Officine Panerai

tony p
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Further Panerai photos from SIHH 2010

First up, three of the new 42mm-cased "dress" Radiomirs.

New for this year, the P.999 manual-wind in-house calibre at 12'" and 3.4mm thickness, is smaller than previous Panerai in-house movements, allowing the development of a smaller, thinner, and (dare I say it) more feminine line of Radiomir cases.

PAM00336 Radiomir "Oro Rosa" 42mm, brushed rose gold case with polished RG front and rear bezels and brown dial (not easily seen on my photo) -





The new 19-jewel, 21,600vph movement, designed and produced at Panerai's Neuchâtel manufacture, is a little dressier and less "tool-like" than last year's 9000-series automatic movements; yet it still packs a handy and very Radiomirish 60-hour power reserve -





The P.999 movement also features a swan-neck regulator. According to Panerai, every single movement in this 500-piece numbered edition is "millesimised", which I believe means that the movement is numbered to match the case.

The PAM00336 comes on a dark brown alligator strap with a rose gold pin buckle.


Next up: from the same series, here's the PAM00338 Radiomir "Titanio" 42mm, brushed titanium case with polished front bezel.





The caseback bezel on this one is not polished. Why? Dunno. Possibly an aesthetic decision; polished Ti has a rather odd, gun-metal sheen which may simply have looked a little weird on this watch. I think brushed is the right choice.





I really like the architecture of the movement bridges in this piece. There's a lot more "on show" than in previous Panerai movements, a trend which is also very apparent in the new PAM348  "Lo Scienziato" LE piece (which I was not allowed to photograph - harummph!) and which I suspect reflects a new direction for Panerai in future movement releases.





The third release in this mini-series of "historic" smaller Panerai Radiomirs is the PAM00337 in polished SS. This is slightly cheaper than the Titanio, and like the Titanio, is not a limited or numbered edition -





New for the Contemporary line is the PAM00359, a stainless steel Luminor Marina 1950 with black dial featuring a new, attractive mustard-yellow luminous material showing through its sandwich dial. Panerai have drawn further attention to this colour by putting all the hour markers on the dial (except at 3 o'clock, where the date window has its numbers in the same mustard-yellow colour against a black background - they got this so right!) -





Another nice bit of colour-coordination on this piece is the strap stitching, which will pose a delicious problem for strap-change enthusiasts -





The PAM00359 is equipped with a P.9000 3-day automatic movement, has a 44mm case and 300m water-resistance. The entire case is in polished SS with the exception of the crown-protection device, which is brushed SS.

I really liked this piece. With somewhat limited production of 3000 pieces and a very attractive price-point, I predict this will be a hot release for Panerai in 2010.


Now to the undisputed star of the show, the piece everyone is trying to get their hands on:





The PAM00339 Marina Militare in a "composite" Radiomir case. As has been exhaustively reported elsewhere on this forum, the case is produced by "ceramicising" an aluminium base. This is an electrochemical deposition process whereby the aluminium frame is dipped in a bath of aluminium oxide salts, through which a powerful current is then applied. The frame acts as a dipole, drawing the ions to its surface to build up an aluminium oxide coating which is said to be harder and more scratch-resistant even than ceramic, while less brittle. It's also very light, and indeed, the PAM00339 is a very light watch.

Panerai chose to equip this model with a solid caseback in the same composite material - another good choice, as this watch is all about the history and the materials, not the movement -





There's so much to like about this piece - it's a Militare, it has Panerai's P.2002/7 8-day calibre, its dial sports the much-loved "8 giorni brevettato" circular inscription at 3 o'clock, and last but not least, the supplied vintage leather strap, whose stitching matches the honey-mustard SuperLuminova elements on the dial and hands, is a thing of great visual and tactile beauty.





All these elements combine together to create a watch which I can best describe as "woody" - a sentiment which appears to be shared by droves of Paneristi, judging by the immediate response. I rang my dealer on Tuesday, the second day of SIHH - and he had already filled his quota. -sigh-





Oh, one last detail - the 339's large "historic"-style tang buckle is supplied in the same composite material. Indeed it could not have been otherwise.


As previously mentioned, I was not permitted to photograph either of the two "specialty" releases for 2010 - the PAM00348 "Lo Scienziato" (48 Radiomir tourbillon GMT Ceramica skeleton, LE 30 pieces) or the PAM00365 "L'Astronomo" (Luminor 1950 EOT tourbillon in 50mm Ti case). However, I did get that chance with the PAM00300 Mare Nostrum -





Now, for the benefit of those Japanese WWII soldiers who've been holed up on a small Pacific island with no Internet access for the past sixty years, I'll explain that the PAM00300 is an ultra-faithful recreation of an original prototype watch produced for the Italian Navy in 1943. Research suggests that only three prototypes were ever produced, and the original Mare Nostrum never went into production, its client (the Italian Navy) being overtaken by subsequent historic events.

All relevant documentation was lost in the 1964 Florence deluge; however, one of the original prototypes was later recovered, and has been faithfully copied down to (almost) every last detail for this new collector's piece.


The original prototype was displayed prominently in one of Panerai's external display windows, through which I took this rather oddly-coloured snap -





Needless to say, the dial is not actually green. Zooming back, here's a wider view of the same display window, with the historic prototype below, and its replica above and to the rear -





Apparently the original watch was intended to contain an Angelus movement. Perhaps because no such movements could be obtained in 2010, Officine Panerai decided that it was appropriate to furnish their replica with a different but equally historic chronograph movement, of appropriate size and design to the piece -





Yes, it's a Minerva column-wheel chronograph movement, an imposing 16 3/4'" in size (although it's dwarfed by the 52mm case of the Mare Nostrum), and running at 18,000vph (same rate as the Angelus). Another good choice from Panerai, although I question their decision to replace any Minerva branding with their own Panerai logo on the bridge. Was this perhaps due to contractual restraints? Is it possible that Montblanc wish to reserve the Minerva name purely for movements featured in their Villeret range...?





Anyway, the movement has been designated the Panerai OP XXV calibre. To my eyes it looks very similar, if not identical, to the Minerva movement found in 2008's Ferrari Cronografo FER00024, which was a limited edition of 50 pieces.





The lugs are integrated into the case, resulting in some very appealing lines when viewed from the side. I also like the Mare Nostrum's round pushers set into recessed apertures, and the "MARE NOSTRUM" inscription on the crown -





Panerai went to considerable lengths to make the rest of the watch a faithful replica of their prototype - even to the extent of replicating that piece's double-ring front bezel, affixed with three rather ordinary-looking screws around its knurled perimeter -





Some have questioned the Mare Nostrum's steep asking price, but my guess is they will all be snapped up quite quickly. We are, after all, talking one of these for every ten Egiziani. Serious Panerai collectors will simply have to have this one...price be damned.

All in all, the PAM00300 is a very appealing watch, in the honest roughness of its case design, combined with the finesse of its gorgeous Minerva-based calibre. Who knows, at 52mm this piece might even be wearable for certain more well-nourished Panerai aficionadi.






Many thanks to Officine Panerai for allowing me to photograph these watches last week.



Cheers
Tony P




This message has been edited by AnthonyTsai on 2010-02-02 19:24:26