October 23, 2018

For more than a century, the Panerai Boutique in Florence has offered its precious watches to clients and enthusiasts from its remarkable location in the Piazza San Giovanni, facing the Baptistery and just a few metres from Giotto’s Campanile and the Duomo. These and other masterpieces of the Tuscan capital were the source of inspiration for the sophisticated decoration of the Luminor 1950 Firenze 3 Days Acciaio, the new creation with a case finely engraved by hand reserved for clients of the historic Boutique.

Every example of this new, exclusive creation has a unique character, which arises from the unrepeatability of the work carried out on the case by the master engravers. As well as the engraving of the case, the new Luminor 1950 Firenze 3 Days Acciaio has a fascinating version of the handwound P.3000 movement, with a power reserve of three days. The calibre is the P.3000/F version, with the bridges finely laser engraved with Florentine motifs similar to those which decorate the case, and it can be admired through the watch’s transparent back. The combination of the craftsmanship of the case and the watchmaking technology of the movement endow this watch with a strong personality, classic Panerai in inspiration and content but decidedly original from an aesthetic point of view.

The Engraving Of The Case

Like the inlays which adorn the polychrome marble facades of the Florentine churches, the engraving enhances the elegant geometry of the polished steel case 47 mm in diameter, covering the caseband and the bridge device which protects the winding crown. The lines composed by the masterly hands of the engravers form geometric shapes which create a harmonious whole in which details of great symbolic significance stand out, such as the Florentine lily, symbol of the Tuscan capital since the end of the 11th century.

Each case requires a week of work on the part of one engraver, a work made particularly demanding by the hardness of the AISI 316L steel. The geometric and floral motifs are first drawn with a temporary outline of chalk or magnesium powder and they are then engraved with the burin. The engraved surfaces are covered with very narrow parallel lines which give depth to the design, accentuating the contrast between light and dark. The engraver works with his burin on the case after it has already been perfectly completed and finished, so any mistake he might make would irrevocably damage the work already carried out.

On the black dial, enhanced by a lily and with a satiné soleil finish which catches and diffuses the light, creating fascinating, unexpected effects, is engraved the name “Firenze”, Florence, the city of Panerai’s birth and the inspiration for this model. As in many Panerai creations, the luminosity of the dial is enhanced by the sandwich structure: the luminous substance which makes it legible at night emerges through holes corresponding to the hour markers in one of the two superimposed discs which form the dial.

The P.3000/F Movement

Through the sapphire porthole in the back of the new Luminor 1950 Firenze 3 Days Acciaio it is possible to admire the hand-wound P.3000/F calibre, entirely executed in the Panerai Manufacture at Neuchâtel. Accurate, solid and reliable, the P.3000/F has two spring barrels which enable a power reserve of three days to be stored. The structure of the movement is protected by four brushed bridges – all finely engraved – one of which, with twin supports, firmly fixes the large balance wheel (13.2 mm in diameter) which oscillates at a frequency 3 Hz (21,600 vibrations per hour). The P.3000 calibre also incorporates the useful device which enables the hour hand to be adjusted forward or backward with speed and precision, without interfering with the movement of the minute hand.

The new Luminor 1950 Firenze 3 Days Acciaio models are supplied with brown leather straps, enhanced by contrasting beige stitching. The water resistance of the watch is guaranteed to 10 bar (equivalent to a depth of 100 metres).