BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
The America’s Cup is about the most prestigious boat race there is, it’s also a great place for sponsors to make special effort for the teams they support. Despite the name, the race doesn’t always take place around the Americas, for 2025 it’s happening in the waters of Naples, Italy. Panerai, being Italian, must be quite proud to sponsor Luna Rossa in the race once again. To mark this fact, they’ve released two new Luminor watches with the references PAM01653 and PAM01654.
PAM01653 is a simple hand-wound piece with a 44mm stainless steel case and 100m of water resistance. A grey dial adorns this piece, a colour reserved the Luna Rossa special editions. In true Panerai style, however, the dial is a sandwich type, which means there is a base plate on which SuperLumiNova is applied, this lume is then ‘sandwiched’ between the base plate and the dial plate.
This is an older style of making luminescent dials which adds both depth and character and is seldom seen outside of Panerai’s watches these days. Behind the sandwich dial is the calibre P.6000, which we believe is made for Panerai by ValFleurier rather than being an in-house calibre. Nevertheless, it features a 3Hz beat rate and a 72-hour power reserve with Incabloc shock absorbers for long-lasting durability. The price of this one is $6,900.
The other piece is PAM01654, it follows the same ideas design wise with its grey sandwich dial and its bi-material rubber and textile strap. The case of this new one also measures 44mm, but on this one it’s made of titanium with a titanium bezel, caseback and clasp. Water resistance is kept at 100m. Inside this watch is the P.9100 and it’s made in-house by Panerai.
It features a 4Hz beat rate and a 72-hour power reserve but with self-winding and a flyback function for its chronograph. Unlike the PAM01653, this chronograph version also features an open caseback, allowing you to see what’s happening inside. Also unlike the other watch, the PAM01654 is a limited-edition run and is capped at 150 examples worldwide, the price is $16,400.
Panerai’s Luna Rossa collaborations always intrigue me, partially because I don’t know much about the team and sailing races in general, but watches like these make me want to find out more about it all. Which of these two is your favourite? Tell us in the comments!
