It is little more than a year before the 37th America’s Cup, the world’s greatest sailing race, takes place in Barcelona in September, 2024.
Already giddy with excitement are the top brass at Panerai, which are all-in with a long-standing partnership with the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team.
The partnership is a perfect fit for Panerai, with its history of making timekeepers for the Italian Navy and the common goals between watchmakers and elite sailors to seek precision and perfection through research, new materials, and advanced technology.
The America’s Cup is much more than a series of races in a single month, it is a four year programme to prepare the perfect vessel and qualify for the competition.
Panerai is with the Luna Rossa team every step of the journey, and this summer is launching five watches associated with the collaboration in colourways of ocean blue and the official red of the sailing team.
First up is a new Luminor Luna Rossa Quaranta PAM01408, a 40mm steel DLC watch a blue sun-brushed dial with date and small seconds.
It is on sale now for £8,000.
The watch is powered by Panerai’s automatic P.900 calibre with a three-day power reserve.
No sailing enthusiast could live without a dual timer, so for them Panerai has created the Luminor Luna Rossa Quaranta BiTempo PAM01404 with a GMT hand tipped in the Luna Rosa red.
It is priced at £8,300.
The 40mm steel piece, powered by an automatic P.900/GMT calibre with three-day power reserve, comes with a blue sun- brushed dial.
Sportier still, and in keeping with the advanced engineering of the Luna Rosa team, is the Luminor Luna Rossa Chrono Carbotech PAM01519 (£41,400), which comes in a lightweight 44mm carbon case.
The chronograph’s blue sun-brushed dial is circled by a tachymeter bezel for measuring the average speed of a yacht over a defined distance.
There is a special Experience edition, limited to 37 pieces to celebrate the 37th edition of the America Cup in 2024, that sees owners invited on a trip to Cagliari where, together with the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team, they will enjoy various activities and workshops connected to the world of sailing and the sea.
All three models come with a bi-material strap with a strip carrying the Luna Rossa logo.
They are all boutique-only exclusives.
Panerai has also unveiled two additions to the Luminor Due collection, again in the colours of the Luna Rossa branding.
PAM01378 (£6,400) comes in a polished 38mm steel case matched with a white Saffiano leather strap that bears the team’s name and red stripe logo while the steel PAM01381 (£6,700) is larger at 42mm and comes on a grey bi-material strap.
The carbotech is attractive but comical, since the tachymeter is graduated at the SLOWEST to 60 units/hr, so even if you use km, 60 km/hr is still 36 mph, which is far faster than most yachts. Even with a yacht that fast, the slowest you could measure is 60 km/hr. Secondly, on the open water there are no mile or km markers, so it’s essentially useless anyway.
Cute, but useless. Shame on Panerai.