Luminor

Panerai Luminor 1950 10 Days GMT Limited Edition

Shop around for an automatic wristwatch and you're likely to find mechanisms that will keep their time on the shelf for a day, two days, maybe more. Panerai's latest, however, is capable of keeping a power reserve for a whopping ten days without moving it an inch.

The ultra-exclusive Luminor 1950 10 Days GMT Limited Edition is constricted to just 100 examples, all of which will be sold at the Swiss-Italian watchmaker's store in the Taipei 101 building in Taiwan. In addition to the ten-day power reserve and the usual hours, minutes and seconds hands, it features a date window, a secondary time zone display and an AM/PM indicator. Nice work if you can get it, but it'll set you back $17,250 if you can.

Source

Tags: gmt, luminor, panerai, panerai luminor, Panerai Luminor 1950 10 Days GMT Limited Edition, power reserve

Panerai PAM359 Luminor 1950 Marina Watch

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

A relatively minor new introduction, the Panerai PAM 359 is still one of my favorite new Panerai watches for 2010. Why? Well this is the first Luminor Marina style Panerai in decades with full Arabic numerals (that I know of). Usually you get just a few of the hours with Arabic numerals, and the rest are simple markers. Here though, you get a full dial with actual numerals in a way that is still very much Panerai. The 12, 6, and 9 are larger - assisting with adherence to the classic look. The numerals are in lume, recessed a bit under a matte black dial. The watch case is in steel and 44mm wide, and water resistant to 300 meters. There is a sapphire crystal on the front and back of the watch.

Inside the PAM359 is Panerai's in-house made P.9000 automatic movement with a 3 day power reserve, subsidiary seconds counter, and the date. Having an in-house movement of course increases the desirability of the piece to collectors. For me, placing all Arabic numerals on the dial actually makes it easier to read and plays with the Panerai look in a good way. Price is in the $7,500 vicinity.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: 1950, 2010, luminor, marina, PAM 359, Panerai, watch

Panerai Luminor 1950 8 Days Rattrapante Watch In Pink Gold

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Panerai will release a new pink gold limited edition Luminor 1950 watch (ref. PAM00319) with manually wound movement with 8 days of power reserve as well as a split second (rattrapante) chronograph. An all gold Panerai like this is pretty rare, and it uses the Panerai manufacture made P.2006/3 movement. The movement is manually wound with an 8 day power reserve (shown on the linear power reserve indicator scale). You also get the split second 30 minute chronograph that Panerai always knows how to cleanly integrate. In order to keep the case looking simple, the chronograph pushers are on the left side of the case.

The watch case is 47mm wide in pink gold done in a brushed finish. The bezel however is nicely done with a polished finish to show off that Panerai dazzle. It is certainly blingy for the Italian brand but still goes along with the character they seek to preserve. The rich brown colored alligator strap has a pink gold buckle. You can see the interestingly made movement through the sapphire caseback, and the watch is still a Panerai being water resistant to 100 meters. Only 300 of the watches will be made and the price will likely above $20,000. A nice looker, certainly a Panerai in all respects, and likely to be a hit with collectors.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Gallery: Panerai Luminor 1950 8 Days Rattrapante Watch In Pink Gold

Tags: 1950, chronograph, gold, limited edition, LimitedEdition, luminor, pam00319, panerai, rattrapante, timepiece, watch

The Classicist: Panerai Past & Present

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Books, Men's Style, The Classicist

Photo by Éric Sauvage and Nils Herrmann

Officine Panerai, founded in Florence in 1860, makes some of the most coveted wristwatches in the world. They only produce a limited number of timepieces every year, and there's usually a long waiting list for new models costing several thousands of dollars. The company is credited with perfecting the world's first underwater watches in the thirties; many have imitated its oversized style and the numerous devoted Panerai collectors around the globe are known as "Paneristi." Since 1996 the company has also produced a line of watches for Ferrari and serves as the marque's official timekeeper. An impressive new slipcased volume, called simply Panerai, about to be published by Flammarion, details the fascinating history of these beautiful watches.

Early on the company became the official supplier to the Marina Militare (the Royal Italian Navy), initially providing optical and mechanical instruments. In 1910 they began experimenting with luminous materials to make the instrument dials visible in the dark. In 1936 the Marina Militare asked Panerai to develop a wristwatch suitable for use by commandos under extreme conditions. Thus was born the oversized, water-resistant, luminous dial Radiomir, production of which began in 1938, cementing a place for Panerai in the pantheon of the world's great watchmakers.

Gallery: Panerai: Past & Present