Broadly speaking, Panerais can be divided into three periods: vintage with most of the production around World War II, then pre-Vendome between 1993 and 1997, and finally Vendome (Richemont). Their relative desirability also follows this simple pattern, if we want to simplify things. The Panerai PAM21 is one clear exception to that simplistic rule: while it was only launched in 1997, Paneristis consider it as one of the most covetable references. This Radiomir has a 47 mm platinum case housing a manual-wound movement from Rolex, matching the earliest production from Panerai, the mythical reference 3646. The PAM21 also displays the characteristic dial layout that made Panerai famous, and offers fixed wire lugs reminiscent of its military past.
The lucky number 8 – out of a total production of 60 watches – is listed for $150,000 on Puristpro here. This asking price is above the recent winning bid of another PAM 21 sold at Phillips Hong Kong for 812,500 HKD, or around $105,000. Also just consider how crazy this watch is…imagine Panerai asking Rolex to make a watch like this today. It would never happen, and that’s even more reason why we love the PAM21 so much.