Below is Aurelios originl post which struck many by shock and disbelief. However as a watch community, Panerai is like no other which you will soon see why.

Best
K






January 29 2005 at 11:47 PM
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Hi, everyone ~

This is very difficult for me - but if I would ever need your help, now is the time...

We had a great time tonight at the NYC gathering - however, after all was said-and-done, my '1950' ended up missing ~
I am holding out hope that perhaps someone took it home by accident; if this might be the case, PLEASE double check your watch cases/pouches/boxes/etc, and let me know.......

If anyone has ANY information on the whereabouts of my 'fiddy, please contact me at the e-mail below.
Any information will be held in the strictest confidence; only the watch itself is important. The specific number of my watch is E0741/1950. For what it's worth, I would be more than happy to offer a substantial reward for the safe return of my 'fiddy ~

Thanks in advance for your help ~
Aurelio
(e) asisto_alt@yahoo.com


<br />

"Veritatem dies aperit."

On Salman's idea, the community rallied to start a fund to have Aurelio's Pam127 replaced! We even managed to create a website to track all of the participants (link below). It was almost unbelievable as to how fast the target was reached.

best
k



Feb 4, 2005 12:19 PM
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Hello Paneristi,

By now I'll assume that most of you know the story: we had another wonderful NYC get together, and a good time was had by all. Then, out of the blue, the night was marred by a most unfortunate and unprecedented event.....Aurelio's 1950 was STOLEN from the restaurant. After much effort to get it back, there was no luck to be had....the watch is gone. His insurance covered a very small percentage (about $1000), and just like that our main man was out of one of his most cherished possessions.

Well, this is a tight little community, and one that cares very much about it's members, so hardly more than a day had passed when Salman proposed a fundraiser to get the Fiddy back. It's taken some time and effort, but we now have what we think is the best set up to do that:


the OPERATION SAVE THE FIDDY webpage.


If you are interested in making a donation to help the man who has helped, informed and entertained so many, please click on the link above and follow the instructions on the page that our man Kanellos so skillfully created.

Feel free to bookmark this link, and check in often as we update the list with all the generous donations, and update the graphic to represent our progress towards the goal: getting back the Fiddy. If anyone has any questions or concerns, please feel free to email me at chrisfrazer_2000@yahoo.com with the subject line "Aurelio's Fiddy."

Thanks!

Regards,
Chris


Amicizia e Passione!


"Veritatem dies aperit."

Some of the final details of the Aurelio Fiddy Fund.....


March 11 2005 at 5:56 PM
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since I know some people have been asking about how it all worked out.

First I should mention that the final total cost is not yet in. As many of you know, when you order a watch from the Panerai boutique, you get a nice little bill from Fedex a few weeks after the fact. In general, this bill has been ~$200, but that's still an estimate until we see the numbers in print.

As for the final tally, we raised (after Aurelio's $1000 of insurance money and the fee that paypal took) ~$7800. A few of the people involved in the planning decided that we should stop just short of $8000 since I didn't really know how much money I was yet to receive in check form, so we actually ended up closing just a little bit early (ie. shy of $8K)

The bill from the Florence boutique was paid by UncleJay on his AMEX card. He was dinged for 6000Euro...which equates to ~USD$8050. Add to that the customs duty as previously mentioned, and you can see that there won't be any surplus.

Again, this was a WONDERFUL effort, and nothing short of AMAZING IMO. We raised the money in just shy of 48 hours...which is incredible. From that point, there were various delays as Panerai searched high and low for a brand new fiddy that could be recalled to the Florence boutique for Aurelio. One was located in Asia and shipped back to the HK boutique. From there, it was shipped to Patrizia in Florence and on to Aurelio in NYC. As you can see from his posts, he just got it the other day. Mission accomplished!!!!

I hope that answers any questions or concerns about the "Fiddy Fund." If anyone out there is interested in any more information, I remain at your service.

Regards,
Chris



"Veritatem dies aperit."

One more "Fiddy" update... getting close ~



February 9 2005 at 1:15 PM
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Thought I would chime in this time, and give Chris a break It's been a few days since you've heard any updates, so I thought I would fill you in on what's happening now...

Well, this little 'fund drive' has been nothing short of mind-blowing; in less than 48 hours, you hit the magic number! WOW!!! This has given me such a high, that it's hard to explain. Yeah, yeah - I'll get a watch 'back'; but to see everyone come out, chip in and/or just express some wonderful sentiments is just amazing. A perfect example: people I don't even know have e-mailed me saying "We don't know each other, but I've been lurking and appreciate some of the things you've done... " and "I see how this community sticks together, and I think it's wonderful; I want to be a part of this..." What do you say to that? Where else do you get this, besides family?

I know that there are more important things out there in the world to worry about, and in some ways this is a little weird for me. So, please allow me to stop and thank you again for all of this; for coming in and being so generous - over 110 of you. Fantastic friends indeed. Maybe family is more appropriate here ~

The little big man called Jay has been working the phone w/PB........ good news - he and PB were able to find a NIB 1950, and it will be sent out from the Florence boutique shortly after payment is coordinated today/tomorrow. If things go smoothly, it should hit early next week. I'll post pics as the next and final chapter of this book

Thank you, Salman, for getting this thing started.
Thank you, Ken, for using your great talent and imagination in putting together such a website.


Thank you, Jay, for sticking with the folks overseas and hunting down a 127.
Thank you, Milan, for your efforts; even though this hit a snag early on, I appreciate you wanting to help.
Thank you, Philippe, for the good words and helping Jay in his search.
Thank you, Chris, for just about everything else - updating everyone, taking care of the chickens and keeping this together. No small task... love ya, buddy ~


And, thank you to all my fellow Paneristi, for doing something that I never expected. Nor can I explain how it's made me feel - to go from such a sense of loss, to fulfillment and rejuvenation... for that I'm grateful ~




Peace, love and family ~
Aurelio


"Veritatem dies aperit."

True, they've made 1950 of the PAM 127, but none are as nice as this one...


March 10 2005 at 12:12 PM
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# 1853 has landed my way...


Sorry - no pictures yet, don't have a camera handy; however, I'll get some posted up soon - you
can bank on that

I've also enrolled my fat, lazy Basset Hound into the K-9 training regiment at the NYPD.
That way, at least this one won't go anywhere (yeah, right. If you knew Sneakers - all she'd do
is lick you to death).

Seriously, thank you to one and all that were involved in helping me recoup this... I'm truly
grateful and don't know what else I could say. It's greatly appreciated ~
Gotta get back to work, as I've been swamped (and trying to recoup from being sick, too :-P ).
But I thought you'd want to know it's finally here

Again, thanks so much...
Aurelio


"Veritatem dies aperit."

I've said before, and will say it one more time...

"Thanks" to all that helped me get such a special watch 'back', after the ordeal that happened late January
(with my original '1950' being stolen). Well, I wanted really commemorate this, and share this with you, since
this one is even more special now


Here's a shot of the engraving work I had done to my 1950 ~








Everytime I like at this - I'll be smiling
Couldn't find a better group to be associated with ~

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart...

All the best!
Aurelio

"Veritatem dies aperit."