Panerai - Rediscovered...

This watch has been under my radar for years but when I first considered buying one in the mid-2000's I could only afford the manual winding Base 000 model.  The idea at that time of winding my watch on a daily basis before wearing it did not particularly appeal to me.  I thought it would be too much of a hassle to do so.  Besides, I did not even have a Rolex then so why buy a Panerai then?  So I just continued with Panerai just there in the distance...the financial crisis in 2007-8 did not help either.  The little bonus that I got at that time ended up being saved to the last cent.

Fast forward in 2011...things have somehow recovered then got some nice surprise extra money Panerai beckoned again!!  A few rolexes, cartier, omega after - what's next right? 

I realized that even for my auto watches I always had to adjust the time.  Did my search, then suddenly the idea of manual winding did not sound so bad at all??!!  I thought it was pretty cool this time around! 

Imagine the amount of money I have saved if I bought the 000 five years ago...oh well.  It was a stretch for me at that time so it may not matter.

Asked a few friends where to get one - decided on the 'parallel' shop instead of the official Authorised dealer as a first instinct to save money. 

I still wanted a 'New' one - buying a pre-owned for my first Panerai was totally out of the picture - it's just me.  So I settled for this compromise of a 'New' stock.  The shop my friend referred to me only had 1 'New'  one - a Radiomir 287 Blackseal. 

Admittedly, I did not really research much.  But I had the money at that time and I desperately wanted to own a Panerai.  Looking back, I dont really regret getting this.  It had all the nice features on a watch - clean classic Panerai face, a seconds hand which I thought was pretty cool, a date feature which sometimes annoy me.  So here it is, my first Panerai watch....rediscovered!

But after buying, I read more about Panerai and totally got into it.  Now, I'm really hooked! ---> Typical of a Maven..thriving on the details, this history, the difference on the face, the dials, you know, the nitty-gritty of things.  If I had a Radiomir, surely I would have quickly realized that I needed a Luminor...desperately!!!!!

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