|
I've owned two Panerai's from the JMP era, and I personally think that he has done more damage to the brand than conceivable.
Cost cutting at every corner, along with decrease in quality and crazy price increases. Their current catalogue are probably 50% too expensive. The movements are uglier and less serviceable, new dive watches with 30m water resistance and the lies about in-house movements, removing hacking and downgrading finish without telling customers tells me he lacks integrity chasing a quick buck.
Don't even get me started on the endless dumb collaborations with 'navy seals, brabus, luna Rossa, mike horn' etc.
Good riddance to JMP and hope that Panerai can recapture the magic they had.
I saw a good comment about it:
Panerai need to take a page out of Grand Seiko’s playbook: focus (and authenticate) their marketing, overbuild their watches to match that marketing, and make their core “Paneristi” constituents happy. Then, when someone buys a Panerai as their second or third watch for a change of pace, they’ll be pleasantly surprised by the quality and attention to detail in design, which will result in their feeling like they’ve discovered an entirely distinct style of watchmaking, a la Grand Seiko. Most importantly, Panerai are lucky to already have what Grand Seiko and so many other brands lack: iconic designs and names that are recognizable and grounded in history (however unsavory that history may be).
|