresses me as a product of sheer idiocy.
 

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I've always loved the look of my panerai but it's too big for me and to be honest the watch (lack of better words) is being over played like a rolex sub-m. It seems like you'll never be a GQ man without wearing one.
 

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I actually would like a Panerai. Just a base PAM. And I understand your rationale in re the "if you buy ceramic, you know the consequences" spiel. My problem is that they are charging close to $9,000, the price of a new watch, for what is probably a piece of Ceramic that just came out of a CNC machine. I feel like luxury goods should have luxury end user service. And I have received such service for a lot of my luxury products. It just amazes me that as consumers, we put up with the god awful service that these watch companies offer us. Of course, a lot of this *is* anecdotal. I have not really had much experience yet.

I have heard horror stories about Omega, Rolex, etc., customer service, where the person has the watch returned to him or her months later in worse condition than it was sent. I just think it is kind of silly. But what can you do really, other than stop purchasing the goods?

In a similar vein, check this out:

700

700


I mean this is a $10,000 watch. And it is literally coming apart. How is that really acceptable ethically from the perspective of the watch company?

So I guess I do not really 'get' the "deserving it" argument.
 

in stitches

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Panerai watches are awesome. Sure, they make duds like every brand, but on the whole they are fantastic. Haters gone hate, but lets not go overboard with dick comments.

I dont think they are any more over priced than any other luxury watch. Thats is the industry now. Entry level watches that used to be 3k are now 6-8k and up. Its just the reality.

I tjink there are some excellent uses of ceramic, but in some applicatins its just dumb.
 

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I would rather like a base PAM too, but then there are a lot of things I would like...

Seems to me that the general standard of reason and intellect in TWAT is very respectable. Most of us, I think, are pretty realistic about how big brands work these days, or have always done perhaps: the balance of effort and expenditure between product development, marketing, and servicing existing customers, is a careful one. In various management offices, I'm sure people try to calculate a formula that sets the maximum product profit against the minimum expenditure on service required so as not to put off repeat business or diminish the brand too much. In that equation, sponsoring a James Bond movie and getting X new customers x Y new sales margins per customer, might well give a much bigger figure than spending Z on a new level of service commitment to encourage repeat business.

The bigger the company, the worse the service is not always true. But the bigger the company, the more they can choose to drive new sales as a priority over serving existing customers. I wrote above about how the Omega mega-agent where I live gave me such a ****** deal on service, while the smaller outfit they succeeded sorted me out in no time. It's just how they have to work. The smaller outfit has lost brands and volume, and needs me to like them because one day I might buy another of their watches if I know they'll look after me. But the bigger one knows that a lot more people have heard of Omega these days who weren't into watches but now recognise the brand, and might choose them over Rolex or a fashion brand where they wouldn't have before. That's cost them, centrally in advertising, and locally in opening very stylish new boutiques in expensive locations. But that will pay. Servicing mimo's cheap, ancient watch won't necessarily make him by another one.

So we make our choices. Bigger companies are sometimes going to seem indifferent. We need to research who the agents are who give good service where we live - certainly i'd be interested in Rolex knowing their local facilities, but won't touch Glashutte or Blancpain with a ****** stick knowing they their (same as Omega) agents have no real service centre here. And on a broader level, we learn about these stories and experiences from TWAT. Because TWAT never leads us astray and is always wise. If only that had been true in other examples of my past life.

P.S. What would offend me about the $10k watch, is that I cannot say how it is substantially different from this $1k watch. Never mind the materials; I think there's a point when you buy from a large company that they have to be special enough, and different enough, to justify their marketing-budget-driven premium. And that ain't it. The base PAM might be...
 
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Panerai watches are awesome. Sure, they make duds like every brand, but on the whole they are fantastic. Haters gone hate, but lets not go overboard with dick comments.

I dont think they are any more over priced than any other luxury watch. Thats is the industry now. Entry level watches that used to be 3k are now 6-8k and up. Its just the reality.

I tjink there are some excellent uses of ceramic, but in some applicatins its just dumb.


I agree. I actually think that the new Panerais coming out are very fairly priced, especially the ones with the same in house movement.
 

mimo

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And again, look at how much they've invested in exclusive boutiques (one just opened where I live), product placement (awful Transporter movies etc.), and generally trying to reach a mass, non-afficionado market.

That expenditure gets recovered somewhere. It can't all be on volume; some of it has to be in price increases built on a new perceived desirability in the brand. Oh, and another strange dynamic to be balanced: sometimes a brand is more desirable simply because it has risen into a certain price bracket. And if only the "we liked them before they were cool" nerds have ever paid less, you can tell your new customers this is just they way it's meant to be.

As for Panerai in particular, I think Stitch is right. With a variety of base models going cheaper than the cheapest Rolex or an average Omega, with their styling and individual brand personality, they don't seem like a bad deal at all if you like them.
 
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