The Panerai Luminor Marina Just Got Smarter, Stronger, & More Striking
โ€” 2 April 2025

The Panerai Luminor Marina Just Got Smarter, Stronger, & More Striking

โ€” 2 April 2025
Randy Lai
WORDS BY
Randy Lai

Ask even the most watch-agnostic bystander what they think when they hear the name โ€˜Paneraiโ€™, and the response youโ€™ll get likely involves some allusion to the Luminor โ€“ a design rooted in the brandโ€™s collaboration with the Italian navy that dates back to the 1930s.

Reimagined for the modern era, in the guise of the Luminor Marina collection, Paneraiโ€™s flagship release at Watches & Wonders 2025 is a multi-faceted expansion of this long-running collection. Fortunately, the top-line looks very familiar regardless of the specific model in question and remains (in the words of the brandโ€™s spokespeople) โ€œquintessentially Panerai.โ€

The distinctive โ€˜sandwichโ€™ case and safety lock system both make a welcome return. Meanwhile, new and old Paneristi will find a host of technical upgrades: the kind intended to strengthen the Luminor Marinaโ€™s reputation as one of the most recognisable diving watches on the planet.

Additionally, a new iteration of the brandโ€™s Platinumtech perpetual calendar is also arriving this year. For the first time ever, with a transparent dial.

RELATED: The 9 Best Panerai Watches For Lovers Of Italian Design


New Panerai Luminor Marina Timepieces (Steel & Titanium)

Panerai new watches
Pictured: All five Luminor Marina models (four in steel, one in titanium) utilise the ultra-bright X2 grade of Super-LumiNova and are rated to a water resistance of 500m โ€“ a โ€œsignificant upgradeโ€ on the performance front.

Enthusiasts of the classic Luminor look may breathe a sigh of relief as the five new time-and-date versions debuting at Watches & Wonder 2025 appear functionally identical to the current 44mm line-up. Bold lines and clean dials are, as ever, hallmarks of both the Marina aesthetic and mission: to โ€œoffer optimal readability in all conditionsโ€.

Adequate luminescence (at night and/or beneath the open water) is a pivotal part of this calculation. To that end, every new Luminor Marina release utilises X2 Super-LumiNova. The brightest of four grades of trademarked luminescent material, Panerai contends that its โ€œeasily readable even in low-light conditionsโ€.

new Panerai watches

While X2-grade lume is the most eye-catching feature to be found on the new Marina, performance snobs will probably get a kick out of the specifications of its P980 movement. In short: this automatic calibre gives all of the new Marina models a 72-hour power reserve and introduces โ€˜hacking secondโ€™ functionality โ€“ allowing for more precise time-setting.

Perhaps more interesting than this movement itself, however, is how it performs beneath sea level โ€“ now water-resistant to 500m, offering a 40 percent increase in underwater protection over the outgoing generation of Luminor Marinas.

Wearers can expect uniform sizing, water-resistance and mechanical performance across the board; yet, stylistically, Paneraiโ€™s new Luminor executions are some of the most considered weโ€™ve seen.

Four of five feature cases made in 316LVM steel which has been vacuum arc remelted: a process Panerai asserts โ€œimproves resistance to corrosion,โ€ and one more commonly used in the manufacture of surgical instruments.

Each steel model is further distinguished by a different dial colour, ranging from classical monochrome treatments in black (PAM03312) and white (PAM03314) to sunburst blue (PAM03313). Each is priced uniformly at US$8,800 (~AU$13,981).

Unusually, at the time of release, the only Luminor officially offered on the matching steel bracelet features a โ€˜light blueโ€™ dial (PAM03323), priced at US$9,700 (~AU$15,407).

Regardless, Paneristi can expect that all of these new steel models will be compatible with integrated bracelets โ€“ thanks to the brandโ€™s widespread adoption of a โ€˜Click Releaseโ€™ system enabling tool-free strap swapping at the push of a button.

The only new Luminor Marina weโ€™d assume cannot be combined with Paneraiโ€™s steel bracelet is the โ€˜Titanioโ€™ (PAM003325): another ode to the brandโ€™s โ€œlongstandingโ€ experiments with titanium. The suave olive dial contrasting with the grey titanium case makes the โ€˜Titanioโ€™ the most marvellous of all the new Marinas. Priced at US$9,700 (~AU$15,407).


The Luminor Perpetual Calendar GMT Platinumtech

new Panerai watches
Pictured: This platinum Luminor model makes use of Paneraiโ€™s P4100 โ€“ an advanced movement in which all calendar settings are adjusted via the crown.

The new Luminor Perpetual Calendar GMT Platinumtech (PAM01575) sits at the opposite end of the spectrum to Paneraiโ€™s time-and-date releases. Adding a grip of complicated functions to the (usually lean) Luminor design, it presents as a classic travellerโ€™s watch: with the day-date apertures joined by an AM/PM indicator and all-important 24-hour hand. 

To keep from cluttering the dial, a selection of the perpetual calendarโ€™s indicators โ€“ the year, month, and leap year โ€“ are displayed on the movement side of the watch. This arrangement may prove too subtle (almost to a fault) for some collectors, but the P4100 movement cuts down on inconvenience with what Panerai describes as an โ€œintuitive adjustment system.โ€

The traditional arrangement for a perpetual calendar, involving small pin-activated pushers set into the case, is here replaced with the crown โ€“ a single mechanism that wearers can wind to modify the day, date, month, and leap year. 

Panerai introduced this technical breakthrough, after roughly a decade of R&D, in 2022. Now though, this watchโ€™s gloomy sapphire dial adds another dimension of immersion: as wearers change the day and date, theyโ€™ll be able to glimpse the rotation of the corresponding disc โ€“ a neat effect absent in previous versions of the P4100-powered Luminor. 

โ€œWith a sapphire dial that reveals the calibreโ€™s intricacies and functions,โ€ says Jean-Marc Pontrouรฉ, Paneraiโ€™s outgoing CEO, โ€œThis new Luminor provides wearers with a deeper connection to the art of timekeeping.โ€


Check out some of our other favourites from Watches & Wonders 2025 below:

Be sure to follow our rolling coverage of this yearโ€™s show here and via Instagram.

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Randy Lai
WORDS by
Following 6 years in the trenches covering consumer luxury across East Asia, Randy joins Boss Hunting as the team's Commercial Editor. His work has been featured in A Collected Man, M.J. Bale, Soho Home, and the BurdaLuxury portfolio of lifestyle media titles. An ardent watch enthusiast, boozehound and sometimes-menswear dork, drop Randy a line at [email protected].