What time is it? Watches and horology

dial fell off

That's a shame as it looks awesome.

I wonder what happened to all those Soviet designers?

The better/older ones are Paketa (CCCP), They started using Raketa (Made in Russia) towards the end.

Love them. Radiomirs could use a high dome crystal like the recent 992.

I had a Panerai once. A titanium Submersible with hobnail dial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5yjVdFS0sc
I got a bit fed up with the crude bulkiness of it. Panerais take up a lot of space but they don't do an awful lot. It's clever marketing to get such high prices for such simple, crudely finished designs. Their simplicity also makes them the easiest brand to clone. Once you've seen the clones you feel a bit of a mug for shelling out for a real one. Well, I did. Plus you have the dubious company of the Paneristi fanbois, whose life revolves around a giant mutual wallet wankathon, i.e. boasting about the number of limited edition Panerais they've got. All that guff about Italian navy divers is such an embarrassment. You'd need 200 Paneristi to muster the amount of cool in a single Italian navy diver's toenail.

Anyway, does anyone know who makes Victorinox watches?

Assembled by them I believe. Movements by ETA generally.

Assembled by them I believe. Movements by ETA.

Edit. Hmm website seems to indicate a lot of sellita movements.

I've bought one with a 7750 in it. I'm surprised they do the assembly. Wouldn't it make more sense to subcontract it?

Are you okay?

Imo Panerai are a perfect eg of a watch that works much better irl than the Internet backlash would have you believe.

They wear their size well and look really nice on a wrist in the flesh.

Dare I say it, the opposite of something like a batman GMT or quite a few Tudors.

Curious to see what prices are like now as I always think of them as the quintessential noughteens(?) City accessory.

The beer opener on the side is a nice feature.

You'd need 200 Paneristi to muster the amount of cool in a single Italian navy diver's toenail.

Rep

I was looking at some in person the other day and the smaller ones are actually quite nice.

Still overpriced with worse movements than their competition and a fake history but can look nice.

Green Birch looks nice. Also looks like they might be lowering the price of the Series 9. £7890 vs £8500 for the white birch currently.

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Heh! Hadn't appreciated that hidden feature. That'll save my teeth some wear.

I completely get all that you say about movements and finishing etc but there's definitely something about their simplicity which appeals - my 177 is still somehow the watch i enjoy looking at the most despite it also being the most basic. Must be some zen thing. As for the clones - that's basically any high end watch now - you can get PPs and Daytonas that are on the money. Also know where you're coming from about the paneristi, they can be a proper cringefest, but they probably think the same about us and most brands have fanatics that make "normal" people a bit uncomfortable about the fact they own the same thing (I mean look at @Regal and Seiko :) ).

@D-Dog
My local dealer has a WSTA0055 for sale at a sensible price. It's the blue one, not LE but out of stock I assume as they seem to be going for 1.5x list or thereabouts. PM me if interested

I thought the Italian navy divers used citizen dive watches?

Seiko and their quality product photos (renders?) strike again

Meh, i still love them even if dont own one at the moment.. lovely design and sit very well on the wrist despite their size.

As for the paneristi...remember we are in a bike forum that people go crazy over chainrings from japan and 60s bianchis or whatever (or at least thats how it was whrn i had a bike, i only visit the watches and photography threads now!!)

Yeap, this

I think the Panerai diver backstory is in WW2. (When the Italians were on the wrong side.)

I've got a bridge in Brooklyn for sale that you might be interested in.

Yeah when they were re-dialed rolex. Then the company closed and got bought and moved "in-house" which is a lie. It now has no connection to the original company bar the name

Well, they've been incredibly successful. They must be doing something right. But I always suspect their profit margin to be obscenely high.