This year, Panerai are going back to it’s roots with the Radiomir, looking back at the historic model that was first prototyped back in 1935. For Watches and Wonders 2023, the brand is focussing on it’s storia leggendaria primarily the Radiomir. This story is continue with the Radiomir Otto Giorni.
Panerai is a brand that has so much history and mythology, sometimes both intertwining into the legend that is Panerai. This year, Officine Panerai is taking a trip through its historical archives and telling it’s story, its storia leggedaria, that takes us on a journey back to the start of the 20th century where it cemented its name in legend. The release that epitomises this is the new Radiomir Otto Giorni in hand-finished eSteel.
The new Radiomir Otto Giorni (Italian for eight days, which is the power reserve on the new model) takes us back to almost a century ago, with design aesthetic that screams both vintage and tradition. The Otto Giorni is in the traditional Radiomir shaped cushion case, quintessentially Panerai, as is the case size of 45mm. Whilst this is large for today’s standards, this stays true to the Panerai brand DNA as well as the vintage dive watches the Italian Navy used – large, simple, and easily legible underwater or in low light. In fact, the modern day Radiomir is 2mm smaller than the original 1935 prototype!
Every Radiomir Otto Giorni eSteel™ case is hand-finished one by one to create a seasoned look, giving each watch a unique character. The intently weathered effect of the eSteel™ case, created via PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition), is paired with defining elements of the original Radiomir created for the Royal Italian Navy – cushion-shaped case, slim wire lugs, and signature sandwich dial. Those watch aficionados who love a vintage styled timepiece will certainly be impressed by the look and feel of the Otto Giorni.
Panerai have equipped the new Radiomir Otto Giorni with its now trademark Super-LumiNova® sandwich dial, featuring a small seconds display at 9 o’clock, and the 8 Days Patented insignia in Italian at 3 o’clock – an homage to Panerai’s roots of 1956 watches, where this graphic inscription comes to life for the first time on the Egiziano model. The sapphire glass crystal on the face is domed, reminiscent of the Plexiglass® crystal of the past and the watch also has a cone-shaped crown, a design that distinguishes the Radiomir collection from other Panerai timepieces.
Panerai have given the Radiomir Otto Giorni an open case back, showcasing the P.5000 hand wound movement, with 2 barrels to extract the 8 days power reserve, Glucydur® balance, Incabloc Parechoc® anti-shock device and running at 21,600 vph / 3Hz.
With this release, Panerai have given us two models – PAM01347 and PAM01348 to suit people’s tastes. PAM01347 is more traditionally vintage, with a grainy dark brown dial and matching dark brown calf skin strap. PAM01348 is a more modern take with its blue colourway, however, the blue is a subtle nod to the colours the aluminium dials could turn due to the anodization process. The blue calf skin strap with cream stitching matches the dial perfectly, giving PAM01348 a completley different look.
Both dials have a dark to light gradient to them, giving the Radiomir Otto Giorni more depth to the dials, and the grainy look has an almost leather texture to it, giving it a much warmer feel, and something totally different to most modern luxury watches. The distressed case also gives each a unique look and texture, again something not really seen much these days, and being individually hand finished, watch lovers can be sure they have something just that little bit special.
Both references of the Radiomir Otto Giorni are Boutique Exclusives.
Reference: PAM01347 (Brown) & PAM01348 (Blue)
Specification
- Case: 45 mm hand finished eSteel with brushed PVD coating
- Dial: Brown or Blue gradient and textured grain dial with luminous Arabic numerals and hour markers. Small seconds at 9 o’clock
- Crystal: Domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating
- Water Resistance: 100m (10BAR)
- Movement: Panerai Calibre P.5000 – featuring 21 jewels, Glucydur® balance, 21,600 vph / 3hz. Incabloc Parechoc® anti-shock device & Two barrels. 146 components.
- Power Reserve: 8 Days
- Strap: Dark brown or dark blue calf skin strap with cream stitching.
