SIHH: Something (Really) Big From Panerai: Mare Nostrom 52mm Special Edition

Mare Nostrum is the chronograph that Officine Panerai supplied to the Italian Navy in 1943. Very few prototypes were produced – almost certainly three in total – of which first all trace, and then all relative documentation, was lost following the flood that hit Florence in 1966. Panerai’s discovery of one of the prototypes – now part of the collections at the Officine Panerai Museum in Florence – enabled creation of a new Mare Nostrum in a single edition of just 99 examples that reproduce the original almost exactly, with a few improvements.

This new edition measures 52mm in diameter and, unlike the original, it offers a sapphire display back. The case is actually tonneau shaped, but looks round due to the wide, flat bezel. The watch is guaranteed watertight to 30 meters, consistent with the original, which was not intended for use under water.

Like the original, this new Mare Nostrum uses a hand-wound mechanism: OP XXV caliber, deriving from a Minerva caliber from Panerai stock that measures 16 ¾ lignes. The balance makes 18,000 alternations per hour, the same as the Angelus movement of the prototype. Fitted with an anti-shock device, the column-wheel movement can be viewed through the sapphire back, and all the levers are polished with rounded corners.

The Mare Nostrum will launch in October with a European MSRP of 24,900 euro.

Additional information appears below the images, which you may enlarge with a click.

 

Mare Nostrum

 

MARE NOSTRUM – 52 MM

 

MARE NOSTRUM – 52 MM

 

MARE NOSTRUM – 52 MM

MARE NOSTRUM – 52 MM

Movement: Hand-wound mechanical, exclusive Panerai OP XXV calibre, 12¾ lignes, 22 jewels, monometallic Glucydur balance, 18,000 alternations/hour, Incabloc anti-shock device. Swan’s neck regulator. Côtes de Genève decorations on the bridges. Power reserve 55 hours.

Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds, chronograph with two counters.

Case: Diameter 52 mm, AISI 316L brushed steel. Winding crown engraved with the inscription Mare Nostrum. Brushed steel push-buttons for the chronograph functions at 2 and 4 o’clock.

Bezel: Brushed steel.

Back: Brushed steel.

Dial: Black on two levels with luminous Arabic numerals and hour markers. Minute counter at 3 o’clock, small seconds at 9 o’clock, central chronograph hand.

Crystal: Sapphire, formed of corundum, 1.6 mm thick. Anti-reflective coating.

Water-resistance: 3 bar (30 meters).

Strap: PANERAI personalised green fabric and leather strap and large-size brushed steel buckle.

Reference: PAM00300

 

MARE NOSTRUM – 52 MM