Back in spring Panerai announced the launch of the Submersible Navy SEALs Afniotech Experience edition, a US military inspired timepiece with a hafnium case limited to 35 pieces. Now they’re releasing a non-limited counterpart to that watch that takes the same style cues but presents them in a steel case with a time and date movement that reduces the overall price to 1/6th of the special edition’s RRP.
Starting with the case, compared to the Afniotech version not only does it swap the material to steel but also it reduces the diameter from 47mm to 44mm. That means it’s still a very large watch but it’s significantly more wearable and practical. Not least because hafnium is a very dense metal so for once we can actually say that steel is the lightweight option. As a trade-off for this additional convenience the PAM01738 does have a lower water resistance rating but before you start complaining, that reduction brings it to 500m, so it’s still more than suited to being a professional military diver.
For the dial, it’s pretty much a direct lift from the Afniotech edition. It has a grainy texture with a dark grey to black fumé gradient. It uses circular hour markers with lume for that low light legibility and the tips of the partially skeletonised sword hands are also lumed. At 9 o’clock is a small seconds subdial with an orange tipped hand while at 3 o’clock is a date window. The only difference is the absence of a GMT hand as the PAM01738 doesn’t have a second time zone. At first glance it might seem like the dials are more different than they are because the new watch has a matte black bezel instead of a metallic one, which does change the framing of the display.
Given the change in complications, the new watch does use a different movement than its counterpart. Specifically, it’s the P.980 time and date movement with a 72-hour power reserve hitting that nice weekend-proof utility. For when you can take some time off of your day job in the Navy SEALS presumably. It’s protected by a steel screw-in caseback that was actually reinforced to help provide the 500m water resistance rating.
For pricing, I mentioned that the Submersible Navy SEALS PAM01738 is 1/6th of the price of the Afniotech edition so let’s start with the fact that watch costs £65,500. Meaning the PAM01738 is £10,400, which for any maths buffs out there is actually a little less than 1/6th. The standard steel Submersible 44mm is £8,900 so you’re paying £1,500 extra for 200m additional water resistance, the Navy SEALS connection, a ceramic bezel and the P.980 movement instead of the P.900. I’ve seen bigger price jumps for less benefits so that actually seems fairly reasonable.
Price and Specs:
More details at Panerai.
