From Prototype To Perpetual Calendar: The Panerai Radiomir Perpetual Calendar GMT Goldtech PAM01453

Panerai’s first-ever watch prototype was released on October 24th, 1935, and it was called Radiomir. The watch will turn 90 next year, but the excitement must be too big to control at the brand’s headquarters because the Panerai Radiomir Perpetual Calendar GMT Goldtech PAM01453 you see here is a celebratory model. It is a complicated pink gold one that shows the brand has come a long way in the last nine decades.

This is neither the time nor the place to dive into the long and often murky past of the Panerai Radiomir. Instead, we will focus on the present, which is very clear — or should I say “bright”? The new Radiomir Perpetual Calendar GMT Goldtech PAM01453 is a complicated homage to the OG in Panerai’s proprietary precious alloy, which consists of about 75% gold, 24% copper, and 0.4% platinum.

Panerai Radiomir Perpetual Calendar GMT Goldtech PAM01453: born in Firenze, made in Neuchâtel

The new Radiomir stays true to the original cushion-shaped case outfitted with the signature wire lugs and cone-shaped crown. It’s also nice and big — 45mm, to be precise — a good, historically appropriate Panerai size. Inside the watch’s large case beats the P.4100, a 4Hz movement that took more than five years to develop and uses a 22K gold micro-rotor to wind two mainsprings, resulting in a power reserve of three days. The fact that the display of the calendar functions is rather simple explains the lengthy development process. It’s a bit like explaining algebra to a four-year-old. You have done a great and commendable job if you can turn something complex into something understandable. Often, though, that is a time-consuming job. The fact that setting the movement doesn’t require a corrector or tools — the crown will do the job — also made creating it that much harder.

Clean and crisp QP

Panerai created a perpetual calendar that is very intuitive to read. The brand stayed true to its ethos of creating clear and intuitive instruments even when it dabbled in creating complicated models. The white sunray-finished dial under the AR-coated sapphire crystal has a sandwich construction with a base layer showing beige Super-LumiNova. And with the day of the week and the date at 3 o’clock, reading the calendar functions is child’s play. This Radiomir looks nothing like a traditional QP but, rather, like a day-date watch. But since this really is a QP, it acts as an über day-date. By foregoing indicators for the month, year, and leap year cycle on the dial, the watch stays clean and crisp. If you want to see those classic QP functions, you turn the watch over and find them plus a power reserve indicator on the movement side.

Not just a calendar watch

The name Radiomir Perpetual Calendar GMT Goldtech also reveals a second complication — a GMT function. At 9 o’clock, you will find a sub-dial combining the small seconds and an AM/PM indicator, used in combination with a small 12-hour GMT hand.

Some final practical information: the watch is water resistant to 100 meters and comes on a 27mm-wide dark brown alligator strap with tone-on-tone stitching matched with a trapezoidal Panerai clasp in polished Goldtech. Don’t run to the dealer for fear of missing out; the Radiomir Perpetual Calendar GMT Goldtech PAM01453 is not a limited edition. However, it will only be available at Panerai boutiques worldwide and on the Panerai e-commerce site. The price is €50,000 / US$46,500.

Any thoughts? Do you prefer this Radiomir over the 2022 Luminor Goldtech Calendario Perpetuo? Please share in the comments.