Panerai celebrates its roots in luminescence with the Panerai Submersible Elux LAB-ID PAM01800.
At an age where barely anyone bats an eyelid over terms like luminescence, Panerai releases a timely reminder of their historical innovations, which revolutionised modern-day watchmaking. One of Panerai’s early day claims to fame was the invention of the Radiomir (1916) and Luminor (1949) luminant compounds that aided military personnel in low-light readability and legibility. The Swiss watchmaker has since been a pioneering force in this niche and often overlooked field but continues to innovate in the spirit and essence of the historic Officine Panerai workshop. After 108 years since Guido Panerai founded the Radiomir, Panerai is taking the next breakthrough with mechanical luminescence in the Panerai Submersible Elux LAB-ID PAM01800.
View this post on Instagram
In a nutshell, the Panerai Submersible Elux LAB-ID offers on-demand mechanical luminescence sans the need for batteries. While on paper it seems like a straightforward R&D effort, Panerai’s specialised think tank department Laboratorio di Idee took eight years to fully realise this vision, which stemmed from Elux, a Panerai innovation patented on 15 June 1966. Elux, an abbreviation of ‘elettroluminescenza’, was Panerai’s solution to uniform luminous surfaces. Electroluminescent panels powered by portable batteries and fixed AC were robust and a safer alternative to the radioactive radium and allowed for an adjustable lighting intensity to fit the requirements of its user.
With the Panerai Submersible Elux LAB-ID, Panerai has demonstrated its mastery of precision engineering. The watch features an ingenious system where the only electrical components are the microgenerator and a series of LEDs. A patented pusher-protector system controls four dedicated energy-storing barrels which unwind in a compact microgenerator, converting mechanical energy into electricity to power the light diodes positioned in the watch hands (patented), indices, bezel pip (patent pending), small seconds counter and the lighting power reserve. The on-demand lighting lasts up to 30-minutes though it can be switched off anytime. As with Panerai’s signature linear power reserve indicator, the Laboratorio di Idee team adapted that idea for the light’s power reserve that is purely independent from the other two barrels that provide 72-hours of timekeeping energy.
While electrical components and water are not the best friends, Panerai’s expertise in underwater instruments sees the Panerai Submersible as the perfect vessel for this beacon of light. Housed in a 49mm diameter and 500m water-resistant case, the Panerai Submersible Elux LAB-ID comes encased in Panerai’s next-generation material innovation — Ti-Ceramitech™ (ceramised titanium, patent pending). Utilising a Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation process, the titanium alloy surface transforms into a dense ceramic layer to achieve the best properties of titanium and ceramic including enhanced hardness, and a fracture toughness ten times that of traditional ceramic while being 44% lighter than steel. Given Panerai’s affinity for the sea, the material’s blue shade stems from a specific set of elements used during the Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation process. Panerai will create 150 pieces of the Panerai Submersible Elux LAB-ID PAM01800, with 50 examples produced annually over three years.
Once you are done with this story, click here to catch up with our May 2024 issue.