The Panerai strap sale of the decade: Kostas Veni goes all in
By The Prodigal Fool, published on 3 October 2011
Regular readers will have heard us mention Kostas Veni in hushed, reverential tones before. He’s the humble young man who didn’t think much of the third party Panerai straps on the market so taught himself the art of watch strap making and now does it better than most. We’ve interviewed him and enjoyed the experience so much that we ended up giving him a contributor slot. He chose to write about how you make the perfect replica of a vintage Panerai strap. Fascinating stuff.
Anyway, we like to stay in touch with Kostas (he’s making a strap for The Fool’s own PAM 111 at the moment – more on that in a later post) and exchange emails regularly. At the end of his last email to us, in typical modest fashion, he made a rather innocuous reference to selling a few straps from his own collection. He included a link. We were in a hurry and almost didn’t click on it.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, we’re very glad indeed that we did because it turns out that what Kostas is doing is far more than selling a few straps. He’s putting a collection of 43 of the coolest, most original watch straps we’ve ever seen up for sale.
Why part with so much strap goodness in one go? Simple. Because before he was a strap maker, Kostas was a Paneristi. And this man’s got it bad. Real bad.
Like us, he’s fallen in love with the recently announced PAM 372. Unlike us, he’s willing to part with a substantial portion of his cherished collection to help fund it.
The photos to your right tell most of the story: the awesome cool of Panerai’s 372 vs the diversity and sheer fun embodied in the 43 straps Kostas is sacrificing. The tension is palpable. What could push a man into giving up his collection like this? What is going through his mind right now? Well, we thought it best to let him explain it all in his own words. So, The Fool tracked him down, gave him a stiff drink and set about getting to the heart of the matter.
The Prodigal Fool: “Kostas, are you out of your frigging mind!? Isn’t it agony giving up all these straps? What’s so special about the 372 anyway?”
Kostas: “Yeah, it is painful… But I really, really like the 372. It combines all the elements that make Panerai timeless. The plexi, the case which is shaped like the Radiomir but yet at the same time has the crown guard, the engraved sandwich dial and so on. Basically, every single detail of this watch is well thought-though and chock-full of Panerai DNA. Plus, of course, the new in-house movement is a bonus: all my other Panerai have the basic Unitas movements.Having said that, I’m not a movement freak; I wouldn’t care if it had a Unitas as well. Where some would criticise a Unitas for being cheap, I woud say easier and faster to fix if something goes wrong. Anyway, for me, the 372 is like buying a vintage Panerai but in brand new condition.”
The Prodigal Fool: “Okay, I totally understand the appeal of the 372. I’m rather partial to it myself. But selling all your straps for it, who does that add up?”
Kostas: “It’s true, I’m funding the purchase by selling my personal straps. The PAM372 is about EUR 6,900 and – hopefully – once I’ve sold all my straps, I will have reached that goal. That was the deal I had to make with my wife. Having recently bought the special edition Panerai 360 for Paneristi, there was no way she was going to stand for another watch purchase unless it ‘paid for itself’. So, I’m selling only straps that I owned from 2004 until today. I continue to make and sell custom-made straps for clients as usual too.”
The Prodigal Fool: “So of the 43 you’re selling, how many did you make as opposed to buy?”
Kostas: “About 15 are from 3rd party manufacturers and the rest are made by me over the last 5 years.”
The Prodigal Fool: “Who’s buying them? Do you find that people are snapping them up in bulk or choosing just one that they particularly like?”
Kostas: “Until now, each buyer has picked up one or two straps. So, pretty much individual sales. Not bulk orders.”
The Prodigal Fool: “Kostas, tell me the truth, you must be having second thoughts about this, right? Are you upset to be losing them?”
Kostas: “Yes I had MANY MANY hesitations.! I was sentimentally attached to my straps as I have been collecting them for a long time. Also, as a strap maker, I appreciate each and every different detail on them. Some people might look at them and think that they are 20 brown straps here. It’s not like that for me. I see different leathers, different stitching, buckles, styles and so on. Also some of the straps are quite rare and I am sure I will not be able to acquire them again in the future. There’s no doubt that at sometime in the future, I’ll see an old photo of them on my PAMs and I’ll regret selling them. BUT I had the opportunity to wear the 372 again last Monday at a Panerai showing and it simply made me go ahead with the sale.
The Prodigal Fool: “Okay, so please tell me you’re not selling ALL of your straps. You’re keeping a couple back, right?”
Kostas: “After I have sold those 43 straps, I will have 10 straps left. I decided to keep three for each Panerai I have (PAM112, PAM118, PAM360). For the 112 and 360, it was easy. But for my 118, my daily beater and the watch I change straps the most on, it was a very very difficult choice. To give you an idea, from my collection 2/3 of the straps were going to my 118 and the 1/3 to my 112 and 360 combined.”
The Prodigal Fool: “Any last words from the condemned man?”
Kostas: “Just that I wouldn’t have done this for any other Panerai.”
The Prodigal Fool: “You’re a true Paneristi, Kostas, genuinely mad for your PAMs. Good luck with the sale!”
If you’d like to see the strap sale of the decade in full, click here. But be quick, they’re going fast!
Photo credit: All photos of the Panerai PAM372 are from the excellent Panerai Wristwatch Blog.
The Panerai strap sale of the decade: Kostas Veni goes all in
Kostas Veni, renowned Panerai strap maker, is selling a fantastic collection of 43 straps. Why? To fund the purchase of a Panerai PAM 372 of course!
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4 Responses to “The Panerai strap sale of the decade: Kostas Veni goes all in”
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A genuine question; if you are having a strap made to measure, or indeed making one for yourself, why would the strap have more than one hole? The only watch straps that I wear that fluctuate in sizing are G10′s and that is due to the elongation of the hole or if I put my wedding ring on the strap when working.
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Kostas Venizelos
4 October 2011
Mark I do have straps with just one hole.. But I found out through the years that I always use two holes.. When for example is summer and I am in Greece my wrist gets bigger and wear it in a different hole than winter and UK.
Also it is the historically correct look I am sometimes trying to achieve.. Finally personally i do not like just one hole straps. It seems like something is missing. I have customers though who love one hole straps and I measure their custom straps to their wrist.. Feels more bespoke
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Mark Yardley
4 October 2011
I’m surprised you don’t have summer and winter straps!! Great collection by the way, I feel for you having to part with them. I (my wife) have the same rule for my toys, bikes, watches etc.
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Kostas Venizelos
3 October 2011
Thanks a lot for the article guys.. Although my collection may look quite impressive I have to warn you that if you get the Panerai bug this is a small exaggeration being somehow ‘allowed’ by my profession as a Strapmaker. I know collectors who have so many rare Panerai straps, that if they ever decide to sell them they can get a nice Patek (or two) with the proceeds
But I really doubt they will choose Patek anyway 
And as i had this unexpected promotion (although most of my straps are already sold – only 12 left but I am sure you may find something nice still) after my straps there is a watch that it has to go.. I know that this is not true for us freaks but too many watches and only two wrists..and of course not enough money..
So if you are interested for a fairly rare 2001 titanium Base Panerai (model 55C) email me.
Can’t wait to see Fool’s opinion about his vintage strap