Panerai Luminor 1950 GMT 3 Days Power Reserve Pam 321 Pam00321 44mm Swiss Automatic
$6,995.00
We take trades against any of our watches!!! We also buy watch packages!!
There are reasons why people love and wear their watches. Maybe their watch has some emotional connection to an event in their past, maybe it was a gift, and if you are like us (watch nerds) you simply love having a useful mechanical toy on your wrist that also has style. While I usually readily understand my fellow watch enthusiasts, I will be the first to admit that initially I did not understand the subgroup of watch nerds who are quite frankly fanatics of the Officine Panerai brand, otherwise known as the “Paneristis”.
If you are not familiar with this breed of watch lover, just spend a few minutes perusing the Paneristi Forum and I pretty much guarantee that you will leave the site astonished, if not perplexed, by the genuine enthusiastic and frequent posts from Paneristis all over the world. They discuss every model, post pictures, speculate on new models, give advice to newbies, and even frequently throw parties (all over the world) where fellow Paneristis come for a good time, make friends, and of course show off their beloved Panerai models…
As I mentioned, Panerai, like many other watchmaking brands and for a variety of reasons, had a discontinuous history. The company started in Florence (Firenze) in 1860 where Giovanni Panerai setup a watchmaker shop and sold maritime equipment. In the early part of the previous century Panerai’s roots in horology were cemented as they became the supplier of watches for the Italian Navy. At that time, Italian frogmen would use their watches to time and synchronize attacks and in some cases even mount torpedoes that they would navigate to bring down docked enemy ships. Having a personal time instrument that you could wear and see underwater was a must for these operations and Panerai provided just that with their large watches which included a patented luminescent radioactive material: radiomir.
Perhaps the most incredible part of the PAM 321 (and of many Panerai watches) is its amazing legibility, day or night. This is the result of the sandwich dial construction where the hour markers and the 12, 6, and 9 hour marks are filled with Panerai luminescent that simply shines with a little bit of charge. Historically, Panerai has had various innovations in that space, including using radium-based luminescent, which was replaced by the non-radioactive luminor material which gives the series its moniker. The legibility is so good that simply using it during the day, you will get all night legibility… so it’s the perfect watch to sit on your night table. Aiding in that legibility is a nicely domed sapphire crystal on top of the grandfather clock-like simple dial with the Panerai unique font that can be read from a distance.
While using the PAM 321 for snorkeling or diving is making use of the watch in the context of its historical roots, the ability to easily, quickly, and precisely change straps means that I can modify the character of my PAM 321 in an instant to match my outfit or the current situation. The provided alligator strap is great for office work while the rubber works well for the ocean or the pool… however, the beauty of owning Panerai watches is acquiring third party straps while at the same time completely changing your watch.
There are literally 1000’s of aftermarket straps available for all Panerai models. They are sold from all over the world, some starting as low as a few dollars and some reaching well into the $1K range. The materials vary from calf leather (new or distressed and everything in between) to alligator and crocodile, and to more exotic leathers such as stingray, sharks, reptiles, ostrich, and many more. The available colors are multitudinous and the comfort level will vary with the material and construction.
And of course, this is not mentioning official Panerai straps and bracelets that you can also purchase. At the Panerai store in Bal Harbour, FL, for significantly more money, I was able to add the legendary assolutamente deployment strap to my collection as well as a rare brushed stainless steel bracelet. Both are very hard to find at authorized dealers (ADs) or on eBay. As mentioned, each strap simply completely changes the watch as if I had purchased a new watch. This is also from comments of friends and family during my vacation where I used the watch daily.
On top of all of that, the PAM 321 comes with the in-house P.9002 automatic movement which includes some interesting and useful features. First, the PAM 321 is C.O.S.C certified and comes with an exhibition caseback that shows the 3/4 plate movement decorated with blue screws and rubies. The decoration is not overly done which works well for the main tool character of the watch. The movement is a GMT where the hour hands (when the crown is released and pulled to position one) will change quickly in jumping fashion.
Interestingly, the GMT hand is colored the same as the dial and is thin such that by moving the hour hand above it, you can hide the GMT hand and convert the PAM 321 to a non-GMT watch. This is unlike what is usually possible with other GMT watches where the GMT hand makes one revolution of the dial in 24 hours. The date changes when the hour hand makes two revolutions of the dial.
Two additional features of this movement are the quick reset seconds and the 3-day power reserve indicator. First, by releasing the crown and pulling it to the second position, you can move the minutes hand and the GMT hand. However, what is cool is that once you pull the crown to that second position, the seconds hand immediately moves to zero and the movement stops. This allows you to precisely set the current time to a reference time. No longer do you need to wait for the seconds hand to reach 60 in order to stop it and set it accurately. The P.9002 movement does that for you automatically.
Finally, the PAM 321 has a 72 hour power reserve with an indicator at 4 o’clock that uses a typical Panerai lumed hand (similar to the seconds hand) moving across a marked semicircle indicating zero to 72 hours. The indicator interferes slightly with the GMT hand when the lumed arrow head travels across it, however, that is a small price to pay to quickly know that you should wear or wind the watch. I also found the power reserve indicator to be accurate, showing exactly 36 hours remaining when I fully charged the watch and left it on my Wolf Designs watch winder with a 36 hours start delay.
As mentioned, I wore the PAM 321 in various contexts: at the pool; socializing; at parties; and even snorkeling and skin diving at the beach. What became clear after that week is that I think I finally “got” what makes Paneristis so mad about their Panerai watches. It’s a passion that develops from having a watch with unique style that is versatile (myriad of available third party straps that can be changed easily), that is legible (simple, super clear dial and fonts with amazing lume), and that has a strong presence on the wrist that is difficult to match with any other watch.
I am now so happy with my PAM 321 that I am considering adding a Submersible 47mm version to my list of future timepiece acquisitions… And believe me that after I got the PAM 321, I thought this would be my first and last Panerai, since at the time, in my eyes they all looked the same. Now I see each model and I quickly lust at the additional features or slight differences. You can say I caught the ‘risti bug…
BRAND: Panerai
MODEL: Luminor 44 1950 GMT 3 Days Power Reserve
MOVEMENT: Swiss Automatic Caliber P.9002 – 3 Days Power Reserve
CASE: Stainless Steel
CROWN: Push/Pull with Crown Guard
SIZE: 44mm
LUGS: 24mm
DIAL: Gorgeous Black Sandwich Dial with High lume markers
BEZEL: Non rotating
CONDITION: Pre owned – As-New! –
BOXES/PAPERS: Original Panerai Triple Box Set with everything you see in the pictures.
WATER RESISTANCE: – 300m
STRAP/BRACELET: – 2 – Original OEM Panerai Black Alligator leather strap with correct Panerai Tang buckle & Additional OEM Panerai Black Rubber strap (unworn).
We buy similar watches…large packages as well as one at a time. We also take trades against any of our watches…
Let us know what you have in your collection!! I consider all watches in trade! Please upload pictures and include details of your trades through my Trade/Buy tab at the top of my homepage.