2010 Officine Panerai Radiomir 42mm

Much ado about the smaller Panerai's. At SIHH 2010, Panerai released several 42mm Radiomir watches. A lot has been written about this, as if it heralded a change the Panerai inspired trend to bigger watches. I would not put too much in this. Panerai has, in the past released Luminor's in the 40mm case size, and has also released several versions of the Radiomir in the 42mm case size. I do not see any change in direction for the company. Offering more sizes simply broadens its market appeal. The availability of more options for smaller cased Panerai's is certainly welcome in the Asian market.

The built-by-Panerai Calibre P.999/1 movement

Not smaller but slimmer. What is interesting about the new 42mm Panerai Radiomir's, the PAM00336, PAM00337 and PAM00338, is not the 42mm case, but the new hand-wound mechanical, built-by-Panerai Calibre P.999/1 movement. This movement is only 3.4mm thick which will allow Panerai's to create slimmer watches. While we do not have specifications of the height of the new PAM 336, 337 and 338 they do seem to be significantly slimmer than previous 42mm Panerai's.

The PAM 338's slimmer case

I see the Panerai Calibre P.999/1, or a variant thereof, as slowly fining its way into other no-date and base model Panerai's. The P.999/1 movement is a basic hour, minutes and seconds movement which produces 21,600 vibrations per hour. It has a 60 hour power reserve. Other than the fact that it is slim (made easier by the fact that is is wide), this is actually a "low-end" Panerai manufactured movement. This is significant because this movement is a sign that in two or three years, and I expect all Panerai's (except maybe chronographs) will have in-house movements. I would not be surprised to find a similar movement in updated versions of such classic Panerai as the PAM 005, 111, 113 and 117 in the near future.

Each watch has a sapphire crystal case back so can admire the fine movement

Back to the watches. The new PAM 336, 337 and 338 are nearly identical. The difference simply lies in the material used for the case, and the color of the dial and hands. The PAM 336 has a pink gold case, a brown dial and gold hands. The PAM 337 comes in the more traditional steel case and black dial. The PAM 338 comes in titanium with a black dial.

PAM 337 in stainless steel

PAM 338 in titanium

PAM 336 in pink gold

About Panerai. Officine Panerai was founded in 1860 in Florence, Italy by Giovani Panerai. Panerai was acquired over by Swiss watchmaker Richemont S. A. in 1997.