Panerai have been working alongside adventurer Mike Horn for over two decades and in that time they’ve collaborated on plenty of watches together. It was only last November they released the Panerai Submersible GMT Titanio Mike Horn Experience Edition which comes with a trip to Bhutan included. Speaking of trips with Panerai, they’re offering an Oracle Time reader a free trip to Watches & Wonders 2025, make sure to sign up before January 31st for a chance to win. But for now, let’s talk about the new Panerai Submersible QuarantaQuattro Mike Horn Edition PAM01676.
Kicking things off, the watch is a pretty standard rendition of the steel Submersible QuarantaQuattro in the signature colours of the Mike Horn special editions. That means it has a 44mm diameter cushion case with the signature crown protection lock at 3 o’clock. It also has a ceramic insert bezel with uni-directional rotation that makes it nice and scratch resistant while you’re calculating your immersion time. Scratches are somewhat inevitable on a dive watch due to the hostile environments of the sea and beaches, full of nasty rocks and sand that are basically unavoidable, so any extra scratch resistance is welcome.
The core colours here are blue and yellow. As mentioned, these are colours common to virtually all Panerai Mike Horn watches. Blue is representative of their shared love of the seas and yellow makes sense as a high contrast colour to blue, making it nice and legible even in low light conditions. Another Swiss brand, Doxa, famously tested a lot of colours for dive watches to find the most legible and they settled on orange, but yellow achieves essentially the same thing. Plus, in the deep dark of the ocean, most colours fade to brown or grey at best anyway. At least without a torch to light them up. The yellow accents are found on the watch name, 300m water resistance marking and small seconds subdial.
I really like the use of small seconds subdials on dive watches. The smaller diameter of the subdial means it’s easier to see that the hand is moving, which is proof that the watch is still working as intended and that the movement is running. That’s why you’ll often see small second counters on dive watches referred to as running seconds. When you’re relying on your watch to keep you safe, you want to be certain it’s operating normally.
While we’re still focusing on legibility, the Submersible QuarantaQuattro Mike Horn Edition PAM01676 is fitted with the classic dive watch array of applied hour markers coated with lume. Panerai are more famous for their sandwich dial designs but here safety and practicality win out over style. Which is as it should be for a professional instrument. Beneath the surface of the dial is the P.900 calibre, a Panerai staple with 3-day power reserve.
As for price, the Mike Horn edition is £10,300, which is right around the price of the other ceramic bezel Submersible QuarantaQuattros. At its core this is an alternative colour scheme for the watch but it’s a scheme that really works with the eye-catching yellow paired with the serene blue. Also, one last reminder to take part in the Oracle Time x Panerai competition to win a ticket to Watches & Wonders 2025.
Price and Specs:
More details at Panerai.
I suppose that if you do actually need a dive watch, then Panerai have the history of supplying these to the Italian navy, but, how many people that own dive watches, actually use them for their intended purpose, I guess if the stats were presented, then the actual figure would be pretty low. Yes, it can be argued that having a watch of the dive variety does cover your odd water adventure whilst on holiday, but do most of us actually need a full diver spec watch! If you do, then there are plenty of specialist makers that I would consider over Panerai (and at a much lower price point).
So, I have to admit, I do own a dive watch (guilty as charged, when I don’t go scuba diving). I bought one for the wrong reason, I needed a waterproof watch, so hands-up, that was why I went for it, but what I really needed was a decent field watch. My plan is to find the right field watch and then sell my diver. The watch is just not me, and I feel guilty wearing it for the reasons listed above and the fact that the nearest coast is a two hour drive from me.