I purchased a Pam 233 on Saturday and left it in the store to have a bezel scratch removed before I took it home on Sunday. Upon returning on Sunday the watch did not work, at all. The second hand and the hour hand and the minute hand had stopped even though the 8 day indicator was fully charged.
I got my money back and left the store.

I do own a 161 and have not had any problems with it since I got it 3 months ago.

I am thinking about trying once more with a brand new 233 but want to know if anyone has experienced mechanical problems with or specifically, with a Pam 233 or any other Power Reserve Panerai.

I have two Rolex's and have never had a problem of any sort with them and they keep very accurate time, well within -3, + 3 seconds each day.

I would appreciate everyone commenting on their experience with the reliability of Panerai vs. Rolex.

Thanks.

have not had one bad second with the watch - it is the pride and joy of my Panerai collection.

Get yourself another and love it.

thanks for the quick response. that is comforting to hear as I do have some concerns.

My 233K has run in lock step with my Daytona.. about 2-3 seconds slow per day for the past say 2 years.. spot on here.

233 in the past.
I have since sold my 233 but it ran like a swiss clock with NO problems.
It was an excellent timekeeper.

I can run it for 9 days and it's dead on to the minute.

Love it, get another...

and it was perefect for the first four months and then one day in April it started running really slow. I'm talking like 2 hours a day. I could see through the display that its parts were barely moving. I promptly took it into the BHB for warranty service and got it back a 5 weeks later running fine and keeping good time.

Fast forward about 2 months and I noticed once in awhile when I would wind it up fully, wear it for a day, then set it down for 5-6 days, it would stop moving completely even though the power reserve indicator clearly showed that it has at least 2 days left. I pulled out the crown as if I was going to adjust the time and reset it back into position and it would run again perfectly, keeping good time. But since then I've noticed it does that when I leave the watch running but don't touch it for several days. It doesn't happen all the time, but it's happened on at least two other occasions. I took it back to the BHB for service last week so hopefully they will take a better look at it this time and make things right.

I don't own a Rolex but I also own a 312 which I've had for 18 months and it runs perfectly so I don't think that my experience with the 233 is the norm for Panerai. I probably just got one of those pieces that just has something wrong with the movement. If you ask most of the people here, I'm pretty sure that a majority of people will tell you they won't have problems with their 233 otherwise we'd see a lot more posts regarding it. Hope that helps and good luck with your purchase!

Kevin from Orange County, CA

IMHO, there's no comparison between Rolex and Panerai movmt so far. Rolex movmt are decades proven machines, you can really trust it. Panerai in house movmt started few years back - althought all modern tech available nowadays for developing new watch movmt, you still see it's improving.

233 is a beauty, had some issues on past with PR indicator but so far it seems fixed. Those issues also reported with 312 movmt are likely loosen pieces inside mechanism, and it can really deteriorate it quickly.

If I were you, I'd try to get a fresh PASC serviced 233, pre ownwed, with at least 1 year warranty remaining. Best value for money.

best luck

Why or how Rolex is material in this case. If you want the Panerai styling you'll get a different 233. Probably got disassembled to polish and jiggered up upon reassembly? Hard to say. Also, probably would have given the shop a chance to get another one.

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