Home » Panerai Watches » SIHH 2015 Preview: Panerai Luminor 1950 3 Days Chrono Flyback Automatic Ceramica
As SIHH 2015 approaches, various Richemont-owned watchmakers are announcing the models which will be premiered in Geneva in late January. One of these brands, Panerai, has prepared a new ceramic version of its timepiece whose functioning is based around its first proprietary automatic chronograph movement. The new watch is named Luminor 1950 3 Days Chrono Flyback Automatic Ceramica after its essential characteristics. These are a flyback stopwatch feature, automatic winding and extended power storage of 72 hours. Unlike previous editions of the model, the latest watch is housed in a ceramic case made of zirconium oxide. Additionally, it possesses the typical Paneria design, enhanced with unorthodox central minutes indication for its chrono function.
Panerai Luminor 1950 3 Days Chrono Flyback Automatic Ceramica Watch
A Black Ceramic Housing
Panerai Luminor 1950 3 Days Chrono Flyback Automatic Ceramica will be expanding the brand’s offer when it comes to the material of the housing. Previously, the Italian company launched the same model in versions which have its housings constructed in stainless steel and red gold. The novel watch will be presented in ceramic clothing. More precisely, the brand’s practice is to use zirconium oxide made from fine powder which is pressurized and ultimately shaped by grinding. The end result is a modern material with impressive resilience to bumps and scratches, which additionally looks quite fetching. Thanks to the addition of pigments, it sports a distinctive black shade, while the decoration of choice that gives it an even more distinguished look is sandblasting.
The novel watch runs on Caliber P.9100 with 37 jewels which is the first self-winding movement with a chronograph feature by the watchmaker with the Italian origin. The caliber comprised by no less than 207 parts was naturally fully developed and constructed in the brand’s facilities in Neuchatel. It is a column-wheel chronograph with vertical coupling. This newer type of column-wheel chronograph is characterized by several advantages concerning reliability and functioning when compared to the traditional horizontally coupled ones. Moreover, this arrangement enables that the functioning of the stop watch feature does not additionally deplete the movement’s power reserve. When it comes to the drawbacks of the feature, many connoisseurs point out that it is difficult to service.
Panerai Luminor 1950 3 Days Chrono Flyback Automatic Ceramica Watch Back
The supported type of chronograph in this instance is a flyback chronograph. This means that when it is activated, another press of a pusher resets the chronograph to the starting point and activates it once again. Another important trait of the in-house movement whose width is 31 mm (13 ½ lignes) and whose thickness is 8.1 mm is its extended power reserve that lasts full three days. This is achieved with the addition of twin spring-barrels mounted in series. These are filled by the means of a bi-directional winding rotor. Otherwise, it should be said that Caliber P.9100 includes a variable inertia balance and that it operates at the frequency of 4 Hz. For its stability and protection, the balance wheel with a single bridge is supplied with a KIF-Parechoc system.
Panerai Luminor 1950 3 Days Chrono Flyback Automatic Ceramica Watch Case
The newcomer from the Luminor 1950 lineage has a typical and clearly recognizable styling of Panerai watches which tends to polarize watch aficionados. One of the distinctive motifs is the presence of the crown protector on the side of its 44 mm wide ceramic housing. Because of this, chrono pushers are located on the opposite side of the 100 meters waterproof housing. The model with the designation PAM580 includes sapphire crystals on both front and back sides.
Central Minute Chronograph Hand
More recognizable motifs can be seen on the watch’s black dial. It includes hands, bar-shaped hour markers and three Arabic numerals which are coated with Superluminova in ivory shade. A very interesting feature of the newcomer is that its chronograph function includes central hands for both seconds and minutes. There is no danger of failing to distinguish among them, since they are made in different colors. The entire face of the watch is completed with a small seconds counter at the nine o’clock position and a date display aperture at the opposite side. There is still no precise information regarding the exact date of the model’s release, nor its price.
