Panerai Release Limited Edition Submersible Forze Speciali Collection

Panerai are best known for two things: one, their enormous diving watches and two, for being Italian. With those two facts in mind, a partnership between them and the Italian special forces, the Forze Speciali, is a match made in heaven. This partnership takes the form of two new versions of the Panerai Submersible called the Submersible Forze Speciali and Submersible Forze Speciali Experience Edition.

Structurally and mechanically the watches are the same with 47mm diameter cases (yes that’s huge, but even smaller Submersibles are big, like the 44mm QuarantaQuattro) that provide 300m water resistance, made from titanium with black DLC coating and ceramic bezels. They’re also both chronographs with regatta timers. What differentiates them is their aesthetics: the regular Forze Speciali version has a blue bezel in tribute to the Marina Militare frogmen while the Experience Edition is more traditionally military focussed with a green bezel and matching camo strap.

Both dials are black with a bicompax chronograph layout consisting of small seconds at 9 o’clock and a 12-hour timer at 3 o’clock. A nice touch is the fact the subdials are styled after crosshairs, emphasising the military vibe. The peripheral regatta timer has also been reinterpreted as a “rendezvous timer” to give it a military theme too. It has a grey segment from 12 to 6 and a coloured segment from 6 to 12 with graduations from 30 down to 0.

The rendezvous timer is used in conjunction with the calibre P.9100/R’s central chronograph minutes and seconds hands. For each press of the pusher at 4 o’clock the chronograph minutes hand jumps backwards by one minute, allowing you to set its start position on the rendezvous scale.

Then, with one press of the stop/start pusher it will begin to count down to the rendezvous. When the chronograph minutes hand meets the target point, it will begin to calculate the elapsed time since the rendezvous was supposed to occur. You can see how it’s a fun, military restyling of a regatta timer – a function originally designed to count down to the start of a boat race.

As for availability and prices, the Forze Speciali is limited to 300 pieces at £25,500 and the Forze Speciali Experience Edition is limited to 50 pieces at £47,500. However, as the name suggests the Experience Edition comes with an invite to Italy to partake in an experience with the Italian Special Forces, joining them on exercises and putting the watch through its paces. That’s sure to be quite the rendezvous.