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Review-Panerai: PAM382 "Bronzo", very in-depth review
These last months had become unbearable, I had the state of mind of a five year old on Christmas Eve.
At the beginning of November, a clusterf#ck about the delivery address made me blow a fuse.
After two extra weeks of waiting, (a kind of double penalty), the watch eventually arrived at the shipping facility in Geneva.
I jump into my Interceptor parked in Lausanne, for a homerun at « ISO 14001 driver’s license-revoking speeds”, punctuated by many front lights flashing aimed at placid Helvetians cruising on the Autobahn, themed after “the left lane, love it or leave it”!!
Touchdown. I make it at 6:27pm; the shipping company closes at 6:30pm. I furiously open the parcel, the attendant offers his rusty box-cutter (pardon me, shiny with age) that even a terrorist trainee would not use.
I retort: “Now, I’m ready”, drawing my 154cm Steel Leatherman, boasting!
Once the parcel stripped down like a Bobo after a trip to the Bronx in the 80’s, I get the monster out.
Detractors would say that it looks like plumbing pipes, but to me, since it is brand new and devoid of patina, or should I say “virginal”, it is unquestionably an outstanding ode to the classic elegance of the “Vegas pimp”.
-It is beautiful.
-Very beautiful.
Still, I remember that despite an inspired report on the SIHH2011, like “Zarathustra-stepping-down-from-the-mountain”, (Thus spoke Pifpaf), the PAM382 aka Bronzo did not arouse an unrestrained enthusiasm.
One could even say that it was lukewarm, or even cold.
Two reasons for this, the obvious one is with the festival of novelties, it was a little difficult to sort anything out “on paper”.
However, more deeply, many Paneristis still have whiffs of luxury classical watchmaking codes, with their stream of workmanship and timelessness ("You never actually own a Patek Philippe. You merely take care of it for the next generation", blablabla…).
And here, the OP signs a watch upstream from the classical views of the watch industry, because it is definitely a timeless watch, a piece totally embedded in the present and one that ages with its Panerist!
Worse or better! In the same way one chooses to smoke, to binge, to booze, to beat the crap out of people, the PAM382 aka Gonzo will age depending on its wearer’s unruliness.
Finally, one could write: « You will totally own this watch, we don’t give a sh#t about the future generations.”
The « vintage » trend started a few years ago, with the paradigm “the older the better”.
It is a wiener-contest of who has the most rotten, the scruffiest, and the stinkiest wristband (“fresh from the cow”, my dear Sir)…
But regarding watches, it still has to be shiny, involving the use of lots of « Cape Cod » polish; it has to be clean as a whistle.
Because the enemy of the genuine Vintage-roots-staining-gladiator-look is stainless steel, a fantastic alloy far too resilient to get a true patina! How scandalous!
Finally, the post-SIHH period during which Paneristis did not quite understand this watch, is the time it took to cross the psychological Rubicon of the “fine deluxe watchmaking” mythology.
Well, one has to acknowledge that with this PAM382 aka Swamp Thing (Thank you IMO), the Officine reached rock bottom, or the apex (depending on one’s point of view), in terms of trashiness.
It is bulky, it is ugly, it is green, it corrodes in 10 minutes, and it matches very few outfits and certainly not a suit. In short, it is the bomb.
In addition, it answers a profound expectation from watch fans, as an obvious parallel to watches from certain independents, Max Busser leading the charge.
We are bored with working for services companies who are totally out of touch with reality, one has to observe speed limits, put a suit on, shave, pay bills, taxes and insurances policies, sign divorce documents, brown-nose one’s boss, vote sensibly, not drink, not smoke, not get angry, not have sex (unless you follow rules of hygiene thick as the yellow pages), in short, we are experiencing the unprecedented rise of a sluggish totalitarianism.
Yet, this 382 aka “The Expendables” offers the uselessness, the insecurity, the discomfort of a necessary and vital transgression. This watch is 200 grams of carry-on freedom.
So, in depth:
Regarding the exterior design, the PAM382 aka “The Gladiator” goes to the apex of the military-vintage concept. So vintage that the army extensively used bronze, 2700 years ago.
This alloy immediately reminds us of Steampunk, of Jules Verne and his Captain Nemo. However, depending upon one’s mood, it is closer to “The Gladiator” in terms of sensations when you wear it.
Because, fundamentally, the copper hat’s universe is the “Silent World”, the realm of contemplation;
But in this case, it is so brute, so virile, it aggressively goes for jugular so much so that one feels closer to being in the arena with lions than in the depths of the ocean with the fish (or else at the bottom of the Adriatic Sea with a pair of Santonis made of concrete).
The submersible line from Panerai is interesting, because apart from the bezel, which is a vague tribute to the Big Egy 2/56, this series is an almost pure avatar from the Richemont period. In fact, it is a kind of “in vivo” test of the Officine’s creativity and its vision of Panerai.
The 24-25 was almost the worst the Officine could do in terms of design and finishes. Then the Bombas came out, and next the Submersibles 47mm, and we pretty quickly got into a universe ruled by technique, a consequence of the restrictions due to diving regulations, requiring quite a lot of compromise from an historic standpoint.
Afterwards, the PAM305 took precedence over the superb but vulgar former Sub 47mm. While the level of finishing and the caliber are praiseworthy, the overall result is plain, maybe even cold, in an attempt to avoid tackiness.
This year the Officine finally proposes mature Submersibles, with the 371 and the 382, thanks to the addition of just the right amount of color.
The revolution in this Submersible is not so much the use of bronze, many brands did it over the last 30 years: Genta, Anonimo, Cuervos & Sobrinos, etc… No, the revolution is to have gotten bronze out of the ghetto of cheap brands.
It is the fact that the Officine managed to transform bronze into gold with a design and a product consistency unreachable to razzie awards regulars. Akin to Technotime, which is struggling to find prestigious customers to match the quality of their production, the bronze metal was not heralded to the level it deserved.
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For the rest of Pifpaf's review in Panerai forum, panerai.watchprosite.com
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Review-Panerai: PAM382 "Bronzo", very in-depth review
These last months had become unbearable, I had the state of mind of a five year old on Christmas Eve. At the beginning of November, a clusterf#ck about the delivery address made me blow a fuse. After two extra weeks of waiting, (a kind of double penalty),...
