Guys,
One of the most significant (watch collector) experience in my short life just happened to me today. I was attending a meeting with an MD of a company and I was wearing my Noob Fiddy on my new Timebandit ammo. Happens sometimes.
When we shook hands (I wear my watches on my right) he noticed my watch. Happens sometimes.
He was then surprised to see it's a Fiddy and showed his 292. Does not happen too often…
He asked if this was the real deal and (I do not know why, but I did) I told him NO. I usually say “here, take it and tell it by yourselfâ€. Never happened before.
He then asked if I want to see the original, he has it in his office
shocked, since one of his watches was robbed from home hence keeping it safe rather there. Never ever happened before.
After the meeting, he went back to his office and took out a beautiful Fiddy and handed it over to me. Apparently I handed him mine and we both examined each others, and he did not believe in me that its not original, but accepted the fact that I have a replica case with genuine movement, dial and hands (of course I don’t but I was lucky not to tell the real story to him…)
After discussing Panerais back and forth and registering that I have quite the interest and subtle knowledge (bahhh...!) on Panerai he invited me to his office, where the real show began.
I was handed over a 217 as a twin for the Fiddy... He loves them the most! Unbelievable!
And he showed me his other watches in order, which I honestly could not believe was happening to me:
A fantastic 305, a brilliant 190, a bronzo (nearly brand new, it already started to develop a nice reddish patina however) and a new 372 (wtf?!?!?!). ******* unbelievable, I was in a trance and we kept on talking and talking…
And then he showed it to me. An original, naturally aged 036. It had the original tritium dial and hands, open caseback with the most beautiful movement I have ever seen in a manual PAM. The indeces were darker whilest the hands were of a lighter color, and the brown dial looked.... AMAZING.
He told me that he had it serviced, but since Panerai change the dial and hands of the originals to new non-tritium ones, he had to contact their CEO in advance in order to send in the watch for service but do not change anything. Hence the crystal had a nice scratch on it. By this time, I was looking around to see if there are any cameras installed and if my wife tricked me in some silly TV show. They were none.
And I guess I have gained an experience for a lifetime and I hope to see him soon and his collection as well. Ultimately my problem is that he is a known paneristi and serious collector, hence my precious Pamily could not get introduced to him in whole. I do not want to let him know the level of reps we have, because paneristis have a very strong connection to Panerai...
I hope I'll have a story to continue soon...
One of the most significant (watch collector) experience in my short life just happened to me today. I was attending a meeting with an MD of a company and I was wearing my Noob Fiddy on my new Timebandit ammo. Happens sometimes.
When we shook hands (I wear my watches on my right) he noticed my watch. Happens sometimes.
He was then surprised to see it's a Fiddy and showed his 292. Does not happen too often…
He asked if this was the real deal and (I do not know why, but I did) I told him NO. I usually say “here, take it and tell it by yourselfâ€. Never happened before.
He then asked if I want to see the original, he has it in his office
shocked, since one of his watches was robbed from home hence keeping it safe rather there. Never ever happened before.After the meeting, he went back to his office and took out a beautiful Fiddy and handed it over to me. Apparently I handed him mine and we both examined each others, and he did not believe in me that its not original, but accepted the fact that I have a replica case with genuine movement, dial and hands (of course I don’t but I was lucky not to tell the real story to him…)
After discussing Panerais back and forth and registering that I have quite the interest and subtle knowledge (bahhh...!) on Panerai he invited me to his office, where the real show began.
I was handed over a 217 as a twin for the Fiddy... He loves them the most! Unbelievable!
And he showed me his other watches in order, which I honestly could not believe was happening to me:
A fantastic 305, a brilliant 190, a bronzo (nearly brand new, it already started to develop a nice reddish patina however) and a new 372 (wtf?!?!?!). ******* unbelievable, I was in a trance and we kept on talking and talking…
And then he showed it to me. An original, naturally aged 036. It had the original tritium dial and hands, open caseback with the most beautiful movement I have ever seen in a manual PAM. The indeces were darker whilest the hands were of a lighter color, and the brown dial looked.... AMAZING.
He told me that he had it serviced, but since Panerai change the dial and hands of the originals to new non-tritium ones, he had to contact their CEO in advance in order to send in the watch for service but do not change anything. Hence the crystal had a nice scratch on it. By this time, I was looking around to see if there are any cameras installed and if my wife tricked me in some silly TV show. They were none.
And I guess I have gained an experience for a lifetime and I hope to see him soon and his collection as well. Ultimately my problem is that he is a known paneristi and serious collector, hence my precious Pamily could not get introduced to him in whole. I do not want to let him know the level of reps we have, because paneristis have a very strong connection to Panerai...
I hope I'll have a story to continue soon...
