Panerai PAM 184 G Radiomir GMT - 42mm Stainless Steel - Discontinued & Collectible Model - Very Rare & Completely Sold Out

Why is this watch significant, rare & collectible:

Made for only 1 production year in only 1000 pieces.  (G series representing 2004-2005 production year even though the watch didn’t make its way into authorized dealers showcases until 2006)

Most people were puzzled by this watch and didn’t understand it—Featured 42mm Radiomir case like PAM 98 Radiomir GMT alarm except it didn’t have an alarm and didn’t have a traditional GMT feature as found on the PAM 98 GMT Alarm or PAM 88.  IN the end, this watch, the PAM 184 proved to be infinitely more rare than the PAM 98 which ended up being produced for 6 consecutive production years in 500 pieces for each year.

Funny enough, The first 2 times I bought this watch, I returned them to my dealer thinking they were broken and Panerai had a serious ‘defect’ with the movement.  I thought it was defective or broken because when you turned the winding crown in one direction, it advanced the date, thus I figured if you wound it in the opposite direction, it would advance the GMT hand.  When the GMT hand wouldn’t move when turning the winding crown in the opposite direction, I assumed (wrongly so) the watch was broken.  It took me several years after the fact to realize this watch had a unique discontinued JLC movement that was unlike the traditional GMT movements I had come to know and love as featured in Panerai’s other GMT watches, the PAM 88 and PAM 98 Radiomir GMT alarm. 

The PAM 184 showcased a very rare discontinued Jaeger LeCoultre JLC movement.  Panerai reworked this movement and renamed it the Panerai OPXIII Calibre and this movement was found in only the PAM 184 ad PAM 185 (same watch as PAM 184 but featured 18k white gold case).  What is unique about this movement is that it has a GMT hand but that GMT hand cannot be set independently of the watches hour and minute hands (think same mechanical operation as Rolex GMT Master I and Explorer 1655 movements).  In essence the GMT hand just goes along for the ride and acts as an AM/PM indicator for the main time.  The rotating inner bezel (rotated by turning winding crown marked ‘GMT’ on side of case at 2:00 is what allows you to use this GMT hand for a GMT 2ndary timekeeping function.

This watch is amongst one of the most rare and unique Panerai watches ever released.  In fact the movement used in this watch was only used in 1 other watch, the PAM 185 Radiomir GMT in 18k white gold.  That watch was only made in 150 pieces so total production of this watch was limited to 1150 pieces.  After that, the movement was retired by Panerai.