SJX Watches
Panerai Introduces the Radiomir California PAM 931 & Radiomir 8 Days PAM 992
Panerai’s new launches this year have so far been inclined towards civilian sports – including the Luna Rossa trio and Mike Horn edition – which is a key part of chief executive Jean-Marc Pontroué’s strategy that also emphasises “experiences”. But with its two new launches – the Radiomir California 47mm (PAM 931) and Radiomir 8 Days 45mm (PAM 992) – the brand returns to the old school Marina Militare style – both have a familiar look that’s heavily inspired by wristwatches Panerai made for frogmen of the Italian navy in the 1930s and 1940s. Radiomir California 47mm PAM00931 Notably, both watches have steel cases with an “aged patina effect”, essentially a surface coating that reproduces the look of the vintage originals. The Radiomir California 47mm (PAM00931) revisits a design that Panerai has reproduced several times in the past – modelled on the ref. 3646 of the 1930s – but now with a “tropical” dial in graduated brown that mimics the look of aged dials on vintage Radiomir watches. It has Roman numerals on the upper half and Arabic numbers on the bottom, a design originally meant to aid legibility by clearly distinguishing the upper and lower halves of the dial. The crystal is domed PlexiGlas, while the movement is the extra-large, hand-wound P.3000 with a three-day power reserve. The second model is slightly more interesting, since the design is more novel (in other words having not been done before, at least in the exact same con...
