Introducing: The Panerai Radiomir 8 Giorni Eilean Experience LE PAM01643
Welcome to Panerai’s latest release, the PAM01643 Radiomir 8 Giorni. This is not just any Radiomir 8 Giorni; oh no, this is the Eilean Experience edition. When Panerai says “experience,” you get an experience. In this case, you get to live the Sicilian life, complete with a cruise on the namesake 1936 yacht and an expedition up Mount Etna.
It’s almost enough to make you forget you actually bought a watch. So, let’s have a quick first look at the 30-piece Panerai PAM01643 limited edition, and we’ll get into the experience part at the end of this article.
The Eilean and Panerai
In case you are not up to speed on the whole Panerai-Eilean connection, let me refresh your memory. The Eilean is a 70-foot ketch built by William Fife & Son. It undertook its maiden voyage almost 90 years ago, in 1936. The sleek ketch was styled after America’s Cup racing yachts and featured a stunning teak deck. After decades of intensive use, the Eilean collided with a ferry off the Portuguese coast and sank.
The Eilean was dredged up in 2006 and acquired by Panerai. Three years of intensive restoration brought the yacht back to its original shape. Today, the Eilean repays its debt to Panerai by functioning on its marketing team, so to speak. This is the short version of the story, we covered the more extensive version in this earlier article.
The new PAM01643
Okay, now that we have the background, let’s continue with the watch. This watch shares much of its spec sheet with the current PAM01347. This means it offers a 45mm case with wire lugs and a 100m water resistance rating. It also features a sandwich dial with a lumed backplate, sub-seconds at 9, and the “8 Giorni Brevettato” (8 days, patented) logo at 3 o’clock. Inside ticks the hand-wound caliber P.5000 at 21,600 beats per hour. This twin-barrel movement delivers the eponymous eight-day power reserve.
Like the existing 8 Giorni, this new model comes with a “Brunito” case. The steel first receives a black PVD plating before being manually brushed. The resulting surface looks worn, with black-filled scratches reminiscent of old silverware.
Unlike the regular production model, this PAM01643 features a bronze bezel and crown. This is where the Eilean comes in. This bronze comes from salvaged parts of the ship, alloyed to Panerai Bronzo, with 8% tin. You will not just be wearing the engraved name of the ketch, then, but will also be wearing actual bits of it. The dial, by the way, is another nod to the Eilean; it is inspired by the color of its sails. Lastly, the display case back makes way for a bronze seal carrying the ketch’s name and the year of its maiden voyage, 1936.
The PAM01643 and the experience
If you are one of the lucky 30 owners of the Radiomir 8 Giorni Eileen Experience PAM01643, Panerai invites you on a trip to Sicily in May 2025. You will go on a helicopter expedition to Mount Etna, where you will also enjoy the local wine-making traditions. Next, you get the full Eilean treatment with a cruise on board the restored ketch. The price for all this is €49,000 (including VAT).
I am on the fence as to what to make of this. On one hand, it is a creative new approach to luxury watches, pairing the material with the experiential. On the other hand, it feels a bit like an admission of defeat, struggling to find relevance in the products themselves. I am not judging; I am genuinely torn between these ideas. Dear Fratelli, let me know what you think in the comments below!
