Finally!!! (1st "Real" Rad)

[H2F]

I'll be the first to admit I'm not a WIS and in fact my knowledge of Panerai's history is embarassing & my grasp of what constitutes "dna" is sketchy at best. But I know what I like and I like a watch that puts a smile on my face when I see it on my wrist :)

I have always thought of myself as a die-hard Luminor guy, but an Indoristi cousin told me repeatedly that I really, trully, MUST get a "real" Radiomir (the Egi "Radiomir" doesn't count apparently), and I guess finally his words sunk in...

Of course I immediately looked real hard at the grail-pair 249 & my wife's favorite Pam -- the 232. I know in my mind that these 2 are among the most well-loved SEs and I could do no wrong with either. But perhaps because I missed the excitement of the initial release, and I haven't developed the proper appreciation of their history -- somehow in my heart I just don't feel the call.

Then came the 294... Yes I did read about some of the controversy and that the 294 wasn't quite as uniformly loved as the 249/232 parents. BUT then again, neither were my 193 & 341...! LOL! My darling wife loves the 232-dial, and combined with the 249-dome, it's just crazy gorgeous! And now that I'm actually looking for a Radiomir -- and a recent opportunity to own a brand new 294 (49pcs!!) appeared -- I found myself with the familiar stupid grin on my face!

I feel mighty blessed to have the 294 as my 1st "Real" Radiomir, and having an absolute blast looking at this amazing beauty on my wrist!! (Never did have a "pretty" watch before!)

On to the pics... (what a difficult watch to photograph!)









Brown dial...











Sandwich (don't know why the dial looks black here)...





Gorgeous gold hands!







D O M E !!!












(distortion)



Naked back...









Lume:







Misc: (I swear I've wiped my fingerprints off aarrggh!!)









Looks even better on the love of my life... :) :) :)



My sincerest thanks to all the amazing brothers all over the world who helped me with this, my 1st "REAL" Radiomir!!! M8TES are truly GR8!!!

And a heartfelt THANK YOU! to those of you still reading & sharing my joy!!!

(Now back to regularly scheduled Luminor programming... Bronzooooo! )