The “Luminor” trademark was filed in 1949, and was the name of the Tritium based luminous compound that replaced the radium-based one that was used before. With such a long history of making sure that their watches are readable in the dark, Panerai has always applied the strongest and best luminous compound of the day, and one was always confident of its performance in low-light. 
This makes the new Luminor Marina PAM01117 particularly interesting since it seems to advance their use of luminous material, now expanded to other places aside from the dial. 
Just have a look at this picture. Here you can see that aside from the markers, numerals, and hands, we also see that the text “Luminor Marina” and “Panerai” are lumed, as is the dial flange, the iconic “device protecting the crown” and, as well as visible from the side, the clamping lever for it. Not only that, there is luminous stitching on the strap. 
The luminous compound applied to this watch is Super-LumiNova X1 of the latest generation, which I’m sure has some resistance to abrasion since it is applied to the parts of the watch that are not covered under the dial crystal. This is something that needs to be confirmed by Panerai.
Also notable is the use of a technology that Panerai brought to watchmaking in 2016 with the Lo Scienziato Luminor 1950 Tourbillon GMT Titanio PAM578 – Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS). This is a 3D printing process involving the sedimentation of titanium powder, sintered layer by layer by a high-powered optical fibre laser, 30 microns (0.03 mm) at a time to make up the case. 
Inside the watch is the in-house P.9010 calibre, an automatic movement with 3 days of power reserve.
Lastly, in order to make it more attractive for owners, the new watch comes with a 70 year warranty, as part of the Pam.Guard care programme that was launched last year. Now this doesn’t mean that the watch will last 70 years without any servicing whatsoever, it just means that Panerai will maintain the good working order of the watch as necessary under the terms and conditions of the International warranty.
Limited to 270 pieces and only available at Panerai boutiques, the PAM 01117 is a good start to their novelties this year, since it looks great and has interesting technical features. This probably means that there will be more interesting watches that will come next for this year’s novelties.
[ninja_tables id=”4479″]