Panerai shines at Sotheby's

Giovanni Di Biase16 April 2018

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If you have inherited a vintage Panerai powered by a Rolex movement, an 80s prototype or an Angelus powered Panerai, this article is for you. Last may 14^th Sotheby’s Auctioneers have sold some Panerai registering record hammer prices. I’d say exceptional prices if you consider a Panerai Luminor case n° 12948, circa 1955, ref. 6152/1 has been sold for an astounding 425000 Swiss Fancs, nearly 20% more than the highest estimate. Inside this PAM beats a Rolex caliber, and this is not hot news if you are familiar with the history of Panerai: Giovanni, the founder, was an authorized Rolex retailer in Florence with an excellent relationship with the Geneva based manufacturer and thru this relationship the brand PANERAI was born.

The Rolex movement, manual wind with 17 jewels, is secured by a metal cap with engraved the name of the Rolex manufacture. It beats inside a 57,5mm by 46mm stainless steel case 19mm thick which boasts a prototypal bezel. The other two sold Panerai are interesting as well even though they might be regarded as modern Panerai. The first one is a 1985 titanium 1000m water resistant automatic timepiece with the OP logo on the dial and the bezel secured by 3 screws, a 47mm wide case and a thickness of 15,5mm. It has for sure inspired some modern brands you see around, in terms of case design (have a look at a Vintage VDB for instance) and has been sold for 100000 Swiss Francs.

The last one dates back to 2008, according to Sotheby’s, has been sold for 75000CHF and is the PAM203, powered by a Angelus caliber 240 with an 8 days power reserve. To be honest i do not fully agree with the year for, as far as it concerns, this limited edition has been made in 2005 in no more than 150 pieces. Why is it so special? For it encases a hystorical manual wind 16 lines Angelus 240 caliber with 15 jewels beating at 18000 vph. And why do I know so much about this timepiece? Because I’ve tried in the years since its launch to add one to my personal collection but, as you may understand, with no success.

(Photo credit: courtesy of Sotheby’s; Panerai)

Gaetano C. @Horbiter®

@Gaetano Cimmino

Case: It encases the mechanical movement and is crafted in one or more parts. It can also be a single piece, as with some professional diving watches, or made of unconventional…
Water Resistant: A watch is water resistant when it can withstand splashes of water. It indicates the depth to which a watch can be worn underwater.
Bezel: The bezel is particularly useful on diving watches, allowing you to check dive times. In this case, it unidirectionally rotates and usually comes in two parts: a metal (or ceramic,…
Power Reserve: A mechanical watch feature displays, on the dial or the case back, the remaining power in a watch movement, showing the length of time until the timepiece must be rewound.