- 4/4/09
- 2,140
- 91
- 48
About two years ago, I bought an 082 from Davidsen. That blue Luminor was one of my first "serious" reps, and a watch I still enjoy today. The 082 composed the entirety of my Panerai collection until earlier this year, when I jumped on the 288K bandwagon. So now I had a Radiomir and a Luminor, and I thought I was covered for another two years.
I spend most of my time in the Rolex subforum and often look into Omega, but ever since that 288 purchase, I've been clicking on Panerai subforums a lot more often. The 026K caught my eye not just because it was a great rep of a sharp-looking watch, but because it offered three things I didn't have in my tiny PAM collection: DLC, a sandwich dial, and a left-hand crown.
I originally asked for the rubber strap, but leather seems to be all that's available right now. The improving quality of rep straps continues to impress me; we've come a very long way from the straight-to-the-garbage days of, oh, about a year ago. I do wish the keeper hoops looked better, though.
The 026 doesn't floor me as the 288 does, but the build quality and detailing are excellent. The sheer blackness sucks more light out of the surroundings than I'd like, so I'm looking into my strap options.
Onto the pictures:
So far, so good!
