Officine Panerai Luminor 1950 Regatta 3 Days Chrono Flyback Automatic Titano PAM00526

Regatta. At SIHH 2013, Officine Panerai announced as part of its contemporary collection, the Officine Panerai Luminor 1950 Regatta 3 Days Chrono Flyback Automatic Titano. The feature that makes a watch true "regatta" inspired design is a 10 minute countdown timer which is useful in keeping track of the time that skippers have to get their boats into a good position before the start of the race, getting as close to the start line as possible with good momentum, without crossing the buoys which mark the same before the start of the race.

Officine Panerai Luminor 1950 Regatta 3 Days Chrono Flyback Automatic Titano PAM00526. Panerai's solution to measuring this crucial ten minutes with the PAM 526 is an elegantly simple solution I have ever seen. The organge push-button at four o’clock position moves the central orange chronograph minute hand back one minute at a time, until it is at the correct position in relation to the length of the countdown. Once the correct countdown time is set, starting the chronograph by pushing the chronograph stop/start button at ten o’clock position, the large orange hand will indicate indicating  the minutes, the the large blue second hand, seconds remaining until the start. When the countdown has finished, the chronograph movement continues to function, now displaying the time elapsed since the start of the race will be displayed. Panerai created an all new movement to accommodate the unique requirements of a Regatta watch, which it dubbed the P.9001.R. 

The P.9001.R movement in the PAM 526 has a three day power reserve and also incorporates a flyback function. Pressing the reset button at the 8 o'clock position will stop, reset and restart the chronograph function with a single key press.

The watch is built on a 47 mm Luminor 1950 Titanium case. Two sub-dials are found on the dial. The sub-dial to the left displays running seconds. The dial to the right is used in conjunction with the chronograph function, and displays elapsed hours. The tachymeter scale on the on the edge of the dial is expressed in knots. Consistent with it maritime nature, the watch is presented on a black rubber strap.

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.