Panerai, it would seem, is determined to make us reconsider how a Panerai should be secured to one’s wrist. I think it’s fair to say that leather, fabric or perhaps rubber are still considered the norm, with any of the steel bracelets still provoking a bit of a double take. This is perhaps surprising for a brand that bases so much of its story on being in or under the water, but those original WW2 dive instruments would have been secured on leather, so the associative precedent was set long ago.
But the brand’s latest watch might just be the one to change that perception once and for all.
The Luminor Marina Specchio Blu features a newly refined version of the integrated steel bracelet that Panerai introduced in 2017, which echoed the silhouette of the Luminor’s iconic crown guard with a raised semi-circular section on each link while adding visual impact by arranging alternating polished and satin-finished links.
Panerai’s Laboratorio di Idee think tank (do watch brands really require think tanks?) has reworked the bracelet’s ergonomics and given consideration to robustness, with fewer screws now needed to hold everything together. The links are also thinner. In short, the bracelet should be (we’ve not had our hands on one yet) slinkier and more tactile, something which adds a great deal to the experience of owning a watch on a metal bracelet, both in terms of comfort and when you’re rolling the thing between your fingers like it’s a set of prayer beads.
It also answers the rather uninspiring way in which the two flat ends of the previous incarnation of the bracelet met at the deployant clasp. Panerai has engineered an interconnecting square central link engraved with the OP logo that bridges the join. It’s a much more premium solution that has served the likes of Audemars Piguet well for decades.
Inside its 44mm stainless steel case is an automatic in-house Calibre P.9010 movement with twin barrels and a three-day power reserve beating at 28,800vph.
The Luminor Marina, the variant with the small seconds at the nine o’clock, now dominates the Luminor collection making up all but two of the watches offered under that name, basically everything that isn’t a heritage design. The Specchio Blu is suitably contemporary with its deep blue sunray brushed sandwich dial with neon green Super-LumiNova indices and hands and while stainless steel bracelets tend to add an air of authority and robustness to a dive watch here the inclusion lends the Luminor Marina a touch of dressy sophistication.
Price & Specs:
Model Name: Panerai Luminor Marina Specchio Blu PAM1316
Case/Dial: 44mm diameter x 15.45mm thickness, satin 316L steel, blue satin soleil dial
Water Resistance: 300 meters (30 bar)
Movement: Panerai calibre P.9010, in-house, automatic, 31 jewels
Frequency: 28,000 vph (4 Hz)
Power Reserve: 72h (3 days)
Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds, date
Strap: Steel bracelet with dual button deployant clasp
Price & availability: £7,600 GBP / $8,500 USD excl. tax
More details at Panerai.
