The Cult that is Panerai

I joined the Panerai cult on my birthday. For those of you who aren't in the know, the Panerai is a timepiece created by the Italian military that enabled their frogmen to adequately carry out their attacks on the allied powers on time. The watch used an element that the company called radiomir that glowed in the dark, and on a 44mm watch face, was as bright as the glow in the darks even many feet below the ocean. My father, who as of late had been privy to Omega and Swatch watches prior to learning about the cult that is Panerai, bestowed upon me such a watch (he has given me all of my watches sans one), a PAM000111 to be exact. He already bought himself and my mother Panerai's and decided he needed to buy another one, for me. My mother's is a 00117 with 48 bling blings, so this one costs about the same money as a new Honda Civic. Crazy eh? Anyway, the watch company was acquired by Vendome a few years back, the same company that owns Rolex, Cartier, etc. Its a monster timepiece, very simple yet elegant at the same time.