When you think of modest watches that hide quietly under your cuff, you probably aren’t thinking about Panerai. It just isn’t in the DNA of the Florentine-born brand, which instead exudes the type of Mediterranean confidence that can be summed up in a single word… sprezzatura. However, this year, Panerai is flipping that script with the Luminor Marina Quaranta collection, which offers a 40mm case size for the first time.
Just like the fashion world, styles and tastes change within the watch world over time. In the early 2000s, bigger was always better when it came to selecting the timepiece on your wrist. Today, however, preferences have slowly shifted towards smaller watches, driven in part by the wave of enthusiasm for vintage-inspired sports watches.
This gradual shift hasn’t gone unnoticed at Panerai, where the design team has carefully shrunk one of their most enduring designs down to an almost universally wearable diameter. It’s no easy task to change the proportions of the iconic Luminor shape, yet Panerai has thoughtfully done just that without sacrificing too much of that iconic Italian flair on the wrist.
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The result sees a polished bezel that stands out slightly more against the brushed cushion case, lugs that appear slightly wider in proportion and an oversized crownguard that you simply can’t miss. The new 40mm steel case is now more wearable for more people, especially with the trio of dial options that Panerai offers within the new collection.
The Panerai Luminor Marina Quaranta is available with either a blue, black, or white dial – each of which offers a slightly different impression on the wrist. The black and white options feature a matte finish and are both paired with comfortable black alligator leather straps, making them slightly more conservative in the ways they could be styled.
In contrast, the blue dial features a vibrant sunburst finish that plays with the light almost enthusiastically, throwing out slightly different colours depending if you’re in direct sunlight or indoors. The blue dial is also complemented with a matching navy blue alligator leather strap, which elevates the watch to have a sportier, more casual feel to it.
The dials of all three pieces feature a sandwich construction, which makes for a great contrast against the luminous hour markers that have been cut out. In a demonstration of strong Italian design, all three pieces feature a running seconds subdial in the 9 o’clock position, which has the effect of balancing out the date window and large crown guard on the righthand side of the timepiece.
Ticking away beneath the dials of the Luminor Marina Quaranta collection is the in-house P.900 automatic movement. With a thoroughly modern power reserve of 72 hours, it beats at 28,800vph and represents a solid workhorse within the Panerai stable. While you can’t see the movement through the solid steel caseback, the caseback ensures the collection is guaranteed to 100m of water resistance.
The new Luminor Marina Quaranta collection represents a slight shift in the ethos of Panerai, opening up its watches to a wider audience thanks to its approachable case size. While Panerai is known and loved around the world for the hefty wrist presence of its watches, offering a larger size range is only a good thing for the brand. If you’ve considered a Panerai in the past and paused because of its size, this new trio is sure to assuage your hesitation.
The new collection is available from Panerai boutiques in Sydney and Melbourne, where you can try the new cases on for size yourself. All three of the references within the Luminor Marina Quaranta collection arrive with an RRP of $10,200 and are currently available.
This article is sponsored by Kennedy. Thank you for supporting the brands that support Boss Hunting.
