Hot Take: The New Panerai Luminor Tre Comes With A Modified Rolex Caliber
It’s a good thing we stuck around after the Panerai touch-and-feel session at Watches and Wonders! While we were packing our stuff, we couldn’t help but notice frantic activity behind a curtain at the back of the booth. We couldn’t curb our curiosity and took a peek. We got rewarded with a photo shoot in progress and a watch we didn’t get to see during the presentation. What we saw was not the Luminor Due. It was something even smaller but bolder as well. The printed-out briefing lying next to the photographer revealed the name of the watch. What we were looking at was the Panerai Luminor Tre, a 31mm (!) version of the brand’s most iconic model. And there was one word in the papers that got us even more excited — “Rolex”. We managed to sneak in stealthily and have a closer look at the briefing that included a spec sheet.
In the current Panerai collection, the Luminor Due Luna with its 38mm case is the smallest model on offer. Apparently, though, that wasn’t small enough. But instead of just making the Luminor Due even smaller, Panerai opted for a different approach. We know this because the spec sheet of the Luminor Tre PAM0401 says that the 31mm watch is water resistant to 300 meters, just like a “real” Luminor. Also, the dial opening is very real. It might be small, but it does have the famous sandwich construction, and that makes all the difference. There’s no glimmering mother-of-pearl this time but a sober, matte, instrumental dial that, however tiny, looks timeless and offers proven functionality.
The Panerai Luminor Tre reestablishes the Rolex connection
What’s the biggest news? Is it the size of the watch, its impressive water resistance, or maybe something else? If you guessed the third option, you’re right. Yes, the new Luminor Tre reconnects Panerai with Rolex. Let’s not forget that in the early days of Panerai, Rolex made the cases for the Florence-based company and outfitted them with Cortébert pocket watch movements. This time, Panerai didn’t ask the famous Genevan brand to make the case but the movements instead. And that’s why inside the case of the Luminor Tre you will find the Rolex caliber 2236. That’s the movement in the 28mm Lady-Datejust, an automatic Superlative Chronometer caliber with Rolex’s patented silicon Syloxi balance spring. This movement, of course, has a central seconds hand, and the Luminor Tre doesn’t. On the spec sheet, it says that Panerai made an in-house small seconds module. The reason is obvious: the brand wanted to stay true to the iconic looks of the classic Luminor.
What do you think? Is this the small yet tough, historically correct, and important Panerai watch that the world has been waiting for? We can’t wait for Watches and Wonders 2024 to touch and feel the Panerai Luminor Tre PAM0401 in the metal. Do you feel the same? Please leave your thoughts in the comments below, but before you do, I will give you some last food for thought. When you look at the new Luminor Tre, Panerai needs you to remember that “you don’t have to like it, you just have to do it!”
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