The 9 Best Panerai Watches For Lovers Of Italian Design

Panerai is a watchmaker that has always deferred form to the service of function. This design language has remained consistent and uncompromising for more than a century, and today, Panerai watches are at their best when combining purity of design with groundbreaking materials.

For those just dipping their toe into the Panerai universe, the brand can be a little confusing. However, once you dig a little deeper, it’ll be clear that the brand offers a deep range of choice along with solid collectability.

In the market for a Panerai timepiece and don’t know where to begin? We’ve put together a list of the brand’s best releases — available to purchase in Australia right now.

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BH Approved: Our Favourite Panerai Watch

To kick things off, we have a watch that might surprise some folks: the Panerai Radiomir Annual Calendar Goldtech™ PAM01363. While it may appear out of step with Panerai’s burly function-first aesthetic, it showcases the best of the brand because of how cleanly it visualises its calendar complication.

It’s Panerai’s first annual calendar and despite telling the time, day, date, and month, all of the information is laid out across the dial with ingenious simplicity. The day and date are where you’d expect (at 3 o’clock), the running seconds balances the dial at 9 o’clock, and the months are shown via an internal ring that surrounds the dial.

Cased in Panerai’s proprietary Goldtech alloy, it measures 45mm in diameter and promises 100m of water resistance. Through the exhibition caseback you’ll find the P.9010/AC calibre — offering a very solid 72 hours of power reserve when fully wound.

For Panerai purists, this might not be the first reference that comes to mind. But for our money, it’s a quintessential example of what the brand represents in today’s luxury market.

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The Best Panerai Watches Money Can Buy

Panerai Submersible Tourbillon GMT Luna Rossa Experience Edition PAM01405

This is another complicated offering from the brand, but one that trades some of its function for its cutting-edge form.

Making its debut in 2024, the 45mm case is made from Carbotech — a proprietary Panerai material lighter than steel and titanium, that has also been engineered to be highly resistant to corrosion.

The movement is equally impressive, with the GMT-equipped P.2015/T calibre visible through the skeletonised dial. Offering 4 days of power reserve when fully wound, it is regulated not by a normal escapement, but a tourbillon.

It’s not the most easily readable Panerai on our list, but the impressive technical specs more than make up for this fact.

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Panerai Submersible QuarantaQuattro Luna Rossa Ti-Ceramitech™ PAM01543

A watch that spotlights Panerai’s continuing commitment to material innovation is this member of the Submersible family, which lives up to its deep-diving reputation with a water resistant rating to 500m.

Its case is also machined out of a proprietary Panerai material — this time Ti-Ceramitech — and is formed using an electrolytic plasma oxidation process that transforms the outer layer of titanium into ceramic.

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Panerai Submersible QuarantaQuattro Verde Smeraldo PAM01287

Even though Panerai is most famous for its innovations in the realm of performance materials, the company has also made an effort to introduce more sustainable forms for its timepieces. Exhibit A: this recently released Submersible QuarantaQuattro Verde Smeraldo, featuring a case made from recycled eSteel and a recycled PET strap.

Use of these materials reduces the impact of manufacturing processes on the environment and confirms Panerai as one of the Swiss watch industry’s most vocal champions of sustainability.

Beyond the sustainability credentials of this watch, it’s also been executed in a brilliant shade of deep green, with iterations in blue or black also available.

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Panerai Luminor Quaranta BiTempo Luna Rossa PAM01404

Panerai enjoys a comfortable reputation not just deep under water, but also on the ocean’s waves. The brand has been a sponsor of the Italian racing syndicate Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli since 2017: the basis for one of its biggest launches at Watches & Wonders 2024.

This watch was created in celebration of that partnership and with its wearable 44mm steel case, attractive blue sunburst dial and GMT functionality, makes for the perfect timepiece to accompany you on your next yacht race.

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Panerai Radiomir California PAM01349

Simple, elegant design is an essential part of Panerai’s DNA and this Radiomir ‘California’ is an excellent example as to why.

The current-day Radiomir descends from a 1916 patent that Panerai filed while working with the Royal Italian Navy: the subject of which was radium-based powder paints, touted to illuminate dials under low/zero-lighting conditions.

The so-called California dial refers the combination of both Roman and Arabic numerals on the dial; and the case is crafted from Brunito eSteel to deliver a warm, patinated appearance.

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Panerai Luminor Marina Carbotech™ PAM02661

This member of the Panerai Luminor family features a 44mm Carbotech case, whose black surface lends a strong contrast to the light blue highlights found across the dial and strap.

While it’s certainly less complicated than the Submersible Tourbillon GMT that we’ve also included in this list, its murdered-out aesthetic makes for an ideal everyday dive watch.

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Panerai Luminor Chrono PAM01110

The chronograph isn’t a complication Panerai produces in huge numbers, however, this take in the Luminor collection is one of the newer (and to our mind) better-executed versions.

With a proportional approach to watchmaking ever-present in the minds of Panerai designers, the chronograph pushers are situated on the 9 o’clock side of the case — so as to offset the bridge-like locking mechanism over the watch’s crown.

The blue dial is as close as you’re going to get to a universal crowd pleaser, and this reference arrives on a steel bracelet that matches the 44mm steel case.

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Panerai Radiomir Quaranta PAM01293

You might have noticed most of Panerai’s cases sit comfortably in the 44mm range, bucking the recent trend in the watch industry that favours smaller, more universally wearable timepieces.

While we doubt the Italian-founded brand will ever completely abandon the oversized cases that it’s so well known for, Panerai did recently launch a collection of 40mm watches that includes this Radiomir Quaranta PAM01293.

A more unisex option catering to vintage enthusiasts who love smaller timepieces, the 40mm case wears smaller than you might initially expect — thanks to the relatively short lug profile. With an attractive sunburst blue dial (one of a range of different dial colours), warmly toned hands, and a classic alligator leather strap, it’s a perfect option for someone who still favours tailoring throughout the work week.

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