Panerai Luminor Due 38mm Watch Review
The Panerai Luminor Due 38mm is now available, for the first time, with pastel-coloured dials. Would-be wearers are presented with a choice of three shades, including ‘pastel light blue’ (PAM01309), ‘pastel green’ (PAM01311) and ‘powdery pink’ (PAM01309). Angus Davies, a self-confessed Paneristi, looks at these latest references and reflects on the company’s journey over recent years.
A niche marketing strategy
Back in the late 80s, I studied marketing at college and recall a lecturer recommending companies have a ‘niche marketing strategy’. He placed much importance on targeting a specific audience. At the moment, I did not question the wisdom he imparted.
However, over time I have reflected on the word ‘niche’ and considered its meaning. It all sounds a tad ‘esoteric’, describing a product that appeals to a small number of people, often with a specialist knowledge or unique interest. In my opinion, in being a niche player, a company restricts its potential market and, by default, its opportunities for growth.
If we look at Panerai for example, for most of its life it has been a niche player. However, in recent years, the company has engaged with a much wider audience with some impressive results. Allow me to elaborate.
Panerai’s history
Panerai was founded in 1860 and began life as a watch retailer in Florence. However, in the early 1900s, the firm began supplying the Royal Italian Navy with high-precision instruments. In 1916, Panerai registered ‘Radiomir’, a luminescent material designed to improve the readability of instruments in dim light conditions. Thereafter, the company became synonymous with nocturnal luminescence.
In 1936, Panerai produced the first Radiomir prototype, a watch intended for military use. It set the company on a path of making wristwatches for the Royal Italian Navy, a strategy that continued until 1993. At the same time this trading relationship ended, the historic firm burst onto the civilian scene with a range of generously proportioned watches and was renamed ‘Officine Panerai’.
Just four years later, in 1997, Richemont Group (formerly the Vendome Group) acquired Panerai and the luxury conglomerate has remained the owner ever since. The firm opened its Manufacture in 2002 and released its first in-house movement in 2005. Since 1997, Panerai has wholeheartedly embraced change while still retaining much of the design language employed on its military watches of yesteryear.
Paneristi
My own relationship with Panerai began about 20 years ago and I have since remained an avowed ‘Paneristi’. Back in the day, we were an ‘esoteric’ bunch, accustomed to conversing about model numbers, each pre-fixed with the letters ‘PAM’. Reading the brand’s catalogue, a tomb of a book, was a bedtime pleasure, best enjoyed with a cup of tea and a chocolate Hobnob. Despite other watches regularly piquing my interest, my love for Luminors and Radiomirs has never waned.
Jean-Marc Pontroue
In 2018, Jean-Marc Pontroue assumed the role of CEO. Since then, Panerai has become a maker of luxury timepieces for men and women. The brand is no longer a niche producer of high-precision instruments or military-issue watches. Today, it has a much broader reach. Indeed, in the last few years, the company has released watches housed in an array of cutting-edge materials, sometimes with a variety of complications and presented in a range of different case sizes.
However, the company’s repositioning was not just a matter of releasing new variants, the brand had to ensure it did not disenfranchise its loyal fan base. The process of repositioning a brand is fraught with danger. One strategic blunder and the essence of a marque may be lost forever. Speaking as a brand devotee, I think Panerai’s management team have navigated this potentially tricky course very successfully.
PAM01309, PAM01311 and PAM01319
Take the new Panerai Luminor Due 38mm, available in ‘all-new pastel colourways’. Twenty years ago, when the Italian-Swiss brand brimmed with testosterone, it would have been inconceivable to have the words ‘Panerai’ and ‘pastel’ in the same sentence. However, today we wouldn’t question the idea of a Panerai dressed in once effete hues. Quite simply, the luxury watch firm has come a long way in the last few years.
Part of the reason why the transition appears to have been comparatively smooth and painless is that the brand has not only refined its products, appealing to a wider audience, but has also retained some of the beloved Panerai design codes harking back to the firm’s military past.
The sandwich dials, presented centre-stage, feature two layers, seducing the onlooker with tantalising depths while simultaneously delivering peerless lucidity. Luminescent treatment features on the hands and indexes, augmenting readability while honouring the brand’s heritage.
Plongeur-style hour and minute hands, lined with Super-LumiNova®, converse with a combination of Arabic numerals and unfussy batons. The date is presented at 3 o’clock and a small seconds display is located at 9 o’clock. The luxury brand has stayed true to this layout for decades and its handsome looks still appear fresh and relevant.
Returning to the small seconds display, the style of the lone hand and the arrangement of the indexes are wonderfully Panerai. However, on these new models there is a fine circlet, framing the indication, that provides a subtle means of delineating the function from the main dial area.
Back in 1956, Panerai patented a locking device, protecting the crown. It has been a distinctive feature of Luminor models ever since and appears on these latest releases. This exquisite detail also inspired the design of the brand’s metal bracelets. The shape of the upper links echoes the profile of the crown protection device. As a former owner of a PAM091, foolishly sold in a moment of madness, I can attest the bracelets are beautifully engineered and help confer wearer comfort.
The Panerai Luminor Due 38mm incorporates the P.900 calibre, a modern-day, automatic movement that features extensively in the brand’s catalogue.
Closing remarks
In my opinion, it’s no longer possible to pigeonhole consumers and target niche audiences. Once discrete market segments have now become a complex tapestry of needs and wants. In the past, models were marketed as ‘men’s’ or ‘ladies”, but such labels no longer seem valid. For example, just because a dial is presented in a pastel hue, does not mean it won’t appeal to men. Likewise, the 38mm case size is likely to attract both men and women who may have found the brand’s 44mm or 47mm models simply too large.
One of the wonderful things about life in 2023 is that we no longer conform to stereotypes. Today, it’s difficult for marketing-types to place us in a niche. Quite often, we buy things simply because we like them. With the advent of these new pastel-coloured models, Panerai has engaged with a new audience without disenfranchising its existing fan base. On reflection, it seems I was right to question the words of my former marketing lecturer.
Further reading
Technical specifications
- Model: Panerai Luminor Due 38mm
- References: PAM01309 (pastel light blue), PAM01311 (pastel green), PAM 01319 (powdery pink)
- Case: polished steel, diameter 38mm, water resistance 5ATM (50m), sapphire crystal to the front, solid case back.
- Functions: hours, minutes, small seconds, date
- Movement: P.900 calibre, self-winding movement, frequency 28,800 vph (4Hz), 23 jewels, power reserve 3 days, 171 components
- Strap: polished and brushed steel with OP logo engraved.
- Price: £6,800 (RRP as of 2.5.2023)