Bang-a-Rang - Time to CROW

Our fearless, grumpy, and nonetheless wise @Aurelian has often posted about the reasons WHY we collect/trade/buy watches rather than about WHAT they actually are. This is my story of both as I try to focus more on the former than the latter.

WHY:

I am a surgeon by trade and my personal story does not differ much from @Edge168n's father. After residency I worked long hours, weekends, and holidays for a horrible group so that the owner could buy more and more cars and pay for his daughter's art history exploration at NYU.

After deciding the leave I made the crazy decision to forgo guaranteed money and prestige out of state, and put it all on Red, and start my own practice. My wife and I didn't want to sacrifice our close friends and family to move somewhere without a support system, even if money was not an object.

So in the fall of 2019 I took out a ton of loans and set up shop. Then COVID-19 happened, I had an almost empty clinic, and spent long hours operating on the sick and injured at the hospital constantly wondering if/when I would get sick or bring it home to my wife.

Anyone who owns their own business knows how scary and stressful it is wondering if you're really as good as you believe you are and whether others will believe in you too. I am nothing if not stubborn though, and both my family and practice survived without major damage. I was recently granted an administrative position at my current hospital, proudly the first of my kind in the nation. To start what I did out of nowhere, survive COVID, and eventually receive a little bit of academic and financial recognition via a large national hospital conglomerate is the reason for this watch.

WHAT:

I researched this purchase for many, many months asking questions of many here, thank you for your responses and candor, and looking at many AD's.

-My apologies to @Aurelian that I didn't go vintage, though I did consider a few 1960's-70's Rolex Air Kings.

-I apologies also go out to @Mr.Dee.Bater , @Fieldwalker , and @Edge168n that I didn't join the GS9 Club. I honestly tried so many GS models on and though many are straight gorge and felt amazing, they just didn't feel...Me. Maybe in the future. As @Edge168n once said

every collector knows the actual truth of the matter, that you can be a couple of watches away from completing your collection and then, after purchasing those very watches, still be a couple watches away from completing your collection.  

Maybe I was brainwashed by @Porthole's Panerai musings or by @Max's Panerai purchase, selling, and purchasing again, but I couldn't get Panerai out of my head. Like many of @rodeenski's recent criteria, I decided on a sandwich dial with white lume, see-through case back, and maybe Ti or ceramic case.

I ended up seeing this PAM 346 on a few websites, though reviews are scarce as these originally debuted in 2013 and the internet watch media wasn't what it is today. The specs and overall look were appealing and wire-lug Radiomir's always wear a bit smaller than the specs suggest. I took a chance, sight unseen, on this gently used baby circa 2020 knowing I had a few days with full return accepted.

You can find the specs online but the Ti case, brown dial, rose gold hands, and white lume felt very, very unique and cool. @Edge168n might even say 'hipster'. This weighs less than my Pelagos LHD on bracelet and feels great on wrist.

It has a 2002 series 8-day manual wind movement that Panerai first developed (with ValFleurier) with local jumping hour, zero second reset, and 4hz beat rate. Even the rear power reserve hand has lume. I'm a nerd, I checked.

This wears and feels different than anything I've ever worn or owned and I couldn't be happier. Will it stay with me forever? I try not to say never, but she's going nowhere for now.

-Digression: I did immediately take this off the factory strap as it was thick and would take time to break in. The pictures are with Delugs, which are always great. I also purchased some from @marcellostraps and can't say enough about them.

These are all hand-sewn and very well made. He was kind enough to offer suggestions if the selected leather wasn't in stock and everything came in a nice wooden box. If you are in the market for a Panerai strap, please give him a try. -End digression

The title of this post refers to one of my favorite movies of all time, Hook from 1991 with Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, and Julia Roberts. The lost boys "have to fight, have to fly, have to crow" and I was only missing the last. My Pelagos LHD is to fight, my TAG Autivia Flyback is to fly, and this PAM 346 is to crow. I've never had an FU watch that was super flashy or in your face, but this Panerai is a bit ostentatious... and I think it's OK to crow every once in a while.