Panerai Luminor Tourbillon PAM01784 Watch Review
The recently launched Panerai Luminor Tourbillon PAM01784 blends the brand’s maritime heritage with a high complication, presented in an eye-catching, contemporary format. Angus Davies, a self-confessed Paneristi, looks to the brand’s past before appraising this latest model.
Panerai – founded in Florence in 1860
The story of Panerai began in 1860 when Giovanni Panerai opened a watch shop at Ponte alle Grazie, Florence. Thereafter, Guido Panerai (Giovanni’s son) established a business in the Italian city specialising in high-precision engineering. The company, ‘Panerai e Figlio’, began supplying the Royal Italian Navy in 1910. Over the years, the company moved around the city before eventually opening premises on Piazza San Giovanni (1926). Trading as ‘Orologeria Svizzera’, the building has remained in the company’s hands ever since, with the firm recently celebrating its centenary.
Image – Panerai boutique on Piazza San Giovanni
Panerai – military divers’ watches
In 1935, Panerai produced its first prototype divers’ watch, Ref 2533, for the Italian Navy. Equipped with a luminescent ‘Radiomir‘ dial (Radiomir referred to the luminescent treatment employed on the dial), the model featured a Rolex base movement. Thereafter, the Florence-based company went on to serially produce military divers’ watches.
Panerai embraced the notion of continuous improvement, which saw it introduce various upgrades. During the 1940s, the Italian firm launched the Luminor, once again, a name referring to the luminescent material used for the dial indications. This tritium-based material was safer than radium, albeit it still emitted some radiation. These days, the brand uses Super-LumiNova, an innocuous luminescent treatment that’s widely used within the watch industry. Returning to the matter of product advancement, the wire loop strap attachments of the early Radiomir watches were superseded by sturdier horn-shaped lugs. Moreover, a new ingenious lever device was introduced, protecting the crown from harm. Today, the names ‘Radiomir’ and ‘Luminor’ refer to the style of the watch, not the luminescent material used on the dial.
Image – Panerai Luminor Tourbillon PAM01784
Panerai – first civilian watches (1993)
In 1993, Panerai branched into making limited edition models for non-military use. No longer subjected to the restrictions of military secrecy, this diversification made perfect sense as the prerequisites for a military divers’ watch, such as impressive water resistance, robustness, precision and matchless legibility, are equally valid for the civilian market. Moreover, while Panerai watches were originally intended to fulfil a utilitarian role, they also brimmed with Italianate style.
Eventually, in 1997, the brand was acquired by the Richemont Group (formerly the Vendôme Group) and, courtesy of some shrewd marketing, Panerai became known to a wider audience. Following this change of ownership, its ascent has proved extraordinary. For example, the company has opened new points of sale in strategic locations, inaugurated a new Manufacture in Neuchâtel, while retaining its presence in Florence, and released numerous new models. Most notably, in 2007, Panerai began making in-house calibres, including the P.2005 tourbillon (see later).
In recent years, the Italian-Swiss marque has boosted demand for its products by releasing new case sizes and dial colours, as well as housing its watches in new materials such as Bronzo, Ceramica, Carbotech and Titanio. The firm has even looked at noble metals, modifying their composition in order to enhance the metal’s properties while continuing to preserve their intrinsic value. These proprietary case materials include ‘Goldtech’ and ‘Platinumtech’.
In the past, a Panerai watch typically indicated the hours, minutes and seconds; however, today the firm offers a variety of complications, including the ‘big four high complications’, namely the split-seconds chronograph, perpetual calendar, minute repeater and tourbillon.
Recently, Panerai released a new high-end expression of watchmaking, the Panerai Luminor Tourbillon PAM01784, a neoteric timepiece that I will focus on hereafter.
Panerai Luminor Tourbillon PAM01784 – front of house
The watch eschews a conventional dial, revealing a skeleton hand-wound mechanical movement for the wearer’s delectation. Positioned beneath a domed sapphire crystal, the display includes luminescent baton-style hour and minute hands, indicating the prevailing time. An additional hand with a prominent tip (white with an orange border) can be used to indicate the hour at home (GMT function) when required.
Upholding Panerai convention, the hours are denoted by Arabic numerals at 3, 6, 9 and 12 o’clock, with simple batons in between. Due to the absence of a conventional dial, these hour markers rest upon a rehaut. A day/night indicator is presented at 3 o’clock – a highly useful function when juggling time in two locations. At 7 o’clock, a power-reserve indicator shows the collective power stored within the movement’s three barrels. Finally, a small seconds dial sits at 9 o’clock. Each indication features a track mounted atop the skeleton movement and, save for the small seconds display, the hands again feature a white tip fringed in orange.
Panerai has added a grid-like structure to the calibre P.2005/T while still allowing sight of various movement parts. Two of the three barrels are visible front of house. They are openworked, revealing the mainsprings in various states of tension. Undoubtedly, the tourbillon, located between 10 and 11 o’clock, is the star of the show (I will discuss this in more detail shortly).
Most watch movements are made from rhodium-plated brass. However, in this instance, Panerai has chosen to make the mainplate and bridges in blue-toned Grade 5 titanium. This lightweight alloy is composed of 90% titanium, 6% aluminium, 4% vanadium and minuscule traces of iron and oxygen. The material is strong, light and corrosion-resistant.
Grade 5 titanium is not suitable for stamping, therefore it must be milled using a CNC machine. During the milling process, the alloy generates much heat that can damage the material, hence to avoid this the cutting speeds have to be reduced, extending processing times. Furthermore, the cutting tools wear out more readily, necessitating frequent replacement. All of these factors heighten production costs; however, the resultant material proffers numerous attributes that justify the additional effort and expense.
Panerai Luminor Tourbillon PAM01784 – case
Grade 5 titanium is also used for the case. As well as being strong and light, the alloy is hypoallergenic and readily adapts to the body’s temperature, augmenting wearer comfort. A further benefit of using Grade 5 titanium is that it can be polished to a high gleam – something that is not possible with cheaper Grade 2 titanium. On this occasion, the bezel is highly polished, while the remaining surfaces are brushed, delivering eye-catching contrast.
Measuring 47 mm in diameter, the watch confers much wrist presence, yet it does not feel unduly heavy, thanks to the use of Grade 5 titanium. The scale of this timepiece means the dial area is vast, providing sufficient room for each indication to impart information lucidly.
Members of the Paneristi will note the model features a ‘crown protecting bridge’, a brand signature dating back to the 1940s. The device ensures the crown is in position ‘0’ when not in use, preventing dust and water ingress. Furthermore, the device bridge mitigates the risk of the winding stem suffering harm from minor impacts.
Panerai Luminor Tourbillon PAM01784 – the rear of the watch
An exhibition caseback provides a rear view of the movement. Dressed in cornflower blue, the P.2005/T calibre features a series of beam-like sections, conferring strength. Silver-toned wheels and rubies introduce additional colour to the horological landscape, while further grid-like sections serve to heighten the overall sense of modernity.
Panerai P.2005/T calibre
As previously mentioned, Panerai released its first in-house tourbillon, the P.2005, back in 2007. The movement within the Panerai Luminor Tourbillon PAM01784, the P.2005/T, shares some characteristics in common with the P.2005, but there are also some significant differences which are outlined below.
Tourbillon
In 1801, Abraham-Louis Breguet patented the ‘tourbillon’. The famous watchmaker recognised that gravity would have an adverse influence on the rate of a movement within a pocket watch. His solution was to place the escapement and regulating organ within a cage that would rotate 360° every 60, 240 or 360 seconds.
In this instance, Panerai has gone further by placing the tourbillon cage on an axis that is perpendicular to the balance. Moreover, the cage rotates 360° every 30 seconds, twice the norm. These refinements enhance chronometric precision, especially when the watch is held in a static position. Potentially, these changes could result in greater energy consumption; however, the Italian-Swiss marque has addressed this by incorporating three barrels.
Three barrels
The three barrels ensure the watch, once fully wound, will run autonomously for 6 days. Furthermore, with three barrels connected in series, the collective force passing through the gear train, ultimately serving the escapement, will be more linear, thereby delivering better rate stability.
Closing remarks
Since the Panerai story began in 1860, each subsequent chapter of its history has proved captivating. Arguably the pivotal moment came in 1993 when the firm revealed its rich heritage for the first time and offered its distinctive timepieces to the public. Although originally intended to be utilitarian divers’ watches, the brand’s models have always delivered an abundance of style.
Under the auspices of the Richemont Group, Panerai has retained its unique identity, while expanding its production capability, improving distribution and heightening brand awareness. This has led to the emergence of a band of brand aficionados, the so-called ‘Paneristi’, who have fallen for the simple hours, minutes and small seconds design rooted in the company’s military past.
However, while the brand has respected its heritage, it has not shied away from the notion of progress. The Panerai Luminor Tourbillon PAM01784 stays true to the legendary Luminor’s design, but incorporates several complications and wholeheartedly embraces a neoteric aesthetic.
With its proud history, punctuated with many advances, the ascent of Panerai shows no signs of abating.
Further reading
Technical Specifications
- Model: Panerai Luminor Tourbillon PAM01784
- Case: Grade 5 titanium case, 47 mm diameter, water resistance 10 ATM (100m), sapphire crystal to the front and exhibition caseback
- Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds, tourbillon, power reserve indicator, GMT with day/night indicator
- Movement: P.2005/T calibre, hand-wound movement, frequency 28,800 vph (4 Hz), 31 jewels, power reserve 6 days
- Strap: blue alligator strap, titanium BDR adjustable buckle. Also supplied with an additional blue rubber strap and pin buckle.
- Price: £115,000 (RRP as of 6.10.2026)