Panerai has put the U.S. Navy SEALs insignia on a dive watch. The Submersible Navy SEALs PAM01738 is a 44mm brushed stainless steel diver with a closed case back engraved with the official SEALs emblem, and Panerai unveiled it ahead of the America 250 celebrations marking 250 years since the Declaration of Independence on this Fourth of July.
The Italian maker is leaning on its own history. It first built its name making radium-lit dive instruments for commandos in the Royal Italian Navy. Cheaper brands such as Luminox, which supplied tritium-lit watches to combat units, have long owned the SEAL-themed corner of the market. Panerai is pitching the same idea at luxury level.
Built for dark water
The dial is shaded anthracite with a target-style running seconds sub-dial at 9 o’clock and yellow accents. To make it readable in black water, Panerai widened the hour markers by 20 percent and increased the Super-LumiNova X2 coating area by 45 percent. The hour indexes glow green. The minute hand and the 12 o’clock bezel pip glow blue.
The bezel is a unidirectional rotating steel ring with a matte black ceramic insert. Inside runs the automatic P.980 movement, with a three-day power reserve and a hacking seconds function for setting the time exactly. A thicker case back gives water resistance of roughly 500 meters.
Testing is part of the pitch. Each production watch gets an individual water-pressure check to 25 percent beyond its stated limit. In the lab, the design went through 19,000 sand-and-water bezel rotations and 5,000g shock impacts.
The watch comes with two straps, black rubber and grey canvas, on an interchangeable system. It goes on sale at authorized Panerai boutiques worldwide starting in July. Price is available on request.
