Which PANArt Hang Were Sold Under Contract?

You may (or may not) be aware that some PANArt Hang were sold under contract by PANArt to those who purchased them directly from the makers.  From time-to-time you’ll see this mentioned within the details of eBay listings, and the like, “No Contract”, or see potential buyers enquiring as to whether a particular Hang being offered for sale is under contract.  So, we’ll explore the issue of PANArt Hang contracts a little further here.

The Contract itself requested that PANArt be offered pre-emptive rights to purchase back the Hang from the buyer, should they be looking to part with it, and/or that the resale price of the Hang, within the open market (should PANArt not wish to purchase it back), should be for no more, than the original acquisition price.

This agreement was created in attempt to combat the rocketing prices for second-hand Hang, sold on sites like eBay, etc.  where Hang were (and continue to be) sold for many times their original purchase price.  And came into place in 2008 with the distribution of the Integral Hang.  

First generation Hang are the most numerous (with roughly 4300 produced) and these were sold without and kind of stipulations, or strings attached, so we can say that most Hang were not sold by PANArt under contract.  However, it is known that some owners of earlier generation Hang who returned their instruments to PANArt for retuning, and other maintenance work, at a later date, were also required to sign-up to this contract, before the work was carried out.  But in general, only Hang made after 2008, from the Integral Hang onwards, were sold with contracts attached to them.

As a point of note, it has been speculated that the contract itself, is more of a “Gentleman’s Agreement” and would hold very little weight in a court of law.  Yet, while it exists, arguably only, as a pinky-swear, between owner, and maker - It is much rarer to see PANArt's more recent creations being offered for sale through the usual channels, than earlier models not sold under contract - thus far.
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