PAM319 Luminor 1950 8 Days Rattrapante 47mm

The PAM319 is a special edition watch from 2009. Only 300 pieces are made. The 47mm case is solid 18ct brushed pink gold, making it one of the heaviest watches I've ever tried on my wrist. I didn't weigh it, but my guess is that the watch weighs as much as two PAM243's.


PAM319 Luminor 1950 8 Days Rattrapante 47mm

The sandwich dial is brown which works extremely well in combination with the pink gold case. The 319 has a hand wound mechanical movement - the Panerai P.2006/3 calibre, executed entirely by Panerai. This is the only Panerai 47mm watch with a horizontal (linear) power reserve indicator on the dial. It's also the only 47mm pink gold watch that Panerai has produced to date.


The 319 has a brown sandwich dial

The (roughly) 31mm movement can be admired through the crystal case back (photo below). The P.2006/3 calibre uses 3 spring barrels for its 8 day power reserve. The power reserve can be read from the - unique to Panerai - linear indicator on the dial above the six.


The movement can be seen through the crystal case back

The PAM319 has a split seconds chronograph (Rattrapante). The left side of the case has two push buttons that allow you to operate the chronograph function. The basic chronograph allows the measurement of a single event. A split seconds chronograph makes it possible to time two simultaneous events beginning at the same time. This obviously requires two chronograph hands of which one can be stopped while the other hand keeps moving.


The chronograph buttons are on the left side of the case


The case as seen from the left side with its two chrono pushers

The watch comes with a beautiful dark brown crocodile strap and solid 18ct gold deployant which on its own is probably as expensive as a number of low end brand wrist watches together.


Crocodile strap and solid 18ct gold deployant

Being a Luminor Panerai watch, the PAM319 of course has Panerai's unique crown guard protector with REG. T.M. engraved (registered trademark).


Solid gold crown guard and lever

More pictures can be found on paneristipix: Panerai PAM319 Luminor 1950 8 Days Rattrapante 47mm.


PAM319 Luminor 1950 8 Days Rattrapante 47mm


All photos © 2010 M.Wilmsen - do not use these photos without permission.

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PAM307 - Luminor 1950 Pangaea Submersible Depth Gauge

The Panerai PAM307 is a special edition watch from 2008. The watch has a depth gauge function and an unusual depth rating of 120 metres. Unusual in the sense that most Panerai submersibles have a depth rating of 300 or even 1,000 metres (e.g. the PAM243).


Luminor 1950 Pangaea Submersible Depth Gauge

Another remarkable fact is that the watch is powered by a mechanical OPXV calibre, but the depth gauge function is battery powered. The yellow depth gauge arrow is used to both show the maximum depth of a last dive, and to indicate the remaining battery power.


47mm titanium case, blue dial and yellow depth gauge markers

The dial has a very nice blue color and the depth gauge markers and arrow are yellow. The 47mm case is made out of titanium but the button that is used to operate the depth gauge function is made out of stainless steel, as is the crown. Considering its size, the watch is remarkable light. As may be expected from a dive watch, it comes with a rubber accordion strap with a large size titanium buckle. A second interchangeable strap is also supplied including a push pin tool to change straps and a screw driver to change the buckle.


Caseback with Mike Horn's Pangaea expedition logo

The watch sits high on the wrist, it has a high case but also a rounded case back (above). The case back has the logo of Mike Horn's Pangaea expedition engraved.


1950's case with Reg. T.M. engraved in the crown guard

The PAM307 has a 1950's style case and - shown in the above photo - it has Reg. T.M. engraved in the crown guard. In case you haven't noticed, this is true for all 1950's style Luminor watches, e.g. the 127, 233, 243, 312, 320 and so on.

Lighting setup

Elinchrom studio strobe camera left, snooted Nikon SB900 for the background

The above photo is one of my favorites. Normally I use only small Nikon strobes to light the watches, but this time I used a radio triggered (Skyport) Elinchrom studio flash through a large softbox. The light accents were done by use of small Nikon strobes in slave mode. The background in the above photo is gift wrapping paper and the light spot was created with a snooted Nikon SB900 strobe. Using large lights poses many new challenges but it did allow me to make the blue dial pop more than would have been possible with just smaller strobes. Or at least, that's what I think.

All 31 photos that I took of the PAM307 can be found on paneristipix.com.

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© 2010 M.Wilmsen - all photos are copyright protected and may not be used without permission.

Radiomir PAM323 and PAM268 compared

The Panerai Radiomir PAM323 - Radiomir 10 Days GMT - was introduced at the SIHH in Geneva in January this year. I posted the live pictures that I took of this watch at the fair earlier. You can view that post here: PAM323 Radiomir 10 Days GMT.


Panerai PAM323 Radiomir 10 Days GMT

Last week I was able to borrow both the new PAM323 (not available in stores yet) and the Radiomir PAM268, so that I could get some shots of the two watches together. Which I thought would be interesting because both watches are housed in a Radiomir case, both have an in-house movement with a long power reserve and both watches have a pr indicator on the dial.


Panerai PAM323 next to the PAM268 on the right

There are quite a few other similarities when it comes to the appearance of these Radiomirs. For instance a 12 hour GMT function which allows you to hide the GMT hand underneath the hour hand, a date function and a small subseconds dial with a day/night indicator (dot) at the 9 o'clock position. And both watches only have a 12 and 6 on their sandwich dial. As we know from for instance the 270, 320 and the new 351, having a small sub seconds dial doesn't mean that the number nine has to be omitted because of it. So not having the 9 on the dial is simply a design decision. A dial that has sub seconds looks more balanced without the nine in my opinion - although it doesn't look bad at all on for instance the PAM270.


Panerai PAM323 Radiomir 10 Days GMT

The PAM323 has the Panerai in-house P.2003/50 movement. This is an automatic movement with a power reserve of 10 days. Besides the difference in case sizes - the 323 is 47mm and the 268 is 45mm - the circular power reserve indicator on the dial is the most obvious visual difference.


The new style circular power reserve indicator

To my knowledge, it is also the first time that Panerai uses a true circular power reserve indicator. Similar indicators have been used before, but this indicator is really a full circle as opposed to the partial (more half circle) ones used previously on for instance the PAM90. Furthermore the new 323 does not have a magnification lens (cyclops) above the date which the 268 does have.


The case back of the PAM268 (left) and the PAM323

The movement of the PAM268 is a hand-wound movement (P.2002/3) with a power reserve of 8 days. As you can see in the above photo the 268 doesn't have the rotor that is responsible for automatically winding the movement of the 323.

You can find more photos of the PAM323 on paneristipix.com.

All photos © 2010 - Do not use without permission

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Lau & Van Leijden Sienna strap

Just when I thought I kind of lost my interest in straps, I got something in the mail from two new kids on the block. Well new kids, hardly. I have known Lau and Van Leijden for a couple of years and they are probably two of the most passionate and knowledgeable Panerai enthusiasts in The Netherlands. Which is in fact why they recently decided to start producing straps themselves.


Lau & Van Leijden Sienna strap for Panerai

Paneristi can be quite picky when it comes to straps - not just any strap will do. Let's face it, there are many third party strap makers claiming that they make vintage style straps and to be honest, a lot of them really do disappoint. Lau & Van Leijden wanted to come up with the perfect strap, one that really matches the specifications of the vintage straps and no compromises when it comes to quality and comfort. Lau tells me that they insist on receiving the buckles as rough cut pieces of steel because they want to hand finish the buckles themselves - the only way to ascertain that the final product lives up to their own expectations.


The brushed steel buckle is hand finished

The leather of this particular strap is made from the best cow hide. The stitching method is "saddle stitching" and the buckle is of course sewn in. The buckle end of the straps has three layers of leather and the lugs end has two layers - exactly like the vintage straps were made.


Click the photos for a larger version

The strap is delivered in a black leather pouch and it comes with a letter that explains how to treat the leather to make it supple and comfortable to wear. An interesting fact is that the OEM strap that will come with the new Egiziano (PAM341) is of course also made in conformance with the vintage strap specifications. But the floating keeper of that strap has one single stitch, as opposed to the original vintage strap that has two.


The inside of the stap showing the 2 stitches in the floating keeper

If you think that I'm trying to get you to buy one of these straps, well then you're right. If you're looking for a new strap you definitely should consider this Sienna strap. They go for 140 Euro which is a very competitive price for a strap like this. I have only one problem with this strap, which watch am I going to wear it on first!

You can contact Lau & Van Leijden by e-mail at lvlstraps@gmail.com.

Photos © 2010 M.Wilmsen

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PAM270 Luminor 1950 10 Days GMT

The Panerai PAM270 was introduced one year (2007) after one of my personal favorites, the PAM233. Both watches were originally part of the Manifattura line and are very similar in terms of looks.


Panerai PAM270 Luminor 1950 10 Days GMT

Currently the 270 can be found under the "contemporary" section of the Panerai website - because it has an automatic movement. The 233 with its hand wound movement can be found under "historic". It made more sense to me when both watches were part of the Manifattura line because the watches have a Panerai in-house movement. But with the introduction of the "specialties" section, the Manifattura line seems to have disappeared as a classification. Not important of course, the watches matter, the marketing approach does not.


The dial has a horizontal 10 days power reserve indicator

The most important difference is that the 270 has an automatic movement with a 10 days power reserve whereas the 233 has a hand wound mechanical movement with an eight day power reserve. Because of its automatic movement, the 270 is a little bit heavier and it has a higher case. Both watches are 44mm.


PAM233 Panerai Luminor 1950 8 Days GMT

The sandwich dial of the 270 has a nine, the 233 (photo above) only has the twelve and six. Both watches lack the number three on the dial, because that's where the date window is.


When lit from the side, the domed crystal is clearly visible

The photo below shows the PAM270 next to the PAM268 - another Panerai watch with an in-house movement, but one with a hand-wound movement and a Radiomir case.


The 270 next to another Panerai with in-house movement, the PAM268

You can find more photos of the 270 on paneristipix.com.

All photos are © 2010 M.Wilmsen. Do not use these photos without permission.

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