This year Panerai decided it’s time to fully focus on its most instrumental collection the Submersible. Six new executions of the Luminor Submersible 1950 were launched and here we focus on a steel, a titanium, a red gold and a very interesting and innovative BMG-Tech version.
All six new Luminor Submersible 1950 models are fitted with the P.9010 automatic calibre, with a power reserve of three days that was entirely developed and produced at the Panerai Manufacture in Neuchâtel. The calibre features a date, a classic small seconds counter at 9 o’clock, a mechanism for stopping the balance wheel and a device for changing the time by moving the hour hand backwards or forwards in jumps of one hour without interfering with the running of the watch.
The new Submersibles come in different materials AND sizes. Pictured side by side are the Luminor Submersible 1950 3 Days Automatic Titanio – 47mm (PAM01305) which is made of titanium, and the Luminor Submersible 1950 3 Days Automatic Acciaio – 42mm (PAM00682). Same idea, different size, completely different look. 5mm sure makes a world of difference. What is the same for these two steel dving watches are the white markings and hands on the black dial are white, and the Panerai blue small seconds hand at 9 o’clock. Green Super-LumiNova is applied to the markers, hands and graduated scale. The minute hand and the stud at 12 o’clock on the bezel glow with a bright blue.
The 47mm is the big professional’s toolwatch and the 42mm is the much more wearable 42mm sportswatch with pro-diving credentials – like the big one, the small one is water-resistant to a depth of 300 meters (30 bar). This actually is the first time Panerai presents a Submersible watch in a 42 mm case and they didn’t stop at the steel version. The red gold Luminor Submersible 1950 – 3 Days Automatic Oro Rosso – 42mm (PAM00684) is shiny bit of kit and the least professional of the line. This is for the guy or gal who loves to dip a toe in lukewarm water but wants to look the part. The PAM00684 may be a luxury sportswatch it is still water-resistant to a depth of 100 meters (10 bar) so it can do a little more than just sit pretty.
The most technical execution of the lot is without a doubt the Luminor Submersible 1950 BMG-TECH 3 Days Automatic (PAM00692). And now you want to know what BMG-TECH stands for. Well it stands for Bulk Metallic Glass. The look of BMG is quite simular to titanium – maybe a hint darker like tantalum – but it’s atomic structure is completely different and that means the material is extremely wear resistant and it’s very strong and very light at the same time: ideal for a diving watch. The metallic glass is made from a special glass-like alloy consisting of zirconium, copper, aluminium, titanium and nickel. The material is subjected to a high-pressure injection process at a high temperature and then gets cooled very quickly so that the atoms do not have enough time to become arranged in an ordered, regular structure, as normally happens in crystals. Order is weak in this case and chaos is strong. And so are all the new Submersibles.
Pictures by Kristian Haagen
