In 2017 Panerai celebrates the 13th year of the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge, the most important international circuit of races for vintage and classic yachts,and it is marking this remarkably long-lived relationship with a series of watches designed for lovers of the sea, with a distinctive vintage appearance but absolutely contemporary in terms of the excellent technological solutions chosen.
The two new Luminor1950 PCYC 3 Days Chrono Flyback Automatic watches (PAM00653 and PAM00654) reveal their association with the world of classic yachting through a masterly combination of technology, design and fascinating little details, such as the engraving of an elegant classic yacht on the back, beneath the inscription PANERAI CLASSIC YACHTS CHALLENGE. But the powerful sporting identity is primarily demonstrated by the chronograph flyback function of the Manufacture P.9100 automatic calibre: the push-pieceat 8 o’clock instantly zeroes the chronograph hands and immediately restarts them, without it first being necessary to stop them and return them to zero by pressing on the stop and reset button at 10 o’clock.
Distinctive features of the two chronographs are the dial design and the strap. The dial of PAM00654 is ivory with beige markers and blue details and it is supplied with a strap in brown leather with beige sewing; PAM00653 has a black dial with beige figures and an untreated brown leather strap, with the same contrasting sewing. To make reading the dial and its relative functions as clear and as simple as possible, the chronograph minute and seconds hands are of different colours and positioned centrally, while the hour counter is at 3 o’clock and the small seconds dial is at 9 o’clock, its hand being the same colour as the central chronograph seconds hand. Another element which expresses the link with the sea, while at the same time performing a useful additional function, is the tachy meter scale in knots printed on the flange, which enables the average speed of the yacht over a particular distance (one nautical mile) to be measured by the chronograph minute hand.
The case of the new Luminor 1950 PCYC 3 Days Chrono Flyback Automatic is 44 mm in diameter and it is made of AISI 316L stainless steel, an alloy which is extremely resistant to corrosion. Made of the same material as the case but with a contrasting brushed finish, the characteristic bridge device with lever locking the winding crown helps to ensure the water-resistance of the watch to 10 bar (a depth of about 100 metres).
The P.9100 automatic chronograph movement, developed and made in Panerai’s Manifattura di Alta Orologeria in Neuchâtel, has many details revealing its sophisticated construction: the vertical clutch, the column wheel, the two spring barrels connected in series providing a power reserve of three days, the seconds reset device, the bi-directional rotor, and the variable inertia balance which oscillates at 28,800 vibrations per hour. The calibre consists of 302 components and it is 13¾ lignes in diameter with a thickness of 8.15 mm.
