Best of Watches & Wonders 2026: Panerai
PAM01089
Submersible Navy Seals Afniotech Experience
The most immediately striking thing about the PAM01089 is the material. Afniotech is Panerai’s proprietary alloy comprising over 95% hafnium, and hafnium is not a material that appears in watchmaking catalogues. It is more commonly found in neutron control systems for nuclear reactors, and aboard the first US nuclear submarine to reach the North Pole in 1958. Global annual production is measured in tens of tons. There are no dedicated hafnium deposits; it occurs only in small concentrations mixed with zirconium ores, from which it is difficult to separate because the two elements have near-identical chemical properties. The machining of it required five-axis equipment, constant tool changes, extended production times and continuous human supervision. The result is a 47mm case with a singular silver-grey tone and subtle bluish nuances that sits unlike anything else on the wrist.
The physical properties justify the effort. Hafnium offers corrosion resistance that exceeds even the best titanium in challenging environmental conditions, and at 70% heavier than stainless steel while offering comparable hardness, it has a density that communicates itself immediately when you pick the watch up. The sandblasted finish is not decorative; it ensures the watch remains non-reflective underwater, which for a dive watch rated to 1,000 metres is a functional requirement rather than an aesthetic one.
That 1,000 metre rating is engraved on the lever of the crown protecting bridge, a feature Panerai patented in 1956 and which has been structurally central to the brand ever since. The closed caseback carries the US Navy SEALs logo, reflecting a collaboration that began in 2021. Every element of the case architecture has been oversized for the depth rating, and each watch is tested to 125% of the guaranteed water resistance as standard, following a simulated ten-year ageing process on the case and gaskets before final assembly.
Inside is the P.9010/GMT automatic calibre, offering a 72-hour power reserve, date display, and a second time zone. The movement allows quick adjustment of the hour hand independently of the minutes by pulling the crown to its first click position, with automatic synchronization of the date. The dial is shaded anthracite with green Super-LumiNova X2, the bezel indexes and minute hands glowing in blue for a two-colour luminous system that aids orientation underwater. A dedicated minuterie on the rehaut, a target-inspired small seconds subdial at 9 o’clock, and subtle yellow accents complete a dial that reads as genuinely operational rather than operationally themed.
The watch is available from July 2026 in 35 pieces, each of which also serves as an entry to a three-day Special Operations Experience with the Navy SEALs in Florida in March 2027. Whether or not the buyer intends to participate in that experience, the watch itself makes the case on its own terms.
PAM01631
Luminor 31 Giorni
Panerai has had a specific relationship with power reserve since the mid-1950s, when Giuseppe Panerai selected the Angelus SF 240, a large-scale clock movement adapted for wrist use, to power the GPF 2/56 military instruments because its approximately 200-hour reserve reduced the need for manual winding during operations. The in-house P.2002 of 2005 carried that thinking forward with an eight-day reserve. The P.2003 of 2007 extended it to ten days. The PAM01631 pushes it to 31 days, which is a first for the manufacture and the result of seven years of development at the Laboratorio di Idee.
The movement is the hand-wound P.2031/S, a 276-component skeleton calibre running at 21,600 vph on a Glucydur balance with Incabloc anti-shock protection. The 31-day reserve is achieved through four spring barrels in series housing a combined 3.3 metres of mainspring, requiring just 128 crown turns to fully wind. Panerai’s barrel architecture operates at low torque with rapid rotation, which minimises friction on pivots and improves longevity. The movement includes a patent-pending Torque Limiter that selects an optimum 31-day operational window from a theoretical 36-day reserve, cutting the top and bottom of the torque barrel to ensure consistent chronometry throughout the run. After 31 days the movement halts automatically, even with residual power remaining, protecting the mechanism from the degraded timekeeping that occurs as spring tension drops off.
The jumping hour mechanism allows time adjustment without disturbing the minute or seconds hands, a convenience feature that on a watch you wind once a month is more practically useful than it might sound. A patented polarized date disc is readable through the 3 o’clock window without interrupting the open architecture of the skeletonized dial, and a curved power reserve indicator runs along the perimeter of the movement.
The case is 44mm in Panerai Goldtech, a proprietary alloy of gold and copper with platinum and silver additions for improved resistance, which gives a warm reddish tone distinct from standard rose gold and is notably more durable. Water resistance is 100 metres. The new Goldtech folding clasp features the PAM Click Release System, allowing tool-free strap changes between the included black alligator and rubber straps. The skeletonized dial, sapphire caseback and the exposed barrel architecture make the mechanical argument visually as well as technically, which on a watch whose primary specification is 744 hours of uninterrupted running seems appropriate.