Panerai Radiomir Tourbillon GMT PAM 315: King Radiomir?
Whoever said Panerai doesn’t do complications never encountered the Panerai Radiomir Tourbillon GMT Titanio PAM 315. With a dial, case, and unadorned simplicity that scream “Panerai!” and a movement that would impress Richard Mille, the PAM 315 satisfies both the Paneristi and the haut-de-gamme purists.
Two hands, a “sandwich” dial, and big lume. For seventy years, that was the essence of Officine Panerai’s appeal. When longtime Italian naval contractor Panerai moved from the high seas to the private sector in 1993, minimal brand equity, low debut pricing, and the lack of any in-house movement capacity dictated use of simple customer calibers from Swatch Group’s ETA subsidiary. But in late 2005, Panerai, now established as luxury “nomenklatura,” was ready to launch its first-ever manufacture movement series, the Caliber P. 200X family. And the King Kong P.2005 Tourbillon GMT was the flagship of Panerai’s new “fleet.”
Panerai’s traditional wire-lug Radiomir case – albeit in a deluxe 48mm guise – is the vessel for the awesome P. 2005. The Radiomir PAM 315’s brushed titanium case is a vast but surprisingly discreet platform for the beast within. At first glance, the PAM 315 appears no more than a burlier variant of the Radiomir; no conventional dial aperture, skeletal cutout, or display window reveals the escapement when the Radiomir Tourbillon is viewed from the dial side.
Panerai sets the stage for its sophisticated surprise with a refined dial that exhibits the finest features of the “Officine’s” heritage. A sandwich dial (stencil over lumed disc) with quarter Arabic numerals and stick indices provides the legibility synonymous with watches from the Firenze-based firm. The Radiomir Tourbillon GMT sports a matte tobacco-brown dial with complementary polished rose gold hands, and the combination is visually arresting.
Within the PAM 315’s classically simple dial, complications are integrated with discretion. The second time zone is indicated by a rose gold hand with an arrow index, and its short length enables this reference time indicator to be hidden under the superimposed local hour hand when only a single time zone is required. The 24-hour AM/PM indicator for the reference time zone sits unobtrusive at three o’clock. Panerai provides visual balance with an opposing small seconds subdial at nine o’clock. Within the small seconds subdial, a series of small white dots race around in 30 second cycles; they hint at the mechanized magic within.
And the Panerai caliber 2005 tourbillon gmt movement is magic, indeed. Unlike virtually every other tourbillon since A.L. Breguet’s first prototype, the Panerai PAM 315 features a tourbillon that rotates perpendicular to the axis of the balance wheel. In this fashion, Panerai’s chief engineer, Eric Klein, recaptures the lost purpose of the tourbillon: precision. While a pocket watch tourbillon will rotate the beating escapement through several orientations with gravity – thereby canceling its effect on timekeeping – a wristwatch assumes many positions throughout the day. By rotating the Caliber P. 2005’s tourbillon carriage through many additional orientations, Panerai seeks to cancel the timing variations induced by the chaotic motion of the wrist.
But theory aside, the P. 2005’s tourbillon provides great theater. It’s a spectacular assembly that rotates at twice the speed of a conventional 60-second tourbillon escapement. The movement seems to be racing through its rotations, and its sensational speed creates a true spectacle. For good measure, Panerai positions a mirror behind the tourbillon carriage to reflect light back from beneath the assembly, and the arrangement improves the already excellent view of the complication. Pursuant to the guiding philosophy of discreet complexity, Panerai also incorporates a caseback gauge for the PAM 315’s six-day power reserve.
Naturally, high horology engineering demands commensurate levels of finish, and Panerai’s manufacture delivers. The standard Panerai in-house “machine” anglage gives way to the real thing in the Radiomir Tourbillon GMT. Gloriously broad radii feature the gentle curvature and mirror shine that only only hand-laid polish can impart. Similar attention to detail is evident in the camphor of the tourbillon cage components, and all screws exhibit true “black” polish; they are so optically smooth that light is reflected only in a single direction, hence the “black” impression from any other angle.
But the Panerai Radiomir Tourbillon GMT PAM 315 remains a Panerai to its rotating core, and that means it’s a sports watch par excellence. With a 100-meter water resistance rating, a screw-down crown, and movement shock protection the PAM 315 is designed to be worn and enjoyed often.
See this spectacular Panerai Radiomir Tourbillon GMT Titanio PAM 315 in high-resolution images on www.watchuwant.com.
Video and content by Tim Mosso