Pagani Design, model by model
If you have spent five minutes looking at affordable homages, you have seen Pagani Design. It is the brand that took the homage idea mainstream: Seiko NH35 automatics, ceramic bezels, sapphire crystals, and prices that mostly sit under $130. Here is what they are good at, where they fall short, and the right Pagani for each icon.
What Pagani gets right
Value, mainly. For roughly a hundred dollars you get a genuine automatic movement (the Seiko NH35, a workhorse that runs for years), a real ceramic or sapphire bezel on many models, and a design that reads instantly as the watch it references. For a first automatic, or a beater version of a design you love, nothing offers this much for the money.
Where it falls short
Two places. The bracelets and clasps are the usual weak point, often the first thing owners upgrade. And quality control is a lottery: most pieces are fine, but bezel alignment and lume can vary unit to unit. Step up to San Martin money and both problems largely go away. Pagani is about maximum look for minimum spend, not last-detail fidelity.
The right Pagani for each icon
- PD-1662 — the Pepsi GMT that made the brand. A true independently-set 24-hour hand for around $122. Note the movement is a Pearl DG5833, not the Seiko NH34 widely claimed for it; Pagani sells the NH34 version as a separate model at about $320. Amazon ↗
- PD-1664 — the panda Daytona look on a snappy meca-quartz chronograph. Amazon ↗
- PD-1728 — the Nautilus porthole case and grooved dial, the reason Pagani sells out. Amazon ↗
- PD-1673 — the octagonal Royal Oak silhouette with exposed screws. Amazon ↗
- PD-1645 — fluted bezel, jubilee bracelet, cyclops date and a 100m rating. The affordable Datejust look, but built at 42mm against the original's 36mm. Amazon ↗
- PD-1693 — the Explorer II freccione: orange 24-hour hand, fixed bezel, 42mm and a real 200m rating. Amazon ↗
- PD-1751 — a clean 36mm three-hander with sapphire and 200m; Pagani calls it a Ranger homage. Amazon ↗
- PD-1651 — one of the visually closest Yacht-Master homages going. Amazon ↗
One model to be careful with: the PD-1644
The PD-1644 is recommended all over the internet as a Cartier Santos homage, and it is not one. Pagani's own store lists it as a round 40mm chronograph on a Seiko VK63 meca-quartz, sold on Oyster and Jubilee bracelets and filed in their Daytona family — no square case, no exposed bezel screws. We repeated that mistake ourselves until August 2026. If you want the square Cartier look, no Pagani model delivers it; if you want another VK63 chronograph, the PD-1644 is a perfectly good one.