On growing fondness

[johndoe]

So I started this hobby not understanding the Panerai craze. I swore I wouldn't fall into the trap. But it seems as I have become more and more a "watch guy," Panerai is the watch guy's watch. So as. I am sure many of you have experienced the same, my resistance has faided and I am shopping for a PAM. Now I want to approach this carefully as to not go on a spending spree and end up with 10 PAMs. So I am in the market now for a 111, but I have come to the experts to ask:

Which model started it for you?
Which is a good manual wind model that is quite accurate to the gen?
Is one model the "submariner" as in the standard model of Panerai?

From one watch guy to another thanks. Or maybe not...let the slippery slope begin.

 

[trksh-bzr]

hehe... the pams sneak up on you and abuse your mind!!!! there are so many pam models......but the 111 must nearly be the "sub" of pams. good hunting.....

 

[deloreandmc]

yes, I was in the same situation, not wanting to get into panerai, thinking they are more hidious...scratch that, just as hidious as rolex, but after a while, I saw the 111h, and some gunny straps, and after a while of looking through different panerais, and trying to choose between the vast majority of straps, this is what I came up with as my holy grail pam

(Note: photos not by me, taken from a thread, cant remember which one though)

^ that is the ultimate in panerai^

 

[guanaco]

PAMS are nice, at first I didn't like them back when I heard about them in 2007 but now I do. I still believe the gen PAMS are grossly overpriced for what they are on the hand-wind models like the 111, 112, 113, 114, etc. But the reps make up for it.

If you think about treading into PAM territory but you're still not sure, you might want to go with a Homage:

http://www.siswatch727.com/index.do