well the panerais really all look the same if u r NOT a pam fan. only after u collect, u see the differences and u will start noticing them alot.
as collectors, don't u think we all notice the small little things, and becos of the obsession we chase after these little perfections.
for ex: i don't like the word marina on my watch, i don't like the hobnail dial, i don't like my dial without a logo. etc. etc. etc.
becos of all this small little things, then u focus to find ur perfect pam.
i.e. i like the word LUMINOR PANERAI together at the top. (this cuts out all the current historic models 000,005, etc etc etc).
but i don't like that there's no OP logo at the bottom to balance out. (this cuts out EVEN MORE models)
so this basically squeezes my choice to 360, 5218/201A, and maybe a 390 if i can accept without OP logo.
it's becos of so many models, which is why we are given choice to select.
recently, panerai even came out with dials with submarines (PIGS), which was never out before except for the 292J. do u see this as "look the same"? for us, it's a world of difference, since we cannot find this submarine on other pams esp luminor 44mm.
as for so many new SEs and LEs coming out, you don't have to buy all of them. just buy what u want/like, what u want in a pam can be really chosen just based on a few things:
example : luminor 44mm
(1) polished/brushed case
(2) auto/winding
(3) date/without
(4) base/with subseconds
(5) any other special functions GMT, PR, chrono
(6) black clean dial/tobacco/hobnail
(7) sandwich/painted fonts
(

new addition would be : color of fonts? (green L or faux patina ?)