One of the hottest releases at Watches & Wonders this year is the new Panerai Radiomir California PAM1349. Not only for the first time a Radiomir historical model gets released in a 45 mm case, but this is also the first time that Panerai is using a new finish called Brunito —burnished in Italian— eSteel. This new patinated look is quite different from the ‘patina steel’ utilized on the Panerai Radiomir 8 Days PAM 992.
To obtain the ‘brunito’ finish of the case, the stainless steel case is first PVD coated black and then carefully brushed in a way that most of the black coating is removed, leaving a nice and very unique aged look that gives the Radiomir California one of the most vintage and unique looks.
The new Panerai Radiomir California PAM1349 also sports an incredibly deep green California dial —top half with Roman numerals and bottom half with Arabic numerals— that is quite hard to capture to accurately portray its essence in pictures. Taking its inspiration from reference 3646, the new Radiomir California ‘Deep Green’ is as Panerai as it gets. The watch features blued hands and a sapphire crystal instead of the usual ‘plexi’ that’s been used for Panerai for the historical Radiomir references.
To make things even more interesting, the Panerai Radiomir California 'Deep Green' PAM1349 is powered by the manual wound double barrel calibre P.5000 with a power reserve of 8 days. While the expected power reserve should be about 192 hours, is not uncommon for this Panerai movement to overdeliver in terms of power reserve almost as much as an extra full day. This manual wound movement is fully visible via the display case back and composed of 127 parts and 21 jewels. Its balance wheel oscillates at a frequency of 21,600 vph —3 Hz. The movement is finished with a horizontal satin-brush finish.
On the wrist, the watch wears very comfortable and true to its size. Its wrist presence is extremely vintage looking and one of those watches that you’ll only see the very true Paneristi wearing. Rounding out the vintage look and feel of this new watch, the Radiomir California is delivered on an aged brown calf strap that resembles the ‘assolutamente’ strap with a trapezoidal buckle.
One of our all-time favorite Panerai watches. Between the uniqueness of its case, the new very supple, and vintage-looking strap, and its 8-day power reserve, this Panerai ticks all the boxes. While this new watch is not a limited edition, the production will be limited in series.
Sticker Price $12,300 USD. For more info on Officine Panerai click here.
