Panerai’s history as a watch brand is an interesting one. While the brand has existed for over a century, for most of that span it produced watches exclusively for the military to the extent that many of their horological developments were treated as military secrets. It was only in 1992 that they entered the commercial market and only 1997 that one of the watches that started it all, the Radiomir was made publicly available. Now, for the first time Panerai are launching a heritage re-interpretation of an early military Radiomir prototype from 1935. This is the Panerai Radiomir Officine PAM01385 Limited Edition.
Off the bat, it’s amazing how little the Radiomir has changed in almost 90 years. Looking at it side by side with the brand new 2023 editions of the Radiomir there are a lot of similarities. The cushion case, the cone-shaped crown and the sandwich dial are all key aspects of the design that have withstood the test of time.
Of course, there has been development over that time such as in the construction of the sandwich dial, which has become more streamlined and now only features two layers. Here, the dial is presented in a gentle shade of brown that pairs beautifully with the retro-style beige lumed hour markers and 12/3/6 Arabic numerals. It makes for a very legible display that has an understated military aesthetic.
The Radiomir was originally developed for the military in 1916 although the prototype that inspired this model comes from 1935. Today we tend to think of the Radiomir as Panerai’s dress watch offering since it was superseded by the Luminor in the 1970s as their premier dive/military watch. However, I could easily picture a watch like this on the wrist of a miliary officer in dress uniform from the 1930s/40s or even today.
As for the movement housed inside, it’s the manual wind P.6000 calibre with 3-day power reserve. The manual winding aspect of it leans into the heritage concept of the watch as it’s the more traditional form of winding. There’s something about regularly winding your watch that develops a deeper connection between you and the watch.
Regarding price and availability, the Panerai Radiomir Officine PAM01385 is limited to just 300 pieces and is priced at £4,700. That’s actually on the more accessible side of the Radiomir spectrum, where the average price in steel is closer to £5 – 6k. For a cool brown colourway with 1935 prototype inspiration, that seems like an easily justifiable price. Here’s hoping Panerai continue to delve into their intriguing military backlog.
Price and Specs:
Panerai Radiomir Officine
PAM01385
45mm diameter, stainless steel
Brown
100m (10 bar)
Panerai calibre P.6000, automatic, 19 jewels, 110 parts
21,600 vph (4 Hz)
3 days
Hours, minutes, seconds
Dark brown Scamosciato leather with stainless steel buckle
£4,700, limited to 300 pieces
More details at Panerai.
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