Today's cyclical trend would have you believe the watch market is calling for smaller references across the board, with contemporary collectors trading the oversized statement pieces of the 2010s for something that disappears rather neatly under a cuff.
For Panerai, however, a brand that built its identity on beautifully rotund references that still work perfectly even at depths few of us would go, big was never really an aesthetic choice.
Through the 20th century, Panerai watches had to be seen from the other side of a submarine hull, in the dark, with almost no room at all for ambiguity. It was the Italian watchmaker’s calling card, and it became the reason the ever-loyal Paneristi returned year after year. So when the brand opts to give one of its most iconic collections a timely tune-up, we tend to take notice.
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On 10 September 1993, three watches came up on the deck of the Italian Navy vessel Durand de la Penne, moored in the military harbour at La Spezia. It was the perfect launchpad for the Italian brand, which had exclusively graced the wrists of Italy’s navy, introducing, for the first time, the Luminor Ref. 5218-201/A, the Luminor Marina Militare Ref. 5218-202/A, and the Mare Nostrum Ref. 5218-301/A into the civilian market.
The watches were emblematic of Panerai’s inherent DNA, with 44mm cushion cases, wire lugs, oversized numerals, and the classic sandwich dial. They were sharper, more angular than the old cushion shapes, with the crown bridge now built into the case profile rather than added on.
Fast forward three decades (and some change left over), and Panerai's taken that exact case and shrunk it to 42mm for the first time across today’s Luminor release, the PAM01710, PAM01711, and PAM01714.
Aesthetically, they boast the same commanding case, crown bridge, and monobloc build that made many of its predecessors “grail pieces” for collectors (specifically, the Panerai Luminor ref. 5218-201/A of which no more than 700 pieces were ever released), today sized for a lot more wrists than the 44mm original ever was.
All three run the P.980, a three-day automatic with a stop-seconds function, which can trace its lineage to the real Navy requirement that was universally used for synchronised timing underwater.
And in case you needed further proof that these pieces were in fact built for more than just the runway, each reference also carries an enviable water resistance of 50 bar, around 500 metres – tested 25% past that rating at Panerai's Neuchâtel manufacture. If you’re an Italian navy officer, you’d
On closer inspection, Panerai has updated the usual sandwich construction, opting to print the graphics straight onto a single dial plate with Super-LumiNova layered over the top.
It gives the numerals a raised, slightly 3D look – a quiet nod to the monolayer dials on those original 1993 watches. Everything else across the dial – the date, small seconds at 9 o'clock – is the exact layout Navy frogmen used to check a watch was actually running.
Released in three distinct colours, the collection still carries much of the military design language that made the Italian manufacture a modern mainstay in the horological conversation.
The PAM01710 is classic steel with a matte black dial, ivory lume, and beige canvas strap. The PAM01711 keeps the steel case but goes matte green across both the dial and canvas strap. And finally, the one that I want on my wrist (although I’d snap up all three), the PAM01714 is crafted with a steel DLC case in a deep black finish, a matte blue dial with contrasting beige Arabic numerals, and matching blue canvas strap.
The Luminor PAM01710 and PAM01711 are both priced at $10,500, whilst the blue model (ref. PAM01714) reaches $12,100 – which one can only assume is due to its diamond-like carbon case construction, which gives the watch even further durability.