Officine Panerai L'Astronomo Luminor 1950 Tourbillon GMT Equation of Time PAM00365

Grand complications? This is one of the most interesting complication watches that we have seen in a long time, simply because it has features we do not find in other mechanical complication watches. The Officine Panerai L'Astronomo Luminor 1950 Tourbillon GMT Equation of Time, or PAM 365, is a dual time watch with a tourbillon movement. That alone would put in the watch in the elite category of watches, but it is the "Equation of Time" complication which makes the watch different.

We will not spend time discussing in this article the tourbillon movement or Panerai's distinctive way of displaying a second time zone using the combination of second 12-hour hand and a day night indicator. Covering everything this watch has would make this article too long. For those interested in these aspect of this watch, it is functionally identical to the The Officine Panerai Luminor 1950 Tourbillon GMT PAM00306 and an extensively discussion of tourbillon movement and GMT function can be found in that article. In fact the PAM 336 runs on a variant of the same Panerai Calibre 2005 movement that powers the PAM 306.

Equation of Time. One the inner walls of the bezel of this watch you will find between the 7 to 9 o'clock positions, you will find the numbers 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 with a small pointer indicator beside the word sunrise. This will tell you what time the sun is expected to rise. You will find the same thing on other side of the inner bezel between the 3 to 5 o'clock positions, time beside the word sunset. This will tell you what time the sun is expect to set. This function is linked to the month indicator found in the sub-dial at the 3 o'clock position of the watch. As the months move on, the expected times for the sun to rise and set adjust accordingly.

Sunrise and sunset times depend on the latitude. So when you buy the watch you will be asked what City you want the watch to be set for. The name of this City will be engraved into the back plate of the watch. The latitude value appropriate for the selected city is than set by Panerai technicians. It will have to be adjusted by a Panerai technician if it is desired to display the correct sunrise and sunset times for a different latitude.

Above the six o'clock position you will find a slider indicator which will indicate a figure between +15 to -15 minutes, this is the "Equation of Time" feature. Equation of time is the difference between our common understanding of time and solar time. Solar time varies every day due to the eccentricity of the Earth’s orbit and the inclination of its axis. The difference between our common understanding of time and real or solar time differs by up to 15 minutes, either faster or slower.

Astronomo. At the back of the watch is a rotating map of the sky on the lower part of the mechanism. This rotating disc rotates clockwise or counterclockwise in one direction or the other, depending on the hemisphere chosen, thus constantly updating the night sky depending on whether the watch is set to display the night sky over the northern or southern hemisphere.

The watch itself. Those of you who like big watches will like this one, it is all of 50mm in diameter. Despite it large size, the weight is kept down by manufacturing the case in titanium. A pink gold case is however, available on request. The Panerai Caliber P. 2005/G movement which produces the expected 28,800 vibrations per hour expected of a premium watch, and the watch has a four day power reserve.

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.