Channel your inner James Bond with the daredevil experiences included when you buy one of Panerai’s new limited editions.
What links a two-day training programme with the Italian navy’s elite commando squad, a guided expedition in the Arctic wilderness with a world-renowned explorer, and a trip to French Polynesia with a world-champion freediver?
To most people, the answer lies in their inaccessibility. These are not the types of things you’ll find in the brochures of even the world’s more luxurious travel agencies; a better definition of “money can’t buy” experiences is hard to imagine.
Except that, thanks to the continued munificence of the Swiss watch industry – in particular, Panerai, which has always had a high daredevil quotient in its blood – they are now “money can buy” experiences. Specifically, £34,000-can-buy. Put your name down for one of three new limited-edition Submersible dive watches, released at January’s SIHH watch fair in Geneva, and you will also be invited to take part in one of the aforementioned adventures (health and fitness permitting, of course). Each watch now comes with a side order of danger and excitement – a literal invitation to live out the marketing campaign of your dreams.
The three initiatives have been announced as Panerai reorganises its range slightly; whereas previously the Submersible line existed within the Luminor family of watches, now it becomes its own thing, with a greater sense of identity. That comes hand-in-hand with a few aesthetic tweaks – bolder luminous markings on the dials; bezels with relief-etched numerals; chunkier, more cartoonish hands; and a smattering of fresh colours and textures throughout, from sailcloth to “sharkskin”.
One change that may irk devotees of the brand – and they are legion – is the absence on many models of “sandwich” dials, but they have been replaced by some impressively three-dimensional luminous numerals and hour markers.
Alongside some handsome base models – the royal blue and pale grey combination of reference PAM00959 (£8,300) is a particular highlight – Panerai has made three special-edition watches, and it’s these that come with the high-energy holidays attached. Let’s start with the Submersible Marina Militare Carbotech. As the name suggests, this watch pays homage to Panerai’s beginnings as a supplier to Italian frogmen in the Second World War, and its dusky green and carbon stylings have more than a hint of the armed forces about them.
The 33 buyers will be dispatched on a two-day training session with “Comsubin”, the Italian navy’s elite special forces commando unit. Based in La Spezia in north-west Italy, the group numbers roughly 700 men and has been deployed in Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya in recent years. Details on the two-day programme are scant (it is a secretive unit, after all) but one can assume that the 33 will at the very least be required to pass a medical.
If being shouted at by an Italian sergeant major isn’t your thing, allow me to draw your attention to the Submersible Mike Horn edition. Mr Horn is a South African-born explorer and adventurer with solo expeditions across South America and around the Arctic Circle to his name, as well as the world’s only winter expedition to the North Pole.
And, yes, you guessed it – 19 lucky Panerai customers will be able to join him on a trip to Svalbard, in northern Norway, to “put themselves to the test and to confront nature and its challenges, but also to become personally aware of the dangers to our ecosystem caused by the impact of humans”.
In keeping with the environmentally aware ethos, these watches have been made from reclaimed titanium and recycled PET plastic (in the cases and straps respectively). With their laser-cut bezels and “Arctic blue” detailing, these are my favourite watches from the 2019 range, but I’m not sure dodging polar bears and crevasses is really for me. I fancy something a bit more… tropical.
Thankfully, Panerai has me covered with its most exclusive experience of all. It’s included with every purchase of the Submersible Chrono Guillaume Néry edition, an all-black titanium chronograph with a blue-black dial and turquoise accents redolent of equatorial waters. Just 15 individuals will be travelling to Tahiti for a chance to dive (and watch whales) with the eponymous French freediving champion, who set four consecutive world records between 2002 and 2008, and once reached 126 metres on a single breath. Happily, on this trip everyone gets to use scuba gear and, unlike the other two, a five-star après-swim is guaranteed.
Although you don’t have to take part in any of these add-ons, if you think that skipping them is your path to a cut-price Panerai, think again – the brand has confirmed that the price remains the same regardless of whether you choose to dive, trek or train with the best. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to buy a couple of scratchcards and a wetsuit.
