PANERAI expands its RADIOMIR 1940 collection by launching four new references: PAM00512, PAM00513 PAM00514 and PAM00515.
In about 1940, the Panerai workshops in Florence perfected a new case, designed to meet the increasing demands of the commandos of the Italian Navy. The case had evolved from the one presented in 1936 which is known today as the Radiomir – a term which originally referred to the luminous material patented by Panerai to make the dial readable in the dark – but it presented some innovations designed to make its construction even more solid and hard wearing.
In the new case the strap attachments were no longer formed from a strong piece of steel wire bent and welded to the case, as they had been previously. This design might expose the watch to the risk of the strap coming off in the course of the extreme operations which commandos were called upon to undertake when on board their underwater assault craft. In the 1940s version, however, the lugs were larger and much more solid, being milled from the same block of steel as the case, of which it was an integral part.
As well as the strap attachments, the system of attaching the strap was also changed, becoming much simpler and more secure. While previously it had been necessary to sew the leather round the wire strap attachments, the new construction had small holes in the lugs themselves in which little tubes could be fitted, having been inserted through the loops at the ends of the strap. This was a more modern solution, which also meant that the leather strap could easily be replaced.
As well as the modification to the strap attachments, other changes altered the Radiomir case in a definitive way, presaging the subsequent development of the shape of the Luminor case which came out a few years later. The cushion-shaped outlines were now less accentuated. The winding crown was slightly larger and cylindrical rather than troncoidal. The overall thickness of the watch increased from about 15 mm to almost 17 mm.
So was born the Radiomir 1940 case, which Officine Panerai is presenting again today – with the same forms but in a thinner version – in new models of the collection, watches endowed with the strength and fascination that only being a part of history can convey.
RADIOMIR 1940 3 DAYS – 47mm & RADIOMIR 1940 3 DAYS ORO ROSSO – 47mm
The enthralling Radiomir 1940 case is making its debut in the Historic Collection of Officine Panerai with the new Radiomir 1940 3 Days, available in steel or red gold and fitted with the P.3000 calibre, a hand-wound mechanical movement with a power reserve of three days. In the Radiomir 1940 3 Days the essential forms of the Panerai design have been integrated with haute horlogerie technical solutions in the choice of materials and in the construction of every detail of the watch.
The dial, with the small seconds hand at nine o’clock and the date window at three o’clock, has the sandwich structure of two superimposed plates with the luminous material between them, its light being visible through the holes made corresponding to the hour markers in the upper plate. This type of dial construction had already been designed by Panerai at the end of the 1930s to provide greater brightness and legibility. The colour of the dial is black in the steel version and brown in the red gold model.
The case is made of AISI 316L stainless steel, a grade extremely resistant to corrosion, or of 5Npt red gold, an alloy with a high percentage of copper, which gives the colour greater intensity, and a proportion of platinum, which helps to exclude oxidation. In both versions the finish of the case and bezel is polished.
The P.3000 movement can be admired through the large sapphire crystal window in the back. Hand-wound and with a diameter of 16½ lignes, the P.3000 calibre has a power reserve of three days achieved by means of two spring barrels in series.
It has wide brush-finished bridges with chamfered edges and a variable inertia balance with an unusually large balance wheel (13.2 mm in diameter) which oscillates at a frequency of 3 Hz. The P.3000 calibre also has the device which enables the hour hand to be adjusted in jumps of one hour forward or backward, so that its adjustment does not interfere with the progress of the minute hand or the running of the watch.
The Radiomir 1940 3 Days (PAM00514) and the Radiomir 1940 3 Days Oro Rosso (PAM00515) are supplied respectively with a black leather strap or a brown alligator strap, and they are part of Officine Panerai’s Historic Collection.
Technical details
Model: RADIOMIR 1940 3 DAYS – 47mm, Reference: PAM00514
Movement
Hand-wound mechanical, Panerai P.3000 calibre
16½ lignes, 5.3 mm thick
21 jewels
Glucydur® balance
21,600 alternations/hour
Incabloc® anti-shock device
Power reserve 3 days, two barrels
162 components
Functions
Hours, minutes, small seconds, date
Case, dial & strap
Diameter 47 mm, AISI 316L polished steel
Screw-down winding crown personalised OP
Bezel: Polished steel
Back: See-through sapphire crystal
Dial: Black with luminous Arabic numerals and hour markers. Date at 3 o’clock, seconds at 9 o’clock
Crystal: Sapphire made of corundum, 1.8 mm thick. Anti-reflective coating
Water-resistance: 10 bar (~ 100 metres)
Strap: PANERAI personalised leather strap and trapezoidal polished steel buckle
Model: RADIOMIR 1940 3 DAYS ORO ROSSO – 47mm, Reference: PAM00515
Movement
Hand-wound mechanical, Panerai P.3000 calibre
16½ lignes, 5.3 mm thick, 21 jewels
Glucydur® balance
21,600 alternations/hour
Incabloc® anti-shock device
Power reserve 3 days, two barrels
162 components
Functions
Hours, minutes, small seconds, date
Case, dial & strap
Case: Diameter 47 mm, 18 ct. polished red gold
Screw-down winding crown personalised OP
Bezel: 18 ct. polished red gold
Back: See-through sapphire crystal
Dial: Brown with luminous Arabic numerals and hour markers. Date at 3 o’clock, seconds at 9 o’clock
Crystal: Sapphire made of corundum, 1.4 mm thick. Anti-reflective coating
Water-resistance: 5 bar (~ 50 metres)
Strap: PANERAI personalised alligator strap and 18 ct. polished red gold buckle
RADIOMIR 1940 – 42mm & RADIOMIR 1940 ORO ROSSO – 42mm
The Radiomir 1940, in both the steel and the red gold versions is also available with the case 42 mm in diameter with the P.999 hand-wound movement, the smallest and thinnest in the wide range of calibres produced by the Officine Panerai manufacture in Neuchâtel.
Visible through the window in the sapphire crystal window which opens on the back, the P.999 has a power reserve of 60 hours and a balance which oscillates at 21,600 alternations/hour (equivalent to 3 Hz).
In the red gold version, where the arises of the bridges are chamfered, smoothed and polished, the active length of the balance spring is adjusted by a swan-neck regulator, while in the steel version it is adjusted by curb pins.
The Radiomir 1940 (PAM00512) and the Radiomir 1940 Oro Rosso (PAM00513) are supplied with a black or brown alligator strap, and they are part of the Historic Collection.
Technical details
Model: RADIOMIR 1940 – 42mm, Reference: PAM00512
Movement
Hand-wound mechanical, Panerai P.999/1 calibre
12 lignes, 3 mm thick, 19 jewels, Glucydur® balance
21,600 alternations/hour
Incabloc® anti-shock device
Power reserve 60 hours
144 components
Functions
Hours, minutes, small seconds
Case, dial & strap
Case: Diameter 42 mm, AISI 316L polished steel
Screw-down winding crown personalised OP
Bezel: Polished steel
Back: See-through sapphire crystal
Dial: Black with luminous Arabic numerals and hour markers. Seconds at 9 o’clock
Crystal: Sapphire made of corundum, 1.6 mm thick. Anti-reflective coating
Water-resistance: 10 bar (~ 100 metres).
Strap: PANERAI personalised alligator strap and trapezoidal polished steel buckle.
Model: RADIOMIR 1940 ORO ROSSO – 42mm, Reference: PAM00513
Movement
Hand-wound mechanical, Panerai P.999 calibre
12 lignes, 3.4 mm thick, 19 jewels
Glucydur® balance
21,600 alternations/hour
Incabloc® anti-shock device
Swan’s neck regulator
Power reserve 60 hours
154 components
Functions
Hours, minutes, small seconds
Case, dial & strap
Diameter 42 mm, 18 ct. polished red gold.
Screw-down winding crown personalised OP.
Bezel: 18 ct. polished red gold.
Back: See-through sapphire crystal.
Dial: Brown, with luminous Arabic numerals and hour markers. Seconds at 9 o’clock
Crystal: Sapphire made of corundum, 1.6 mm thick. Anti-reflective coating
Water-resistance: 10 bar (~ 100 metres).
Strap: PANERAI personalised alligator strap and 18 ct. polished red gold buckle
