Introducing the Panerai Platinumtech Luminor Marina (PAM01116) – 70-Piece Limited Edition

In 1997, just after the Richemont Group acquired the company that we know as Panerai, the first limited edition that was launched is a watch that defied expectations of the brand as a no-nonsense tool watch and successfully ushered the brand into the realm of luxury watches. This was, of course, the 60-piece limited edition, the PAM 21.

The watch was made to bear the silhouette of the historical ref. 3464, featuring an unabashed, clean sandwich dial, pencil hour and minute hands, the Radiomir case, onion crown, welded lugs. But, as opposed to the historical 3646, the PAM 21 had a display caseback. Also, as opposed to the historical 3646 in steel, the PAM 21 was in PT950, platinum.

Watch forums from the era record that the 60-piece limited edition PAM 21 was sold out within the matter of two weeks. Quite the feat when you consider that this was pre-Y2K, while the Internet was still only accessible by means of a 56-kbps dial-up modem (cue modem dial tone; cue angry screaming household member who was on the landline; cue 90s kids’ nostalgia).

Contemporary Panerai records that the brand’s then CEO, Angelo Bonati had found 60 historical Rolex 618 movements within the complete set of inventory that was handed over when Richemont purchased the company. These are the 60 movements that were loaded into the PAM 21, thereby proposing a very cool link between the Panerai company that we know today and the storied one that it is.

Over the course of decades past, some Panerai collectors have raised questions about the truth of the nature of the Rolex 618 movements used for the PAM 21. You can read about these, here. None-the-less the halo effect of the PAM 21 and a utilitarian Radiomir case in platinum is one that will endure multiple lifetimes.

Since the platinum PAM 21, Panerai has not shied away from traditional luxury materials such as gold. At the same time the brand as also pursued and embraced contemporary materials, such as titanium and ceramic, and has gone further on to challenge its own watchmaking capabilities with things like 3d printed titanium, their proprietary Carbotech or Fibratech — just to name a few in the brand’s pursuit of novel materials. But platinum Panerai watches remain, quite the rarity.

At long last, we come to the subject matter of this article, the fresh-out-of-the-oven, Panerai Platinumtech^TM Luminor Marina (PAM01116), limited edition of 70 pieces. Getting right into it, the watch’s 44mm is formed in Platinumtech^TM, which in Panerai’s own words is, “an alloy reformulated and perfected by the Panerai Laboratorio di Idee, it is harder than conventional platinum with enhanced physical properties.” Suggesting that the material, in essence, is hardened platinum, which results in it being — again, according to Panerai — “more difficult to work [with] and polish.”

The complete case is forged in this material: the primary case, the bezel and even the Safety Lock crown protection device. Unfortunately that is just about all that the brand has revealed about the new material on hand, which means that we will have to revisit the watch when available to handle in the flesh to learn more about Platinumtech^TM’s manufacturing and physical qualities.

Moving on then with the dial of the watch, we see an uncommon combination of colors. The dial of the watch is in olive green, finished with satiné soleil decoration. The sandwich dial’s Arabic numerals and hour markers are filled with beige Super-LumiNovaTM, which glow green in the dark. Perhaps it’s the blue hour, minute and running seconds hands that really seem to stand out against the olive green satiné soleil dial that makes the aesthetics of the watch unique unto itself.

As listed earlier, the Panerai Platinumtech^TM Luminor Marina (PAM01116) will be made in a limited edition of 70 pieces and made available to buy solely through Panerai boutiques, globally for USD 36,900. And, of course, the watch comes with Panerai’s audacious, 70 year warranty.