Panerai Launch Radiomir Viaggio Nel Tempo Experience Set

At this point, the Panerai Experience Watch concept is well established: buy a watch, be invited to an experience. It’s something they’ve been doing for close to five years now and so there are plenty of examples of previous experiences they’ve offered that range from city breaks in Italy to scaling mountains in Bhutan with explorer Mike Horn. The latest experience edition comes in the form of the Radiomir Viaggio nel Tempo Experience Set – the first time that an experience edition has consisted of more than one watch. And if you’re wondering, ‘Viaggio nel Tempo’ translates in English to Time Travel.

Unfortunately, Panerai haven’t invented an actual time machine (yet). What they instead mean is that the experience will consist of visiting the modern places in Italy that have historic significance to the brand. Starting in Florence with a visit to the Florentine boutique which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year and then following the route of Italian Navy Frogmen to their coastal training facilities and finally a yacht tour along the Ligurian coast. Much more on the relaxed end of the experience spectrum rather than scrambling over mountains. Even if you’re not the Panerai die-hard this is evidently designed for, what’s not to love about a coastal Italian getaway?

While both watches are Radiomirs that measure a very broad 47mm with 100m water resistance, the similarities between the two ends there. The Radiomir Viaggio nel Tempo Experience PAM01729 features a bronze case while the Radiomir Viaggio nel Tempo Experience PAM01730 is platinum, using Panerai’s proprietary alloy called Platinumtech. The bronze version features a titanium caseback to protect your wrist from staining and dirt as the bronze develops its distinctive patina over time. The dichotomy of bronze and platinum reflects the historic transition Panerai made from a military maritime specialist to luxury maison.

The Radiomir Viaggio nel Tempo dials also reflect some of Panerai’s history via two of their most famous displays. The PAM01729 has a black grained dial in a California layout, meaning that it uses Roman numerals above the 9 – 3 o’clock axis and Arabic numerals below. It’s a style associated with dive watches because it adds a definitive orientation to the display making it easier to read at a glance while also keeping the majority of numerals rather than abstract markers to avoid any timing mistakes in military scenarios. The PAM01730 instead has the classic Panerai sandwich dial with a multi-layer construction that has cut-out markers exposing a layer of lume below.

Both watches have exhibition casebacks revealing the movements inside. The PAM01729 uses the P.3000 while the PAM01730 uses the P.3001/10. The primary difference is that the P.3001/10 is skeletonised while the P.3000 isn’t, giving dramatically different appearances to the two movements. Further to that, the P.3001/10 has an extra power reserve indicator visible on the back which is absent from the other. Both offer a 72-hour power reserve with double power barrel construction.

There are 30 sets of the two watches available, presented in special mahogany cases and priced at €145,000 (approx. £126,500) – available from June. If you are fortunate enough to be in a position to pick one up, you should clear your calendar for the 15th-18th of September, which is when the Viaggio nel Tempo Experience is set to take place.

More details at Panerai.