Beauty is in the beholder’s eye, to be certain, so the answer to the titular provocation is up to the reader. And, God knows, I’m no ultimate arbiter of taste, being pretty “live and let” live in my typical Libertarian-with-a-lower case-l sort of way. That said, for me, this Panerai Radiomir falls in the latter camp. Exactly how much branding does a watch need to convey its special qualities? That’s the first question I asked myself when I saw this one, and the answer that unhesitatingly whispered back from the abyss was, “Not this much.”
Ok, from antiquity, to the time of Melville, and even now, sailing the ocean seas has been a cool adventure, and the history of the Eilean vessel is both colorful and interesting: designed by shipbuilder William Fife III and completed in 1936 at the behest of two Scottish steel magnates, Eilean saw her share of glamour, not just in the early years, but later as a charter in the Carribean during the 1970s. The Eilean even has minor cult status as a pop culture reference thanks to the wonderfully-horribly cheesy Duran Duran music video “Rio” from 1982, in which the band cavorts about on it while doing laughable 80s band stuff, as a swimsuit-clad woman doused in paint simultaneously flirts with everyone and yet no one in particular. Alas, the glamorous Eilean took serious damage on an Atlantic sailing, and sank into obscurity, ultimately languishing in poor state in an Antigua harbor. That’s where the then-CEO of Panerai, Angelo Bonati, smitten by the Eilean’s story and sensual form, stepped in, buying the boat in 2006 and dedicating his resources to a full several year restoration in Italy, the results of which, are frankly amazing.
So this Radiomir watch pays tribute to a beautiful boat, and the Italian watch brand CEO who loved her. But sometimes love just has to speak quietly for itself. The watch that commemorates this particular affair suggests less of amore, and more of…well, not very subtle kitsch. I’ll be fair, and give credit where it’s due: the slatted PAM sandwich dial, designed to evoke the teak deck planks of the boat, is quite fetching and it meshes well with the underlying vintagey lume coloration. So too, the case finishing is tasteful, neither polished nor totally matte, and evokes an elegant aesthetic subtly positioned between tool and jewel. Good so far? Sure. The watch has a fundamental charm.
But…then we go off the deep end. You’d think the rather flamboyant (however clearly well constructed and detailed) leather strap with looped stitching–apparently to evoke details of the sails on the Eilean–that’s also stamped with “EILEAN – 1936” would be enough, along with the boat deck dial, to honor the connection. But, if you did, you’d be wrong: emblazoned on the left side of the sizable 45mm case, literally from “stern to stem” is another–not subtle–engraving of the same, complete with a filigree dragon motif that probably looks smashing applied to the Eilean itself, but on the watch, a rather odd detail, unnecessary, and frankly…a case, no pun intended, of trying too hard. But, just to be sure you still weren’t clued in that this watch is a tribute to the classic 1936 ketch, the engraved “EILEAN 1936” caseback is there to help you remember anytime you happen to flip it over for whatever reason. (And, I really don’t know why you would, as there’s nothing to see aside from the redundant, very large engraving.) At this moment, I’m beginning to get an image of Bill Lumbergh of Office Space infamy, intoning in his monotone manager drone, “So uhm, yeah, I’ll just go ahead and make sure you get another copy of that EILEAN 1936 memo…mmkaaay?”
Memos have seldom been more expensive, either. For a watch that shouts from the mountaintop about a boat you don’t actually own, or have any ability to sail upon, prepare to sacrifice eight thousand bucks. I don’t know about you, but there are plenty of watches both in and out of the Panerai catalog that offer notably more horological substance for similar outlay. Not that you can see the movement through the EILEAN caseback anyway, but for that money, you’d hope Panerai would be willing to at least give the buyer one of their 8-day calibers, but no…you get the 3-day P.6000, outfitted to other watches in the range for about half of what the Radiomir Eilean costs. Not a bad mechanism, by any means, but one might hope for something just a wee bit more special, given the asking price. Oh yes, and the edition is 449 pieces, not for all time, but every year…apparently in a nod to a number on the Eilean’s sail. (How special is this, again?) Anyway, speaking of sails, there’s little wind left in my own on this one. Oh well, at least the Radiomir Eilean has a screw down crown like any proper PAM should, and has more than 30m water resistance. (*cough* *cough*) Oh, Panerai…how I miss pre-corporate you! 😉
Hullarious!!