For more than a century, the Panerai Boutique in Florence has offered its precious watches to clients and enthusiasts from its remarkable location in the Piazza San Giovanni,facing the Baptistery and just a few paces from Giotto’s Campanile and the Duomo. These and other masterpieces of the Tuscan capital have been the source of inspiration for the sophisticated decoration of the Radiomir Firenze 3Days Acciaio (PAM00672), the Special Edition with a casefinely engraved by hand reserved for clients of the historic Boutique.
Every one of the 99 examples of this new, exclusive Special Edition has a unique character, this uniqueness lying in the fact that the work is carried out entirely by hand by the master engravers. As well as the engraving of the case, the new Radiomir Firenze 3 Days Acciaio also presents a new and hitherto unreleased version of the hand-wound P.3000 movement, with a power reserve of three days. The calibre is the P.3000/F version, with the bridges finely laser engraved with Florentine motifs similar to those which decorate the case, and it can be admired through the watch’s transparent back. The combination of the craftsmanship of the case and the watchmaking technology of the movement give this watch a remarkably distinctive identity, Panerai in inspiration and content but decidedly unique from an aesthetic point of view.
THE ENGRAVING OF THE CASE
The engraving flows with pure, appealing lines and, like the inlays which adorn the polychrome marble facades of the Florentine churches, they enhance the elegant geometry of the brushed steel case 47 mm in diameter, covering the caseband and the winding crown. The lines composed by the masterly hands of the engravers form geometric shapes which together create a harmonious design in which details of great symbolic significance stand out, such as the Florentine lily, symbol of the Tuscan capital since the end of the 11th century.
Each case requires a week of work on the part of a single engraver, a work made particularly demanding by the hardness of the AISI 316L steel of which the case ismade. The geometric and floral motifs are first delineated with chalk or magnesium powder and they are then engraved with the burin. The engraved surfaces consist of very narrow parallel lines which give depth to the design, accentuating the contrast between light and dark. Since the engraver only works on the case when it is already perfectly finished, any error he may make will irrevocably damage the work already carried out.
On the black dial, enhanced by a lily and a satinésoleil finish which catches and diffuses the light creating surprising and fascinating effects, the name “Firenze” is engraved, Florence being the city where Panerai was founded and the inspiration for this model. As in many of Panerai’s creations, the luminosity of the dial is enhanced by its sandwich structure: the luminous substance which makes it legible at night shines through holes corresponding to the hour markers in the upper of the two superimposed discs which form the dial.
