Manifaturra. Many watchmakers use movements made by other manufacturers. Oftentimes these movements are made by ETA or other companies dedicated to the manufacture of movements. High end watch manufacturers will modify and "upgrade" the movements it acquires from other manufacturers before using them in their watches. Still many buyers value more watches with in-house movements, or movements built by the manufacturer of the watch. The manifattura line is Panerai's line-up of watches with in-house movements built by Panerai. In two words: Panerai Inside.
Panerai Radiomir PAM 00268. Panerai's line-up of watches with in-house movements is Panerai's premium line, and like other premium lines commands a high price. The entry level to the Panerai manifaturra line-up is the Radiomir PAM 268. With a suggested retail price of US$11,000 it costs twice as much as the entry level Panerai Radiomir.
Eight day movement. What the PAM 268 brings to the Radiomir line-up is a manual winding movement with an 8 day power reserve. In a way this is the least interesting of the manifaturra's since 8 day power reserve is a feature already available in the Panerai Radiomir PAM 00190 and PAM 00197. The PAM 190 and PAM 197 use the Panerai Calibre OP XIV movement, which is a modified Jaeger-LeCoultre movement. The PAM 268 uses in-house Panerai Calibre 2002/3 movement.
Still the PAM 268 has features not available in the PAM 190 and PAM 197. The PAM 268 has a date display and a power reserve meter on the dial, features absent from the PAM 190 and PAM 197. Also, while the PAM 268 cost almost twice as much as the entry level Radiomir, none of the 8 day movement Radiomir's are cheap. The PAM 268 is only US$1,000 more than the PAM 190 and gives you a date display and power reserve meter for the additional premium in price, not to mention the distinction of having a "movement built by Panerai."
About Panerai. Officine Panerai was founded in 1860 in Florence, Italy by Giovani Panerai. Panerai was acquired over by Swiss watchmaker Richemont S. A. in 1997.
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