Introduction to Panerai Luminor Submersible
The Panerai Submersible is a purpose-built dive watch, capable of surviving the most demanding situations and ocean depths. More than a great looking watch on your wrist, the Submersible is an essential tool for timing dives at depths that most watches simply could not survive.
Panerai Submersible Features Built for Divers
The Submersible is an incredibly capable dive watch, with water resistance to 300 meters. A dive of 300 meters is considered a "deep dive," where a special breathing gas is necessary to avoid oxygen toxicity. Dives approaching this depth are inherently dangerous, and a robust timekeeper is necessary for keeping track of elapsed diving time. Another consideration for deep dives is the need to make decompression stops while ascending to the surface. Because of this, an accurate timekeeper is even more important.
The Submersible features a unidirectional rotating bezel, which is aligned to the minute hand of the watch just before the diver is submerged. The unidirectional nature of the bezel ensures that even in the event of an accidental knock of the watch, the indicated remaining dive time would only get shorter, not longer. The Panerai Submersible is a crucial and capable instrument for recreational and professional divers alike.
Rigorous Design Standards for Deep Dives
The Panerai Luminor Submersible meets the ISO 6425 standard for diving watches:
- This comprehensive standard specifies that a diving time indicator be included, which for the Submersible is its unidirectional rotating bezel.
- The watch must be visible and readable at 25 centimeters in total darkness, which the Submersible accomplishes with its bright luminescent dial.
- The watch must be resistant to magnetic fields up to 4,800 A/m. The Submersible is resistant to magnetic fields up to 40,000 A/m, more than eight times what the ISO 6425 standard requires.
- A watch must withstand two shocks, delivered by a hammer mounted on a swinging pendulum, while maintaining its precise timekeeping rate. The Panerai Submersible easily passes this test, with its balance wheel mounted on shock absorbing jewel settings.
- Finally, the ISO 6425 standard specifies a minimum depth rating of 100 meters, which the Submersible easily accomplishes. (It can operate at three times that depth!)
Evolution of the Luminor Submersible Body and Strap for Divers
The Panerai Radiomir was among the earliest Panerai models, featuring wire lugs and no crown guard. The Panerai Luminor came soon after and featured solid lugs that were machined from the same piece of steel as the rest of the case, as well as the model's iconic crown guard and the improved Luminor luminescent paint.
Recently, Panerai has expanded the Luminor's versatility with a larger variety of case sizes. The Submersible remains Panerai's diving specific watch, with many of the features that evolved from the original Luminor, plus a unidirectional rotating bezel. An extendable, vulcanized rubber strap is also included with the Submersible, allowing for a more comfortable fit over a wetsuit. The Submersible is a serious utility watch for divers, capable of accompanying a diver to great depths and ensuring that they keep track of their dive time in a safe manner.
A Valuable Special Edition Luminor Submersible Model
Sometimes the value of a watch goes beyond the physical object to include a real-world experience that adds to the overall feeling of the timekeeper. With this in mind, consider the Panerai Submersible EcoPangaea Tourbillon GMT 50mm Mike Horn Edition. Purchase of this limited production Panerai Submersible includes an expedition to the Arctic with famed explorer Mike Horn. Mike Horn is widely recognized as one of the greatest explorers in the world, and this watch lives up to his name. The movement features a tourbillon, a special mechanism designed to counter the effects of gravity on the oscillating balance wheel. In addition, the movement is skeletonized (a term used to describe a style of movement design where all unnecessary areas are cut away to allow maximum visibility of the gears, springs, pinions and wheels working together). The Panerai Submersible Ecopangaea Tourbillon is Panerai's first use of a tourbillon mechanism in a Submersible model, making it an incredibly valuable wristwatch.
Cultural Significance: Paneristi
Panerai collectors worldwide often refer to themselves as Paneristi. These Paneristi plan get togethers where collectors and enthusiasts socialize and share their watch collection with like-minded friends.
Because Panerai watches are so popular, a large number of non-authentic Panerai watches exist. Paneristi help each other verify and validate watches for sale, to ensure that non-authentic Panerai watches are not passed off as the real thing. Paneristi also work to uncover the complicated history of the brand through extensive research posted to online forums. Take a look at the #paneristi hashtag for a huge amount of Panerai content for collectors, with over 300,000 posts.
Watchmaker's Perspective
The majority of Panerai Submersible models use cases made of steel—a great metal for any dive watch. It is exceptionally hard and resistant to shocks and can be machined to very precise tolerances. One unavoidable fact that comes with a steel watch case is its weight. With this in mind, Panerai introduced its Submersible Carbotech model, featuring a case made from a composite material very similar to carbon fiber. This case is an important technical innovation in watchmaking. The Carbotech case is formed using thin sheets of carbon fiber, pressed together in a mold at extremely high pressure and heat. PEEK (Polyether Ether Ketone) is used to bind the sheets together, making the resulting Carbotech case even stronger.
This high-tech case brings the overall weight of the Panerai Submersible to a very low lever—just over 100 grams. The other very appealing aspect to this case is its irregularity. Each Carbotech case is unique, giving the Panerai Submersible models that use it a unique style that differentiates it from other watches.