I pulled the trigger on Wednesday on one that I have wanted for a long time, the 42mm Panerai Radiomir 337. I was drawn to the 337 and 338 when they were announced, but when they actually came out they were few and far between on the sales forums and the prices were very high so I never really came close to getting one. My focus wandered from Panerai and then refocused on the Submersible line, but after my other recent PAM Sub arrival (PAM 106) my general Panerai interests were rekindled. I started thinking about what might be a good compliment to the 106 while also continuing to tell myself I was heavy on weekend watches and light on work watches (at least relative to the collection). The Radomir line would be the appropriate place to look, but I have owned two Rads before and neither had staying power. My second PAM was a 210 and while I really loved the look of the dial, I missed the movement of a seconds hand and I am just not a huge fan of 27mm straps on the wrist (even though the 183 and 380 have been on my list for a long time). I also owned a 42mm 98 for a while. It too was really beautiful, but a bit top heavy for a dress watch (for me) due to the thicker JLC alarm movement case, and the dial was a bit too busy for me, so given what I had into it, it did not last long.
The 337 popped up at a reasonable price from a well respected seller with whom I had previously done business, and I decided to go for it.
So, first impressions are great. The 25/20 OEM gator strap is definitely managable on my wrist for work, and I really like the 42mm size on the wrist when coupled with the thinner case (due to a slimmer in-house movement). As noted in the WRUW posting yesterday, the biggest surprise is that the Micah French Canvas strap really works on this watch even if it is a bit bulky on the underside of the wrist. I tried a bunch of different straps just for fun, and actually the OEM rubber was the worst. The isofrane is not too bad, and I have a thinner 24/20 Helson isofrane that I did not try but would probably work really well to change things up a bit because it is thinner and has a bigger taper similar to the OEM strap. My biggest issue will be trying to decide on straps and whether to make it more formal or casual. I am thinking I need one nice all black croc for work, and then perhaps one other 24/24 ammo type strap from a Gunny or something like that and I will be set, but with two PAMs now I keep looking at straps that might work for both of them.
Anyway, some pics on the different straps.
Rob
