With its new micro-rotor caliber P.4000, the Italo-Swiss manufacturer reduces
its case size while broadening its feature options.
At the beginning of the modern Panerai era, which commenced two decades ago, the Italian-based brand’s distinctive cases were fitted with robust calibers from renowned Swiss manufacturers. In addition to the ongoing series of specially finished ETA Valjoux and Unitas movements, Panerai limited editions from those first few years often featured calibers from Frédéric Piguet, Minerva, Zenith and Rolex. Indeed, Rolex calibers figured prominently throughout Panerai’s history and were important to the brand’s re-entry into the watch market in the late 1990s.
But in 2002, Panerai took steps to become a manufacture. Three years after CEO Angelo Bonati initiated the development of in-house caliber manufacturing, Panerai introduced its first movement, Caliber P.2002, a technically unusual manual-wind model with an eight-day power reserve (an homage to earlier Panerai models, many of which featured Angelus movements with long power reserves), which it placed into the Radiomir 8 Days GMT.
That watch quickly sold-out.
Panerai added in-house calibers to its Radiomir and Luminor collections in almost each year following the debut of those first few movements. In the eight years since that first in-house caliber, Panerai has created almost twenty in-house calibers, each now fitted into specific models designed to accentuate the caliber’s features. Long power reserves are now standard in nearly all these manifattura editions, as is bi-directional winding for the automatic editions, robust shock-resistant construction and the ability to incrementally set the hour hand.
After consolidating its multiple manufacturing locales last year into its new facility in Pierre-à-Bot, located on a hill above Neuchâtel, Panerai continues to develop in-house calibers at a blistering pace. Just this past year the company debuted several movements that will serve the company’s needs for years to come.
The latest, last year’s P.5000 and this year’s P.4000, represent base designs from which the company can expand fully in-house manual-wind and automatic offerings. The latter, P.4000, features a micro-rotor, a first for Panerai. This innovative automatic movement debuts powering two new Radiomir 1940 models, one of which can be seen on the cover of this month’s issue.
Movements
With each new caliber it has debuted over the years, Panerai offered (and continues to offer) technical features not typically seen among its peers. The firm’s in-house chronograph calibers, for instance, feature premium fully integrated column-wheel operation. The first Panerai tourbillon caliber, P. 2005, which debuted in 2007, shows off its distinctive high-speed rotation (twice per minute) only via the clear caseback and not from an aperture on the front of the dial as is typical among most classic Swiss tourbillon models. What’s more, the tourbillon itself rotates on an axis at right angles to the balance—a dramatic scene that rewards the owner willing to remove the watch from his wrist for the viewing. Next to the tourbillon is the six-day power reserve indicator, displayed by a hand moving in a circular arc.
One of the most important movements in Panerai’s recent history is the P.9000, a 72-hour power reserve workhorse mounted inside a series of Luminor 1950 and Radiomir models. Since that caliber’s debut in 2008, Panerai has developed seven iterations, all currently in production, including the newest, Caliber P.9003, found in the new Luminor 1950 3 Days GMT 24H. Its main innovation relates to the GMT function, which is indicated over twenty-four hours instead of twelve hours. The watch also features a newly designed (and very visible) circular power reserve indicator on the back.
That P.9003 arrived from Panerai after the January 2014 debuts, seen in Geneva at SIHH. But recall that during the show, Panerai introduced new models featuring the aforementioned P.5000, a manual wind movement with a long eight-day power reserve.
Debuted in mid-2013, the P.5000 essentially supplants the need for similar out-sourced manual-wind movements for any future Panerai models. Already, the P.5000 has been used in the Luminor Marina 8 Days and Luminor Marina 8 Days Oro Rosso, and in January debuted in five additional 44mm Luminor Base and Marina models in titanium and steel. The new in-house caliber has also updated several older eight-day models and can be found inside a first-ever Panerai table clock (PAM000581).
However, the very latest caliber to arrive from Panerai’s newly expanded manufacture represents a totally different series that opens up even more options for future designs.
That new caliber is P.4000 (pictured on previous page), previewed earlier this year and now ready for delivery. P.4000 is an automatic movement that for the first time in Panerai history is fitted with a micro-rotor, a smaller, space-saving and effective method of delivering power to escapement, and eventually to the hands.
This design means the rotor is mounted off-center and within the movement itself, not placed atop the caliber as with standard oscillating weights. As a result, any watch with the P.4000 can be made somewhat thinner than is typical at Panerai. What’s more, the smaller diameter of the oscillating weight means the wearer can see more of the caliber’s detailed finishing via the clear caseback typically (though not always) installed on Panerai models.
Micro-rotors have been a fixture in watchmaking since the 1950s when Swiss watchmaking company Buren developed the technology for wristwatches and not long after joined with Breitling-Leonidas, Dubois-Depraz and Heuer to develop one of the very first automatic chronographs, the Chronomatic. Today collectors can find micro-rotors powering watches from primarily top-tier watch companies, including Patek Philippe, A. Lange & Söhne, Chopard, Piaget, Roger Dubuis and Laurent Ferrier.
The debut models in which Panerai has placed the new P.4000 caliber are elegant, modern pieces. Indeed, the Radiomir 1940 case, in which the new caliber debuts, appeared only last year as an updated, solid-lug melding of the original Panerai Radiomir case design and the later Luminor design.
The new models, The Radiomir 1940 3 Days Automatic Acciaio (steel, seen on the cover of this issue) and the Radiomir 1940 3 Days Automatic Oro Rosso (red gold), are Panerai’s slimmest cases. But at 12.2mm (steel) and 12.3mm thick they are by no means ‘ultra-thin’ watches. These new 45mm models are also the first automatic editions offered in the year-old Radiomir 1940 collection.
In addition to allowing Panerai to offer these new, streamlined automatic models, the development of Caliber P.4000 offers Panerai options to add features in future editions with less bulk than is required for more traditional automatic calibers.
In addition, with these latest models, Panerai is not simply offering the same P.4000 caliber in two different case metals. Instead, Panerai is making the P.4000 calibre in two versions that differ in the kind of finish, the engraving and the material of the micro-rotor.
For steel models, the movement has bridges with a horizontally brushed finish, blue engraving and an oscillating weight of tungsten alloy, with relief decoration on the matte surface. For the Radiomir 1940 3 Days Automatic Oro Rosso, Panerai has finished the caliber’s bridges with a circular brushing, gilded engraving and a rotor of 22-karat gold with clous de Paris hobnail finish and polished decorations in relief on the brushed surface.
With two spring barrels connected in series, the P.4000 calibre maintains Panerai’s high standards for a long power reserve, here up to three days. The movement is also fitted with a device that stops the balance wheel when the winding crown is pulled out to set the time. This assists when synchronizing the watch to the second.
On the front of these new watches Panerai retains its familiar profile. As has been traditional with Panerai since the 1940s, the seconds hand rotates in a small sub-dial at 9 o’clock. The dial on the steel version is black whereas the red gold model features a brown dial.