...New Panerai Model Coverage...
Panerai From A Woman's Perspective
by Maria Isabel
PAM00518 Chronograph
Exclusive Shreeve & CO Preview
I am madly in love with Panerai and was fortunate enough to have recently attended a wonderful Panerai Event at Shreve & Co. in Palo Alto, California, with Jake. Shreve & Company reminds me of a big girl’s candy store, with Panerai being my favorite candy in every flavor I could ever dream of! This is where I got a chance to wear the all-new mouth-watering Radiomir 1940’s Chronograph "Platino", but lets just call it the Platino 518. Platino is platinum in Italian...
Jake took the photo of me below wearing the all-new PAM518 at the recent Panerai Shreeve event. I really like the way it looks and fits so elegantly on my wrist, and I like how strong looking and striking it is.
I could rock it just as good as any gent with a crisp clean-collared shirt and slacks, or wear it on a day out on the boat. I could even sport it with my Sunday's Best.
The subdials sit on a soft ivory dial which is swept over by the blue central chronograph hand. The heavenly blue accents on the ivory dial work together harmoniously, like the big blue sky with white clouds (in reverse). The Platino vault offers a vintage looking plexiglas crystal, instead of a sapphire crystal, which gives the PAM 518 a romantic warm essence and timeless beauty when looking down at the beautiful piece.
When I tried on the Platino 518 it felt like a 47mm watch instead of a 45mm watch. This is due to the exquisite detail of the Platino on a large ivory dial and I believe it is the largest white dial Panerai has made to date on a Radiomir. The 518 has a larger than life look and grand feel. Anything larger than a 45mm wouldn't work and Panerai did a great job with its proportion. Also, the PAM 518 is on the thinner side with a very flat back, kind of like a PAM 372, so it lies flat on the wrist, which looks great.
It's interesting to note that one of the details that makes the dial look so clean, is that the Radiomir dial designation looks really simple and uncluttered, as does the Panerai dial designation below it. This reminds me of the beautiful simplicity of the PAM 210 and the PAM 231, which are also both 45MM.
1936 Panerai Reference 2533 47mm
First Rolex Made Panerai Prototype
The Platino 518 is derivative of and clearly inspired by the first Radiomir Panerai prototype ever made, known as the Reference 2533, which was made by Rolex for Panerai in 1936. The Reference 2533 was the beginning of the vintage Radiomir as we know it. The 2533 used a Rolex pocket watch cushion 47mm case with the lugs being soldered on tho the case.
The Reference 2533 featured a Rolex movement and Rolex winding crown. If the prototype Reference 2533 is the Chalice for Panerai, then the Platino 518 is the Holy Grail.
This next image shows the backside of the Rolex movement made for the Panerai Reference 2533. Notice at the bottom of the case back there is a "2533" engraving. This historically significant model, of which there are only several known examples, features a screwed-on plexiglass exhibition caseback with Officene Panerai Brevattato engraving.
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Below, we see an image of the first receipt from Rolex for the Reference 2533 for making the Panerai, which is dated June 13, 1936, and it appears courtesy of Francesco Ferretti.
Inside The PAM 518
Much More Than Just A Pretty Face
The PAM 518 exhibition case back, which showcases the stunning Minerva movement is just as, if not prettier than it’s face. The PAM 518 has a see-through sapphire exhibition crystal flat case back which perfectly shows off the hand-wound Elite Panerai Opus XXV Calibre movement, which is exclusively made for Panerai by Minerva. What does this all mean? Technically … a lot! It contains a vertical clutch, column wheel chronograph that measures 12 3/4 lignes, 22 jewels, a glucydur balance, and 18,000 a/H. It features a swan’s neck regulator and offers a power reserve of 55 hours.
We will have to get into the complexity of movements another time so you can appreciate and fall in love with the Platino all over again.
The Panerai brand has a fascinating history which began in 1936 with Rolex making all their watches. Panerai watches came into existence as a top-secret military watch made for the Royal Italian Navy by Rolex, and they were the very first dedicated dive/tool watches. The Radiomir Reference 2533 was the very first Panerai prototype ever made, so it is great to see some of its DNA make it into the PAM 518.
Just as history and fashion repeat itself, Panerai outdoes itself here introducing in 2014 a new kind of Radiomir, The Platino 518...is flawlessly magnificent!