SIHH 2019 – PAM683 & PAM959 42mm Luminor Submersible

As we are starting to see the trend from this SIHH2019, Officine Panerai has a renewed commitment to the Submersible line of Luminor with a slew of additions to its lineup. Where the brand began it has now returned. With true enthusiast divers watches made to be taken to the depths of the sea and worn as the rugged timepieces that they are. With the exception of a few pieces from the past, the submersible line have always featured a 47mm case that might not always be the most comfortable or aesthetically pleasing to some fans of the brand. If you take a look at my Instagram channel when we post specific Submersible models they get a lot of attention and love but they are also sprinkled with great desire from watch enthusiasts for a more wearable sized model of the same piece. Although at times we all might feel that these demands will fall on deaf ears, it looks like this request has been heard as we have a nice group of 42mm Submersibles headlining the new releases.

The PAM683 and PAM959 are the first two that I wanted to talk about from this lineup. Both of these pieces feature a 42mm stainless steel case with a Ceramic rotating bezel, which give the watch a very classic sporty look. The main difference in these pieces is their color scheme.

The Panerai PAM683 looks a lot like it’s big brother, the PAM389 or PAM1389, with the exception that the other two feature an amagnetic titanium case. It has a black dial and black bezel combination with some accents in the Panerai blue that we have been seeing more often on new releases. With 4 lines of text on the dial the bottom row of each section is in blue as well as the sub second hand on the dial that is at the 9 o’clock position. At the 3 o’clock position you have a date window and filling in the spaces are the iconic dot style indexes around the outer edge. The watches features the standard submerisble thick hands with a hollowed out area with the tips featuring the famous Panerai Lume. The watch comes on a black rubber strap and also has a spare strap if the original gets worn out.

The second 42mm, the PAM959 the cousin of the PAM982 Guillame Nery Special edition. It features the same shark grey textured dial surrounded by a blue ceramic rotating bezel. On the PAM959 all of the text on the dial is done in white with only the sub second hand in the Panerai blue. As much as I am a big fan of the color blue on watches and especially on Panerai watches, as with the PAM982, I wish that all the blue tones were the same. The blue strap, blue ceramic bezel and sub second hand are all different shades of blue. One could say that there is a nice flow and contrast between the colors but I will have to respectively disagree and say at least 2/3 should have been the same. Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t seen these pieces in person yet so maybe it works in the flesh versus press photos you see here.

Both the PAM683 & PAM959 are powered by an automatic OP XXXIV calibre that is 12.5 linges, 4.2mm thick, has 23 jewels, one barrel, and a power reserve of 72 hours. It features the standard 300 Meters or 30 Bar depth rating that we typically see on a Submersible watch.

I’m going to go out on a small limb here and say that these new 42mm pieces are going to make a lot of people that follow the brand very happy. With a size that works with a lot more fans of the brand with smaller wrist sizes, they once again are showing that they are trying to open up the market to a larger audience as opposed to a small group that love and can wear a larger 47mm watch.

 

Panerai PAM683 Luminor Marina Submersible

MOVEMENT: Automatic mechanical, OP XXXIV calibre. 12 ó lignes, 4.2 mm thick, 23 jewels, 28,800 alternations/hour, Incabloc® anti-shock device, one barrel. FUNCTIONS: Hours, minutes, small seconds, date, calculation of immersion time. CASE: 42 mm, AISI 316L brushed steel. Unidirectional rotating bezel in steel with applied black ceramic disc. Stainless steel back. Device protecting the crown (protected as a trademark) in brushed steel. DIAL: Black with luminous hour markers and dots. Date at 3 o’clock, small seconds at 9 o’clock. POWER RESERVE: 72 hours. WATER-RESISTANCE: 30 bar (~ 300 metres). STRAP: black caoutchouc strap, trapezoidal brushed steel buckle.

Panerai PAM959 Luminor Marina Submersible

MOVEMENT: Automatic mechanical, OP XXXIV calibre. 12 ó lignes, 4.2 mm thick, 23 jewels, 28,800 alternations/hour, Incabloc® anti-shock device, one barrel. FUNCTIONS: Hours, minutes, small seconds, date, calculation of immersion time. CASE: 42 mm, AISI 316L brushed steel. Unidirectional rotating bezel in steel with applied black ceramic disc. Stainless steel back. Device protecting the crown (protected as a trademark) in brushed steel. DIAL: Shark Grey with luminous hour markers and dots. Date at 3 o’clock, small seconds at 9 o’clock. POWER RESERVE: 72 hours.