BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
It seems like only yesterday I was wandering around Panerai’s sizeable booth at Watches & Wonders Geneva, standing under a replica of the racing boat they sponsor and observing the crowds admiring Panerai’s newest watches and the technology they use to build them. Panerai released a fair few watches that week, but no mention at all was made of the new Luminor Dieci Giorni PAM01482. There may be several reasons for that, such as not trusting folks at the show or maybe something just wasn’t quite ready for the show. Either way, the new watch has arrived now.
The watch is a classy piece, part of Panerai’s dressier watch range, although it does not seem to be entering the Luminor Due collection. It measures 44mm in diameter and has 100m of water resistance. The case is the classic Panerai shape, a cushion which isn’t quite round or square but a happy medium. The watch comes with a dark blue alligator leather strap.
Matching that dark blue alligator leather strap is a dark blue sandwich dial with sunray finishing. Unlike most dials, the sandwich dial of this Panerai (and indeed nearly all of them) puts the lume on a separate plate underneath the dial, giving a bright glow at night and real visual depth in the daytime. The indications on this new model are easy to understand, as they should be on any Panerai watch, really. Along with the luminescent hands is an orange arrow-tipped hand, which is the watch’s GMT indication. Paired with the small seconds indicator is an orange-tipped AM/PM indicator. There’s also a date window at 3 O’clock, and at 6 O’clock is Panerai’s unique horizontal power reserve indicator.
The indicator is quite important in this piece as the self-winding calibre P.2003 has an extremely long power reserve of ten days (240 hours). As well as is written on the dial the watch’s name, Dieci Giorni, should be a big clue to this fact. The movement runs at 4Hz and is visible through the sapphire caseback, complete with Panerai’s high-quality brushing and polishing.
All in all, this is an attractive piece, and I can see the allure of having a larger dress watch with a usefully long power reserve, although the size can certainly be a point against it. We also don’t know how thick the watch is, which should be factored in as well. Lastly, there’s the price, at $15,200 it’s quite expensive, if that’s too much is up to you.
