Panerai is notoriously tight-lipped about any SIHH product, usually not releasing anything before the show opens. But Europa Star got a sneak peak of one of Panerai's new products, the Luminor Marina Automatic 44mm just before the shows.
This watch is a COSC-certified chronometer from Panerai's Contemporary Collection and it is offered with a newly designed metal bracelet which Panerai promises is more supple, comfortable and attractive - and is interchangeable with Panerai's traditional rubber and alligator straps (a tool is even supplied to allow the owners to switch straps and bracelets).
Created during the Second World War, the Luminor design is claimed by the company to be the first professional diver’s model in history. The signature of the Luminor design is its patented crown protector - initially designed by Panerai to compress the seals to ensure a degree of water resistance that, when this watch and system was designed, was otherwise impossible to achieve. Now, case and seal technology has improved, but the crown protector is a symbol of the Luminor range and instantly recognizable as a Panerai.
Contained within the 44mm case is the exclus-ive Panerai OP III calibre automatic movement with a power reserve of 42 hours. The Luminor Marina has the classic Panerai dial, with large Arabic numerals and hour markers coated in Superluminova. The baton hands are also Superluminova-coated, as is the leaf hand of the small continuous seconds dial. The anti-reflective sapphire glass is 3.5mm thick to withstand great depths (the Luminor Marina is water resistant to 300 metres), including an enlarging lens at three o’clock, making it easier to read the date.


Source: Europa Star April-May 2008 Magazine Issue