A watch that lives up to its name is worthy of being singled out, which is especially true of the entire range of new Panerai Navy SEALs Submersible watches. Just looking at the four watches immediately brings to mind the image of special forces operators. We grant that this could be said of many Panerai watches, not just the four references in this Navy SEALs Submersible family; that is just the advantage that the Swiss-Italian watchmaker has with its distinctive looks and character.
In the case of the four new watches, this is reflected in the degraded (gradient) black to anthracite dials; beige desert camouflage-inspired Super-Luminova on the hands, markers and subdials; similarly themed Super-Luminova treated zero-position markers on the unidirectional rotating bezels; bullseye-style small seconds counters at 9 o’clock; and “NAVY SEALS” emblazoned on the dials at 6 o’clock. The Navy SEALs emblem – the famous trident – is laser-engraved onto the solid casebacks of all four models.
For ease of reference, the four new watches are the Submersible QuarantaQuattro Navy SEALs PAM01518; Submersible QuarantaQuattro GMT Navy SEALs Carbotech™ PAM01513; Submersible Navy SEALs Titanio PAM01669; and, to cap it off, the Submersible Chrono Navy SEALs Titanio PAM01521.
While PAM01518 may be the simplest model, it bears a certain distinction that may spark the interest of Panerai fans. This would be the notable absence of a date display, despite the movement here being the P.900 automatic calibre. This manufacture movement powers quite a number of Panerai models, all with the date function, as a brief search on the Panerai website shows. Although the brand does not say so, PAM01518 might just be the only no-date Submersible. The 44mm watch is cased in brushed 316L steel and is water-resistance rated to 300 metres. The power reserve rating is three days.
Skipping ahead to the most complicated watch, the PAM01521 is also a twist on something Panerai already does, but in its regatta line. This is a flyback chrono with a very specialized function, allowing the chronograph minute hand to be set back one minute at a time (via the pusher at 4 o’clock). When activated (by the start pusher at 10 o’clock), the chronograph begins counting down to zero minutes via the aforementioned minute hand, also with the same beige Super-Luminova. The countdown function is enabled by the automatic calibre P.9100/R, which has been in service since at least 2013. The 47mm watch is cased in DLC- titanium and is rated water-resistant to 500 metres.
The remaining two watches are the PAM01513, a true GMT watch, and the time-and-date PAM01669. Neither of these watches is new, from the perspective of functions so we will dispense with introductions to dive right into the specifications. PAM01513 distinguishes itself with its 44m Carbotech case, complete with bezel in the same proprietary Panerai-developed material; the watch is water-resistant to 500 metres. Powering the action is the automatic calibre P.900/GMT, with a power reserve of three days.
The unique Carbotech material also marks PAM01669, where it forms the bezel; the rest of the 47mm watch is in brushed titanium. Water-resistance is given as 300 metres and the calibre here is not the expected P.900 but the automatic P.9010, with three days of power.
All four watches are exclusive to Panerai boutiques and are available now. All are listed as regular production except PAM01521, which is a limited edition of just 80 pieces. Despite this, we expect that all editions will be hard to come by as previous Navy SEALs models are very popular.
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