I don’t know about you, but there was ONE THING that kept me from buying a Panerai Luminor Due GMT: it wasn’t big enough. 38mm? 42mm? You can’t even see those things at night! Assuming your eyes are closed. Eyes open and you can navigate the Strait of Gibraltar with a Panerai’s patented Luminor lume – which won’t kill you like its first formulation. Anyway, sheltering inside that new, bigger case is . . .
Panerai’s very own P.4002 calibre. It’s not the kind of in-house automatic movement that demands a clear caseback, but it’s rock solid. ‘The 4.2mm-thick temporal engine will keep on keeping on (as Neuchâtel engineers like to say) for three full days, should you leave the watch alone or die of shock when you clock the Panerai Luminor Due GMT’s $12,100 price tag.
Die from joy! That’s not a ton of money for a Panerai with a titanium case and bezel. Unless you don’t have a spare $12k. If so, Panerai will gladly sell you an all-steel Luminor Due GMT Power Reserve for a grand less. Yes, there a lot of alternatives, but none of them were made specifically for the Italian Navy. So there is that.
This is Panerai’s first automatic watch – in this diameter – with both a date display and a three-day power reserve indicator. ‘Cause there’s so much room on that dial! The new Pan may not be a minimalist masterpiece, but props for creating a balanced design – in its own special way. And having the good grace not to make the date luminous.
Is there room in your collection for a 45mm Panerai Luminor Due GMT Power Reserve? You might want to measure your watch box before you answer that question. Meanwhile, don’t get to thinking this is as big as it gets. The Panerai “Egiziano” – constructed for the Egyptian Navy – was 60mm.
[…] lot of watches offer GMT/second time zone functionality. Some of them are extremely expensive, powered by sophisticated automatic movements. A lot of self-described watch lovers would turn up […]