2015 Panerai Luminor Base Black 44mm PAM00112
Ref: PAM00112

Points of Mention

This watch is sold with an original Panerai box & paperwork. The watch comes paired with its Panerai 20mm rubber strap with a signed buckle. Inside the box, we have an additional three Panerai straps. The watch is from November 2015 and is in worn condition, however as you can see from the photos it is in great fair condition. A full case refurb can be provided at an additional cost. The watch comes with our 12-Months Warranty.

The Watch

In 1860 Giovanni Panerai opened his watchmaker's shop in Florence, it wasn't only a shop and workshop but also served as the city's first watchmaking school, Officine Panerai's was born. The shop later moved to its current location in the Palazzo Arcivescovile in Piazza San Giovanni, Italy, changing its name to "Orologeria Svizzera" at the beginning of the twentieth century. In 1916 Stemming from Marie and Pierre Curie’s 1898 discovery, to meet the military needs of the Royal Italian Navy, Officine Panerai created Radiomir, a radium-based powder that gives luminosity to the dials of sighting instruments. Reference to the name "Radiomir" is documented in the patent filed in France on 23 March 1916. The substance's properties are perfect for military applications with high visibility and the paint's excellent underwater adhesive qualities. In 1936 Panerai created the first prototypes of the model now known as "Radiomir" for the frogman commandos of the First Submarine Group Command of the Royal Italian Navy. The Navy's historical archives record that just ten prototypes were produced in 1936. It was during this time that a very unusual relationship between Rolex and Panerai was forged with the production of the Ref: 2533. The design comes from a 47mm Rolex Oyster pocket watch. That was turned on its side so that the crown would be now located at 3 o’clock. In 1949 Panerai introduced a new luminescence substance called Luminor that was not only safer than radium-based Radiomir but also much more luminous. In 1955 Panerai launched the Luminor, a watch created for the Royal Italian Navy with its characteristic crown guard designed in the 1950s, invented by brother and sister Giuseppe and Maria Giuseppe Panerai. It wasn’t until 1993 that Panerai finally released the Luminor and Luminor Marina to the public. Today Officine Panerai is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Richemont S.A Group that includes Cartier, IWC, Montblanc, and Vacheron Constantin.

Here we have a 2015 Panerai Luminor Base Black PAM00112 inspired by Panerai’s 1950s combat watch, the ref. 6152 with its iconic 44mm cushion stainless steel case.  The thick straight lugs hug the wrist with a lug to lug length of 47mm and a case thickness of 12.5mm giving the watch an impressive wrist presence. On the right side is the characteristic crown guard with its release and locking mechanism. A smooth polished bezel holds a sapphire crystal above a black sandwich dial. A black stencil dial bearing the indexes and numerals is overlayed atop a fully-painted luminescent disc. This process has been perfected since its inception in the 1930s. The two hands are black-oxidized infilled with Luminor luminance in striking contrast to the black of the dial. Luminor is based on Luminova and has been developed by Panerai since the 1950s. The text is precisely applied to the dial. On the reverse, a sapphire crystal exhibition screw-down case back. Inside a Manually Wound Panerai Cal. OP X, 17 jewels, 21,600 beats per hour. This movement is based on the ETA 6497/2 and has been used by Panerai since 2002. The watch comes fitted on its Panerai 20mm rubber strap with a signed buckle. In the box, we have an additional three Panerai straps. and the watch comes with its Panerai presentation box and papers.

Personal Note

Arguably this is what quintessential Panerai is all about, functional design and build quality, legible and robust as they come! The PAM00112 ticks all those boxes whilst looking great on and off the wrist. If you are unsure about Panerai due to the size, book an appointment and try this one, I suspect it will surprise you, whilst Panerai isn't small they do wear incredibly well for their size!