Designer High Quality Replica Luminor GMT Panerai
With the release of their smallest watches ever last year during SIHH 2018 in the form of the Replica Luminor GMT Panerai, some were probably afraid that Panerai would continue to go down that road.
No need to worry as the brand has so far introduced the 47mm Replica Luminor GMT Panerai Edition PAM00982 as a pre-SIHH announcement a few weeks ago and today, on the first day of SIHH 2019, the brand has unveiled the rest of their novelties and 2019 seems to be the year of the Submersible for Panerai. Needless to say that fans of larger Panerai watches and diving watches will surely be pleased.
If you are unfamiliar with the Americas Cup, its a sailing match race between two sailing yachts, the defender and the challenger, each representing their yacht club. The defender is the holder of the Americas Cup and is assured a place in the final match race. The challenger is the yacht club which challenges for the cup.
Immediately after winning the 35th Americas Cup in 2017, Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, represented by their sailing team, Emirates Team New Zealand, accepted the challenge from Circolo della Vela Sicilia, the Italian yacht club represented by Luna Rossa Challenge. The Italian team being the first to challenge the defender thus becomes the Challenger of Record for the 36th Americas Cup which will take place in 2021.
To celebrate Panerai becoming the official sponsor of Luna Rossa, the brand will create a series of watches which will be worn by crew members of the Luna Rossa sailing team and inspired by the technologies and materials used in the Americas Cup.
To begin with, we find in the new Replica Luminor GMT Panerai a case and unidirectional bezel made of carbotech, the high tech material made of carbon fibre which was previously used in the PAM00616 and which also indicated the use of carbon fibre to build the hull of the Luna Rossa AC75 yacht. Flip the watch over and youll find the Luna Rossa engraved on the caseback along with the teams logo and the Americas Cup profile. Expect the watch to be light and resistant to corrosion; the perfect companion for a skipper.
My favorite part of the timepiece has to be the dial, which contains pieces of sails of the Luna Rossa applied on the dial giving it a rougher and sportier look. Powering the watch is the in-house calibre P.9010/GMT giving a three-day power reserve to the watch.
Of the two versions, the PAM00979 is a non-limited model. The watch is made of carbotech just like the PAM1039 mentioned above, and also in a 47mm case. The carbon fibre based material is lighter than titanium and stronger than stainless steel which makes for a great diving partner on the wrist. Due to the manufacturing process of carbotech consisting of thin layers of carbon fibre bound together by a special polymer the end result means that each watch is unique in appearance. The look of the watch is further enhanced by the dial made of carbon where the grey SuperLuminova and skeletonized hands sit.
Visually the watch is distinguished by its overall green colour theme found with the strap, hands and luminous markers but remains in the same 47mm Carbotech case. In both watches you will find the in-house P.9010 calibre powering the watches for three full days.
Continuing their relationship with one of the greatest explorer alive today and an active protector of our planet, Panerai unveils the new Submersible Mike Horn edition featuring a 47mm case made of EcoTitanium produced with recycled titanium. The material is also found in the bezel and crown guard. To minimize the environmental impact, the watch also comes with a black strap made of recycled PET and the box in which the watch is sold is also made of recycled materials.