Panerai Radiomir 1936 PAM 249: Old-School Cool (VIDEO)

Once again, Panerai goes to its well of history and draws a mother lode of vintage style. The 1,936-piece limited edition Panerai Radiomir 1936 PAM 249 pays tribute to the pioneering Panerai combat dive watches of the late 1930s.

As the first wristwatches ever designed specifically for amphibious use, the Panerai 3646 – inspiration for this Panerai Radiomir PAM 249 – stands as the forefather of all modern dive watches.

Panerai‘s historic catalog never lacks for source material. In crafting the Radiomir 1936 PAM 249, Panerai‘s designers reached back to the seminal moment when Rolex of Geneva and Officine Panerai of Florence pooled their resources to create a watch that could serve the needs of the world’s first amphibious tactical forces.

Water resistance was mandatory, but so was extreme low-light legibility. The only solution involved a large illuminated dial in a hermetically sealed case. Rolex’s unique “Oyster Pocket Watch” was the only timepiece that fit the contract requirement; with the addition of soldered-on wire lugs, a Panerai “Radiomir” radium lume dial, and a waxed calf leather strap, the first Panerai combat watch was born.

Each Panerai Radiomir 1936 PAM 249 follows the footsteps of its illustrious forebear. A 2mm domed plexiglas crystal is true to the original and recreates the charming “bubble” distortion of the dial features. Likewise, the famed Rolex “California” dial with half Roman / half Arabic numerals is a vision of the prototype while maintaining outstanding legibility.

Even better, Panerai recreates the desirable aesthetic of an aged vintage radium dial via the “dirty dial” treatment of the modern PAM 249. Ecru-colored Super LumiNova dial lume captures the look of ancient patina while maintaining the fearsomely bright luminescent qualities of modern LumiNova.

Panerai completes the vintage vibe with a gilt (golden) “railroad” 60-minute chapter ring, beautiful heat-blued hands, and a retro-inspired “OP”-logo knurled crown as featured on the Rolex Oyster cases of the 1936 predecessor.

Within the polished 47mm stainless steel case, the Panerai Radiomir 1936 employs an old-school pocket watch movement, the Unitas 6497. Just as the first Panerai dive watches utilized large Rolex cal. 618 movements from Oyster Pocket Watches, the PAM 249 features a circa-1950 Unitas pocket watch architecture upgraded to modern standards of finish, durability, and endurance.

The manually-wound 56-hour power reserve is far superior to the industry standard of 42-hours, and the gorgeous “swan’s neck” balance regulator provides excellent resistance to shock-induced timing errors. Panerai finishes this movement, dubbed “Caliber OP X,” with a cote de Geneve stripe pattern and detail finish that puts the utilitarian Panerai originals to shame.

See this outstanding example of the Panerai Radiomir 1936 PAM 249 in high-resolution images on www.watchuwant.com.