Panerai PAM721 Special Edition Radiomir for Design Miami

With Design Miami only a week away, as with years past, Panerai has announced a Special Edition to celebrate the event. This year the model of choice is the Officine Panerai PAM721 Radiomir 3 Day Acciaio.

Instantly you will notice that the new PAM721 has a simple and iconic dial with no logo or text (in many circles known as the “anonymous dial) and paired with vintage style blue hands. This look brings back to life the origins of the brand with it’s this combination and 47mm cushion steel dial. The PAM721 is powered by the manual wind P.30o0 movement executed completely in house and featuring a 3 day power reserve.

If you have looked into the history of the Panerai brand you will quickly notice that the PAM721 is paying homage to the Panerai 3646 Type D “Kampfschwimmer” that dates back to 1944. If you would like a little more back story  on the 3646 Type D and history on this piece good buddy and foremost expert in vintage Panerai Jose Perez has a great article about it on his website www.perezcope.com.

A very interesting point Jose brought up in his article as well as in person when we chatted about this piece, was the decision for Panerai to actually release this new model considering the original 3646 were made for the Nazi’s during a time where Germany had occupied Italy and basically took the pieces from Panerai. He personally believes they should have not released this model out of respect for the Panerai family that dealt with a lot during that time. Of course this is longer discussion for another time but one that Jose welcomes if you reach out to him.

Whether it should be made or not, I have always loved this anonymous dial and I do like the piece and I have a feeling it is one that will have a long list given the unique look of the PAM721. I don’t think I’ll be able to get my hands on a vintage piece but maybe this one will in the cards sooner rather than later.

Design Miami is a global forum for design that brings together some of the worlds top collectors, gallery owners, and designers for 4 days. Officine Panerai has been part of the event now for a number of years and during the event they give away the Visionary award which celebrates individuals and identities  who have contributed significantly to the field of design in a very broad sense.

This year the award is being presented to the Mwabwindo School, a collaborative educational project in rural Zambia developed and operated by the 14+ Foundation and designed by Selldorf Architechs, with artwork by Rashid Johnson, and newly commissioned furniture by Christ & Gantenbein.

Panerai PAM721

MOVEMENT: Hand-wound mechanical, P.3000 calibre, executed entirely by Panerai. FUNCTIONS: Hour, minutes. CASE: 47 mm, AISI 316L polished steel. DIAL: Black with luminous Arabic numerals and hour markers. POWER RESERVE: 72 H. WATER-RESISTANCE: 10 bar (~ 100 metres).