Panerai has linked its watches with the ocean for as long as any fan of the Swiss watchmaker can remember, with the company making a name for itself creating the timepieces for the Royal Italian Navy.
On top of its sea-faring history, Panerai’s CEO Angelo Bonati is a sailing enthusiast, so it is only fitting that Panerai serves as the official partner of the 35th America’s Cup.
To commemorate the event, Panerai has released five special edition timepieces to celebrate the famed series of sailing yacht races.
The first is Luminor Marina 1950 America’s Cup 3 Days Automatic Acciaio 44mm. This boasts a stainless steel case holding a black dial with stark white numbers, hands, and hour markers. Another nice nod to the race is the America’s Cup logo embossed on the leather strap that also includes blue and red stitching and an America’s Cup logo on the caseback. This watch is a fine addition as the official watch of the 35th America’s Cup.
The next special edition represents Panerai being the official partner of the SoftBank Team Japan. The Luminor Marina 1950 Softbank Team Japan 3 Days Automatic Acciaio 44mm is much like the aforementioned watch. It comes in the same stainless steel case and offers the same P.9010 movement and almost 1,000-foot water resistance. Slight differences include red and white stitching on the leather strap and a special SoftBank Team Japan caseback complete with a motif of the ship the team sails.
The other three watches have been made to celebrate Oracle Team USA, the Defender (reigning champ) of the America’s Cup, another partner of Panerai.
First is the Panerai Luminor 1950 Oracle Team USA 3 Days Chrono Flyback Automatic Ceramica 44mm. This comes with Panerai’s P.9100 caliber movement that offers a flyback chronograph and is housed in a black ceramic case. The caseback features the official Oracle Team USA logo and a relief of the yacht. The red and blue color scheme is carried over from the official watch of the America’s Cup with the dial featuring more information on it.
Panerai’s next offering is the Luminor 1950 Regatta Oracle Team USA 3 Days Chrono Flyback Automatic Titanio 47mm. As the name indicates, this timepiece comes with a slightly large case that is crafted from titanium. The movement inside is the P.9100/R, which powers the special Regatta countdown mechanism controlled by a pusher at the 4 o’clock. The black dial with its red, white, and blue color scheme, including on the four hands of the watch, and offers plenty of information made specifically for sailors to utilize. The caseback offers the same official Oracle Team USA logo.
The last Panerai timepiece is the Luminor Marina Oracle Team USA 8 days Acciaio 44mm. It offers the official logo caseback with only blue breaking up the black and white of the dial. Powering the watch is Panerai’s P.5000 movement that offers an 8-day power reserve.
Pricing information on the special America’s Cup series isn’t available yet, but Panerai has divulged that it will limit the production of these watches to extremely small runs.
