Panerai Luminor Submersible Bronzo Pam 968 47mm Bronze Brown Dial Pam00968 300m

Panerai entered the Bronze game back in 2011, and they’ve been carefully working with the alloy and releasing a Bronze model or two a year. This year we’re getting a whopping 47mm Submersible diver, perhaps the most in-your-face bronze model yet from Panerai’s Laboratorio di Idee. It’s made of a honkin’ 161 grams of bronze, and you’ll find a sandblasted ceramic bezel insert on a bronze bezel. This watch is all bronze everything.  

The typical seconds register that’s come to signify the Italian brand sits at nine o’clock, and the dial is a deep hue of brown, designed to complement the bronze case. And beyond the bronze, it’s designed with intention: It’s water-resistant to 300 meters and a features thick application of lume for visibility. It’s a statement piece, sure, but it can walk the walk. It also utilizes Panerai’s P. 9010 caliber with a power reserve of 72 hours. It wouldn’t be a proper Submersible without the crown protection device, so of course it’s present and made from…you guessed it…bronze. Crucially, this isn’t a limited edition, unlike previous bronze Panerai models – think of this as the bronzo for everyone.

Initial Thoughts

Bronze watches are inherently interesting for the patina they develop, and what sticks out about this particular release is the massive amount of surface area you’re getting on the chunky 47mm case. More surface area = more neat patina. As with most of Panerai’s watches, the ultimate simplicity lends well to legibility, and when you strap this watch on the wrist you get the supreme confidence that it’s probably water-resistant to even more than 300m. It’s also heavy enough to quickly sink to that depth, too. It’s a watch that I think will age beautifully, and it’s also the kind of watch that will garner attention from those outside the horological community, too. This will be especially true in a few years when each produces a different expression of patina. 

Given Panerai’s maritime-fueled history, the submersible in bronze makes perfect sense. Traditionally the bronze models have all done exceptionally well on the commercial side as well as being adopted as favorites among the Paneristi. The PAM 671 Luminor Submersible 1950 3 Days Bronzo has experienced a healthy appreciation on the secondhand market, and this watch shares many of the same features, but with a dial color that’s slightly more rustic. If you were on the fence about the Luminor, then this might be the one. It’s the bronze iteration everyone’s been asking for.