Panerai Luminor PAM 112: It’s All About The “Base”

Behold Firenze’s icon: the Panerai Luminor PAM 112 is the heart and soul of Panerai. If Omega’s house is built on the Speedmaster Professional, Rolex’s upon the Submariner, and Audemars Piguet is the house that Gerald Genta built, then the Luminor “Base” PAM 112 is the watch that embodies the best of the old “Officine.”

While the Panerai Radiomir may hew closer to the original Panerai  combat dive watches, it is the Luminor that captured the imagination of modern watch collectors and spawned a global legion of fanatical “Paneristi.”

And the Panerai Luminor Base PAM 112 is the unsullied core identity of the brand. With nothing more than a two-hand “sandwich” dial, torch-like nighttime luminescence, a 44mm steel case, and the legendary “device protecting the crown,” the PAM 112 captures every element that launched the Luminor into the hearts of millions.

From Sylvester Stallone (1995, Rome) , countless initiates to the Panerai brand fell in love not with the delicate Radiomir form but instead with the squat ingot of steel launched from military surplus to the civilian market in 1993.

Panerai’s 1950’s combat watch, the ref. 6152 lends its shape to the modern Luminor PAM 112. Almost a perfect square, the 1-to-1 aspect ratio ensures outstanding ergonomics in spite of the Luminor’s burly build. “Steel is real,” say the Paneristi, and this Panerai Luminor Base is rendered in a robust stamping of the sacred alloy.

A black dial offers just the essentials. Two hands, both black-oxidized, trace the arc of time. Due to the matte black base of the dial, only the lumed elements of the hands stand out. A “sandwich” dial hews to the same construction practices pioneered and sustained since the 1930s; a black stencil dial bearing the indices and numerals is superimposed atop a fully-painted luminescent disc. The result is a nighttime spectacle that could give Las Vegas a run for its money.

Inside the Panerai Luminor’s 44mm “dive helmet” of a case, a colossal 16.5 ligne (37mm+) pocket watch movement keeps time – and good faith with tradition. The Panerai combat watches of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s were powered by pocket watch movements from top suppliers, and the practice continues in the PAM 112.

With custom-finished bridges, base plate, wheels, and cobalt-blue screws, this caliber OP X boasts luxury detailing that mud-spattered frogmen of the 1930s could only dream of owning. A robust 56-hour power reserve ensures that winding of this manual caliber is an occasional pleasure, not a constant chore.

For Paneristi, it’s all about the base, and the Panerai Luminor PAM 112 has steel curves in all the right places. See this electrifyingly elemental Panerai Luminor PAM 112 in high-resolution imagery on www.thewatchbox.com.