Panerai introduced its first Luminor Due models — with cases 40 percent thinner than those of the original Luminor for a more understated wrist presence — in 2016. This year, the brand adds four new models to the line, introducing new dial colors and case materials. Read on to discover the new Panerai Luminor Due watches and what makes each one unique.
The Panerai Luminor Due 3 Days Titanio (Ref. PAM00728) and Luminor Due 3 Days Oro Rosso (PAM00741) come in brushed titanium and polished rose gold case, respectively. Both Luminor 1950-style cases are 42 mm in diameter and only 10.5 mm thick, and feature the patented bridge-and-lever device that protects the crown and helps ensure the watches’ 30-meter water resistance.
The dial of the titanium model is a sun-brushed blue; the rose-gold watch sports a rare-for-Panerai ivory-colored dial with blue applied numerals. Both dials are in Panerai’s well-known “sandwich” style, with luminous markers and a small seconds subdial at 9 o’clock.
Inside Titanio is the Panerai’s hand-wound manufacture Caliber P.1000, with a three-day power reserve stored in two mainspring barrels; its more sophisticated, heavily skeletonized version, called P.1000/10, powers the Oro Rosso (pictured below). In the latter movement, the large, brushed-finish bridge that covers much of the mechanism has been openworked to allow more of the parts to be seen, including the two barrels and the balance beneath the bridge, mounted on twin supports for better stability.
Both watches are on blue alligator straps in different shades — darker blue to match the dial on the titanium watch and lighter blue to match the hour numerals on the rose gold — and feature Panerai’s patented system for easy and quickly replacement, operated by a push-piece under one set of lugs. Prices are $8,600 for the Titanio and $21,900 for the Oro Rosso.
Two other new models have automatic movements and larger, 45-mm cases — the Panerai Luminor Due 3 Days Automatic Titanio (PAM00729) and Luminor Due 3 Days Automatic Acciaio (PAM00739). Like its hand-wound, 42-mm version, the Titanio model has a dark blue dial and matching blue strap while the stainless steel Acciaio features an anthracite gray dial and a brown alligator strap. The cases are only slightly thicker than the manual-winding brethren (10.7 mm), possibly owing to the addition of a self-winding movement.
Each watch is equipped with a version of Panerai’s in-house automatic movement, Caliber P.4000, which also stores a three-day power reserve and uses an off-centered micro-rotor to wind the watch in both directions. The twin-supported balance bridge provides safer and stronger support for the components the typical cantilevered bridge, Panerai says, and another integrated device stops the balance when the winding crown (protected, here as in the other models, but the ubiquitous locking bridge) is pulled out, enabling the wearer to perfectly synchronize the watch.
The Luminor Due 3 Days Automatic Acciaio is powered by the skeletonized version of the movement, dubbed the P.4000/10 (below). Visible through a sapphire “porthole” in the caseback, it features a 22k gold microrotor decorated with clous de Paris, openworked bridges with circular brushed finishing and gilded engraving.
In the P.4000 caliber that drives the titanium-cased watch, the microrotor is made of tungsten, whose high specific weight makes it ideal for its function. Both watches’ sandwich dials have a satine soleil finish, a combination of Arabic numerals and bar hour markers, small seconds at 9 o’clock, and luminous highlights on the hands and hour indications. Prices are $11,200 for the Titanio and $14,300 for the Acciaio.
