BLACK SWELL
The most recent newcomer from the Italian watchmaker, totally cloaked in black, is a technological masterpiece which center stages a composite material designed based on lightweight, resistant carbon fiber: CarbotechTM
Technical sophistication, robustness and design are the keywords which define, in a nutshell, Panerai-produced watches. The Florence-based watchmaker is world-class in terms of expertise which is fine-tuned in particular through its famous Laboratorio di Idee, a sort of think tank in charge of research and development set up in the Neuchâtel manufacture. CarbotechTM, one of this laboratory’s recent inventions, known for its lightness and soundness, is a black composite material obtained from carbon fiber deposited in layers then agglomerated using high pressure. The marbling which it features makes the watch which it adorns unique, like the new Luminor Marina CarbotechTM.
This piece’s 44 mm-diameter, 14.50 mm-thick case records an impressive weight of just 96 g, and its waterproofness is just as impressive, down to a depth of 300 m. Its fixed bezel as well as its crown-protecting lever bridge are also fashioned in CarbotechTM. Only the caseback is in titanium coated with black DLC.
This dark case hosts the self-winding P.9010 caliber which drives the time functions (central hours and minutes, small seconds at 9 o’clock and date at 3 o’clock), beats at a standard frequency of 4 Hz and delivers a power reserve of 3 days.
On the black sandwich-style dial, the hour chapter with its baton-shaped markers and Arabic numerals, the baton-shaped hands and the running seconds counter are all coated with green-glowing sky blue Super-LumiNova® offering optimal readability. As for the date, it is displayed in white on a black backdrop.
This new Luminor Marina CarbotechTM is worn with a black strap made of SportechTM, a material similar to rubber, adorned with sky-blue overstitching around the edges and closed with a DLC-coated titanium buckle.
Price: CHF12,600
By Sharmila Bertin