Reinventing History Again

WORLDTEMPUS - January 20, 2011

Kristian Haagen


At SIHH, Panerai continues to show many in-house calibers and exotic materials such as a black composite, and this year even debuts a watch with a case made of bronze and boasting a green dial. While this is good and exiting, Panerai is best when it integrates the brand “story,” which includes historical models originating in 1930s and '40s: watches made with a purpose and with a size not dictated by fashion but by profession. In this case, Italian military divers.



One of the retro-styled products presented at SIHH 2011 is the 47-millimeter PAM372 1950 Luminor with a three-day power reserve movement from the new P.3000 manual wind collection. The hefty watch is fitted with a so-called sandwich dial, meaning a dial consisting of two layers. The “top” dial is perforated, allowing the luminous underplate to shine through.

This twin-layered dial is no novelty, but rather a construction found on the very first Panerai watches from the early years. This watch's crystal is not the usual sapphire, but made of Plexiglas to closely emulate the original. This may sound like a cheap solution to some – and, of course, it is cheaper than to a domed sapphire crystal – however this is also a feature inspired by the original wartime timepieces.



Furthermore, the Plexiglas should be appreciated for visual aesthetic reasons as it displays less distortion in relation to the perforated Arabic numerals on the sandwich dial. The use of tinted Luminova gives the watch an instant vintage look.

The vintage look is evidenced in the strap as well. The pre-worked hides used for the strap fitted to the PAM372 look like they have already seen some battle, adding yet another vintage feel to this 47-millimeter ticking storyteller, which shows off the latest caliber when one looks through the transparent sapphire crystal case back.

Reference PAM372 will be manufactured in a sizable amount of 3,000 units, which is undoubtedly good news to hard core Paneristi who not had the chance to buy into low-production special editions such as the historic pieces from the 1930s and '40s.



The PAM372 is priced around 7,000 euros depending on local VAT. This is a decent price considering the in-house movement as well as the amazing story this particular model tells.