Living with the Panerai Luminor 1950 3 Days GMT PAM 1033
Originally a no-nonsense dive watch made for the frogmen of the Italian navy during the Second World War, Panerai has been moving towards more civilian-friendly sports watches. The evolution is best illustrated by the Luminor Due, which is smaller and thinner, and as far removed from a traditional Panerai as possible while still retaining the signature crown locking mechanism. At the same time, Panerai has also rolled out watches that are oversized like the military originals, but with an increasingly variety of dial colours, like the quartet with blue dials in 2016. Such metallic blue dials are currently fashionable, so it’s no surprise Panerai has continued with the same colour. The recent Luminor 1950 3 Days GMT PAM01033 is essentially an upsized, 44mm version of the PAM 688 from 2016. I had one on the wrist for a few days – here’s how the test drive went. Compared with the earlier PAM 688, size is not the only difference with the new Luminor PAM 1033. A small but significant design tweak is the colour of the hands: instead of gold hands as as before, the hands now match the case. Though the change is seemingly minor, it gives the watch a different look, one that’s more contemporary, because the hands, though small, are the focal point on the dial. But the beige Super-Luminova on the dial and hands is faux-vintage, which does not quite match the newness of the blue dial. The dial is a “sandwich” construction, a signature feature of Paner...
Time+Tide
