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AOpposite page, the genesis of the new Luminor Marina Militare PAM05218 in the drawings by the Panerai’s Laboratorio di Idee (laboratory of deas, ed. note). To side, the watch, a model that marks a return to its roots for the brand of Florentine origin
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In 1993 the uncontrolled reaction between tritium and the paint used for counters and hands on a watch designed for members of the Italian navy turned some examples into rare collectable objects. Their unique nature is now recreated by Panerai in the new Luminor PAM05218 by Diego Tamone - ph. courtesy by Panerai
At first glance something seems out of place. In fact there’s one aspect of Panerai’s Luminor Marina Militare PAM05218 that a lay person could interpret as the result of a moment’s carelessness – an aficionado of the brand, though, will see it as a message in a bottle, floating down through time for more than thirty years. The colour of the luminescent substance deposited on the hour and minute hands doesn’t match that of the coating on the indexes. For the brand of Florentine origin this intriguing detail is a subtle self-tribute. It is an aesthetic reference to a
model designed for members of the Italian Navy in 1993, the year when Panerai stepped away from producing timepieces under military secrecy for the Marina Militare (the Italian Navy, editor’s note) and opened up to the civilian market. A chemical reaction between the tritium and the paint led to this unwanted anomaly in the early models of the production run, making them part of the resulting much sought-after collection renamed “non-matching”. A rarity, exactly like the new Luminor Marina Militare PAM05218, a manually-wound model that marks the brand’s return to an approach more closely linked to its origins, a reversal of the trend compared
Above, from left: a detail of the crown protection bridge; the closed case back with the familiar OP logo. Below, the Luminor Marina Militare PAM05218 equipped with leather strap with a trapezoidal buckle
to the recent past. In steel protected by a DLC coating, a finish that as well as giving the case its black colour also provides greater resistance, the watch features a dial with recessed indexes. This solution creates a three-dimensional effect without using the classic sandwich structure made famous by Panerai’s vintage timepieces. panerai.com
