Legendary Watches: Panerai Luminor

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Panerai Luminor Marina, Image: Auctionata

Just recently, we spoke about Panerai's humble and historical beginnings. Today we are taking a closer look at the watch model that succeeded the brands most influential model: the Panerai Luminor . Introduced in the early 1950s, the Luminor later replaced the venerable Radiomir , which so successfully served the Italian Navy. The Luminor: While it preserved the Radiomir's emblematic watch case and dial, it incorporated several design advances. These included the distinctive bridge with a unique mechanism for locking the crown (the feature is so unique that it is now trademarked by Panerai), a similar cushion-shaped case as in the Radiomir and a flat, wider bezel.

Panerai Luminor PAM372 – Offer from Pasini Gioiellerie: € 7.100

In the 1960s, the Florentine watch company decreased both its personal and business activity, primarily due to Giuseppe Panerai's illness. His idea was to transfer the company to the Italian Navy and only keep Orologeria Svizzera for the family, but before he could do this, he sadly passed away in February 1972. The company, under-pressure by the Italian Navy and given the importance of their demand, was taken over by Dino Zei, former officer in the Navy with a degree in industrial engineering, who had maintained a working relationship with Panerai for some time. Under Dino Zei's guidance during the 1980s, Panerai continued to design instruments for the Italian Navy and even worked towards designing a new timepiece. A prototype was created, however, it was never put into production and for some reason or another just couldn't replace the Luminor as Officine Panerai intended.
In 1992, Zei decided to re-launch the watches created for WWII commandos; but as he himself recounts, only a few designs, some photographs, and a small number of Radiomir examples remained. The Luminor and Mare Nostrum models were selected for reproduction. So with the general public in mind, the Luminor was redesigned; the case downsized to 44mm to promote normal usage of the watch – a construction that was entrusted, in Switzerland, to some of the most qualified suppliers of cases, dials, and movements. The bridge lever was also perfected, which culminated in three patented innovations. In La Spezia on the September 10, 1993, the launch of the new watches took place that consisted of the Luminor, the Luminor Marina and the Mare Nostrum.
Over the years, we've seen a number of notable variations of the Luminor introduced that have been welcomed by collectors, such as: the PAM 127 1950, also affectionately known as the “Fiddy” that was introduced in 2002, which was inspired by the original Luminor produced in 1950. Another Luminor that was presented is the PAM 372, which more or less resembled the limited edition PAM 127, but the dial was much cleaner as the sub second's indicator was removed harking back to the original design of the 1950. Another notable Luminor was the PAM 203 8 Giorni Brevettato, which featured a vintage looking brown dial and an Angelus movement with 8 days of power reserve. So many more could be mentioned alongside these great models, but there is one thing that is for sure: once a Paneristi , always a Paneristi!
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