Panerai: Lo Scienziato Luminor 1950 Tourbillon GMT

Panerai unveils a new version of Lo Scienziato, one of the most surprising creations of the Neuchâtel manufacture presented in 2016.

The Luminor 1950 case has the classic diameter of 47mm and it is made of titanium. To reduce the weight further, the case is made using an innovative technology which enables complex geometrical shapes to be created without in any way compromising its water-resistance “100m”, its solidity or its resistance to any tension or torsion to which the case may be subjected. The technology used is called Direct Metal Laser Sintering: this process builds up a 3D object layer by layer by means of a fibre optic laser using powdered titanium. The successive layers “only 0.02mm” merge together and become completely solid, creating forms which would be impossible to achieve using traditional working methods, lower in weight and with a perfectly uniform, even appearance.

The P.2005 mechanical movement, the hand-wound calibre with the special tourbillon patented by Panerai, appears here for in the P.2005/T version, skeletonised and with titanium bridges and plates. Thanks to the lower density of this material – about half that of the brass of which these components are normally made – the overall weight of the movement is 35% less than that of the P.2005/S skeletonised version.

The ultimate lightness of the watch is both the result of the fine skeletonising of the bridges, plates and spring barrels, and of the absence of a traditional dial, since all the elements which normally comprise it are attached directly to the movement or the flange of the watch, such as the hour markers. At 9 o’clock is the small seconds dial, inside which a small indicator rotates, showing the rotation of the tourbillon. At 3 o’clock, another small dial indicates whether the central second time zone hand (GMT) refers to day or night. The long power reserve of six days is achieved by the three spring barrels connected in series, and the power remaining is shown by a special indicator on the back of the movement, visible through the large sapphire crystal porthole on the back of the watch. All this fine work of skeletonising enables the fascinating details on both sides of the watch to be admired, such as the winding and unwinding of the spring inside each barrel, the intricate interconnection of the wheel work and in particular the rotation of the tourbillon cage, which, in the version patented by Panerai, is fundamentally different from the normal arrangement. In order to compensate more precisely for the effects of gravity on the escapement, thus achieving more accurate operation, the tourbillon cage rotates on an axis which is perpendicular, not parallel, to that of the balance, and it makes a complete rotation every 30 seconds instead of once a minute.

The Paneria Lo Scienziato is a limited edition of only 81 pieces and it’s combined with a black leather strap with blue stitching. (Price €,139.000)