Panerai: Submersible Bronzo

For several years now, the watchmaking industry has familiarized enthusiasts and collectors with the experimentation of new materials. Among these, one of the most complex to work with and therefore least used is bronze. This ancient material has a rich history but it was unknown to watchmaking until 2011, when Panerai Laboratorio di Idee surprised the watchmaking world by creating a diver’s watch with a case made of bronze. This material, an alloy formed by copper and tin, or aluminum, nickel or beryllium, owes its great charm to its ability to mature over time, obtaining different colors and acquiring a patina that makes each piece unique and different from the others.

After Panerai, other brands, including Tudor, Montblanc and IWC, were also fascinated by bronze, which now boasts several examples on the market.

But it is still Panerai focusing on this alloy and launching this year the Panerai Submersible Bronze: 161 grams of heavy metal, with a new ceramic bezel.

The Panerai Submersible Bronze enriches the historic 2011 model with new creativity, creating a watch with a unique character that is now part of the Florentine brand’s collection for the first time.

Its massive 47mm bronze case features the classic winding crown protection device patented by Panerai in 1955, made here in satin-finished bronze. In this new version, a micro-sandblasted brown ceramic disc is applied to the rotating bezel, which integrates with the brown colour of the dial and the raw-cut natural leather strap. In addition to protecting the watch from excessive oxidation without altering its properties, the patina that gradually forms on the bronze surface gives each piece a vintage and distinctive look.

The Panerai Submersible Bronze is a professional diver’s watch, water-resistant to 300 metres (30 bar) and with all the indications clearly visible even in the dark with applied luminescent markers and dots; the small seconds at nine o’clock testify to the regularity of its movement in all situations and the rotating unidirectional bezel allows the dive times to be calculated with confidence.

The in-house P.9010 automatic calibre, with three days of power reserve and a frequency of 28,800 vibrations per hour with two barrels, is powered by a bidirectional oscillating weight that can be admired through the sapphire crystal caseback. It offers the functions of time, date and the useful mechanism for the rapid setting of the hour hand.

The timepiece comes with a brown leather strap with contrasting beige stitching and a satin-finished titanium buckle. It is also equipped with a second rubber strap in military green.

The new Panerai Submersible Bronze is available exclusively in Panerai boutiques around the world, on the Panerai.com website and in the Panerai WeChat boutique. Its price is €. 16.000.

By Valeria Garavaglia