Officine Panerai

Tim_M
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OK, I'll bite...

... and I do agree that there is less and less charisma in the Panerai line.  While volumes have increased by orders of magnitude, the innovation of the models has not increased proportionately.

But I don't think size along is the source of the brand's appeal or its recent listless course.

Panerai routine for two decades has been to spin variants of the Luminor and Radiomir, small variations cease to amuse, and when the buyer interest reaches crisis levels, they re-issue an old crowd pleaser (785) or a new take on proven product movers (embodied in the 587). These are competent watches, but there's no real sense of ambition or will to think beyond old dogmas. Realistically, I think this strategy of iterated encores has run its course.

Consider the difference between a 2000 Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin 34mm and the Extreme Lab 2 above, and then consider how much JLC had to evolve as a manufacture to even make that leap. Moreover, consider that JLC still manufactures models like the MUT Jubilee and MUT 1907 Grand Feu ALONGSIDE the EL 2.

AP sells wild Offshores and Concepts alongside its traditional Royal Oaks and its *very* traditional round watches.

Now ask why Panerai doesn't have that kind of range/flexibility. Certainly, fear of change is part of that, but it may be mutual. The Panerai collectors and buyer base have some role in this. Years of Paneristi rejecting complications and adventurous variations on the two basic models have created a conservative brand culture that extends from management down to the collector level.

While the "Panerai for Ferrari" episode failed in large part due to clumsy co-branding, it also discouraged Panerai from experimenting with truly different case shapes to broaden the line. Although the prospect of a Mare Nostrum revival may offer a few more years of growth, the bottom line is that Panerai's current management seems more determined to coax just one more hit from the magic of 1997-2005 than to envision the brand in 2024 or 2034.

Objectively, the new Panerai watches are better than they have ever been, but there's no real energy or blue-sky thinking to be seen from a direction standpoint. I'm not condemning the brand's future, just playing devil's advocate and proposing some disruptive thinking at the product planning level.

Best,

Tim

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