Panerai Luminor 1950 Marina PAM00386

Composite. Earlier this year Office Panerai released a Panerai Radiomir Composite Marina Militare PAM00339 which was built around a 47mm Radiomir case. One main point of interest with this watch was the material used to build the case. To build the case, Panerai used a composite is a material which is the result of an electrochemical process of ceramization of aluminium. The ceramization process of aluminium is not the usual process used in the watch industry. In traditional process layers of ceramic particles are applied onto metal. In the Panerai process, aluminum cases are immersed in a chemical bath where it undergoes the process of "ceramization." Research into this process does yield a simple explanation as to how it is done.

At the SIHH 2011, Officine Panerai will be bringing us another watch made from the same composite material, this time in a 44mm Luminor 1950 case. The new watch, the Panerai Luminor Marina PAM386.

Except for th use of composite material, the watch is identical to the Panerai Luminor 1950 Marina PAM 312. The new PAM 386 will also be powered by the same Panerai P. 9000 calibre, found in the PAM 312. This self winding movement has a longer than usual three day power reserve and produces 28,800 vibrations per hour.

No word if it is going to be a limited edition, but unlike the Panerai Radiomir Composite Marina Militare PAM00339 which had the more exotic Panerai P.2002/7, the new use of a more "pedestrian" movement in the PAM 386 tells us that this will not be a limited edition watch. More good news. We are also expect pricing to be below US$10,000. On a side note, this is the most beautiful Panerai I have ever seen.

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.