Panerai’s PAM00518 Radiomir 1940 Chronograph Platino with a dial in ivory colour and luminous hour indexes represented by dots and bars. Housed in a 45mm platinum case, it is powered by the manual-winding Calibre OP XXV which is developed on a Minerva 13-22 base movement and has a 2.8mm thick Plexiglas crystal. Limited to 50 pieces and priced at 59,900 euros or around US$81,000 / SGD104,000 / MYR272,000. Photo: © TANG Portfolio. 2014 Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie, Geneva.
The look of Panerai’s Radiomir 1940 Chronographs which are part of the brand’s 2014 product line-up carries strong accents of vintage design.
This is especially so with the tachymetre scale on the dial and the two sub-dial counters; one for the continuous sweep seconds at the nine o’clock position and the other for the 30-minute chronograph counter at the three o’clock position.
According to Panerai, the look of the dial was inspired by the history of the brand and the function of the watch.
In fact, Panerai’s 1940 Chronographs bring back fond memories of timepieces such as Patek Philippe’s Ref. 5070 and Vacheron Constantin’s Malte Chronograph, both of which have the vintage look.
There are three limited versions of Panerai’s Radiomir 1940 Chronograph: it is being offered in platinum (PAM 518) with an ivory dial (50 pieces), in red gold (PAM 519) with a brown “California” dial (100 pieces) and in white gold (PAM 520) with a black sandwich dial (100 pieces).
The PAM00519 Radiomir 1940 Chronograph Oro Rosso (in red gold) features the “California” dial used in Panerai’s Radiomir of 1936 and it is in brown. Limited to 100 pieces and priced at 44,400 euros or around US$60,000 / SGD77,000 / MYR202,000. Photo: © Panerai
The PAM 519 Radiomir 1940 Chronograph in red gold has what is known as the “California” dial of 1936 whereby the top half of the hour indexes on the dial are in Roman numerals and the lower half are in Arabic numerals.
The Calibre OP XXV on the Minerva 13-22 base movement features the column wheel chronograph and swan-neck regulator. Photo: © Panerai
The 45mm case of Panerai’s Radiomir 1940 Chronograph has what the brand describes as “the simple elegant lines developed in around 1940.”
All three versions are powered by the manual-winding Calibre OP XXV which is developed on a Minerva 13-22 base movement. Worth noting is Minerva’s relationship with Panerai as a supplier of movements which dates back to the 1920s.
The dial design of the PAM00520 Radiomir 1940 Chronograph Oro Bianco (in white gold) is similar to that of the PAM00518 in platinum; however, the PAM00520 has a black sandwich dial where the luminescent material is seen through the apertures on the dial formed by the hour indexes. Limited to 100 pieces and priced at 46,900 euros or around US$64,000 / SGD81,000 / MYR213,000. Photo: © Panerai
The PAM 520 Radiomir 1940 Chronograph in white gold has a similar design to that of the PAM 0518 in platinum. Apart from the difference in dial colours where the white gold version has a black dial and the platinum has an ivory-coloured dial, the PAM 520 features the sandwich-type dial with the luminescence of the hour indexes seen through apertures.
As a fan of timepieces like Patek Philippe’s Ref. 5070 and Vacheron Constantin’s Malte Chronograph, the look of the Radiomir 1940 Chronograph is well appreciated in a Panerai case, not to mention the use of the Minerva base calibre.