If you had asked me to take a bet on whether a collaboration between luxury watchmaker Panerai and respected gaming peripherals maker Razer would occur, I would have, given the appearance of the Panerai Luminor Quaranta Razer Special Edition, lost my money.
It’s easy to see why. On the surface it’s difficult to reconcile the disparate worlds that these two entities occupy, given how different they both are. Yet the curious thing is that after spending a brief amount of time thinking about it, it somehow seems to make sense.
Luxury watchmakers have been trying over the past few years to find a way to appeal to the younger generation. With mechanical watches having lost their functional necessity a long time ago, there is no question that they are anachronistic devices that rely on other factors for their appeal. With this in mind, it becomes obvious why this new Panerai makes a whole lot of sense. We’re not using these watches for war anymore, and in this day and age, a luxury timepiece is a marker for an individual’s sense of style and taste.
It’s an out of left field collaboration for sure, and I would definitely be interested to get some words from Panerai CEO Jean-Marc Pontroué on his thought process in the consideration and approval of this collaboration. It definitely would have been cool to sit in on the meeting about this.
The watch itself is a typical Luminor Panerai, done with a DLC coated black eSteel (recycled steel in Panerai parlance) case at 44 mm in diameter and 100 meters water resistant. To reference Razer, the collaboration partner, there are a few ways that this watch distinguishes itself. The most obvious parts are the electric fluorescent green small seconds hand at 9 o’clock, and the green stitching on the black quick release PET strap. Then there is the Razer logo which is on the closed case back, which means we have to do without a view of the P900 automatic movement that this watch runs.
Lastly, there is also the Razer logo on the dial above the 6 o’clock position, which is so subtle that it is hardly visible in most lighting conditions. In fact, when photographing it, I had to use a direct and hard flash beam to get it to appear in these photos.
Now, it is said that this collaboration was created in support of measures to heal the ocean and to preserve the environment. Ok fine. So it might be.
Although let’s be honest, no one who is buying this watch will do so while thinking of the ocean. Just on how cool the watch will be on the wrist while playing their favourite game. This was what I was thinking of when contemplating how cool it would be to wear this watch in the semi-darkness of a typical gaming environment. Though in order for me to get into the mood of buying this watch, I will probably have to upgrade my Gigabyte Aero 15 gaming laptop to a new Razer one.
PAM01353
Movement: Automatic mechanical, P.900 calibre, 12 1⁄2 lignes, 4.2 mm thick, 23 jewels, 28,800 alternations/hour. IncablocTM anti-shock device. One barrel. 171 components
Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds, date Power Reserve: Three days
Case: 40mm brushed eSteelTM with DLC coating, brushed eSteelTM bezel with DLC coating, eSteelTM caseback with DLC coating. Safety Lock crown protection device in brushed eSteelTM with DLC coating. Sapphire crystal formed of corondum
Dial: Black with luminous Arabic numerals and hour markers. Date at 3 o’clock and small seconds at 9 o’clock
Strap: Recycled black PET strap, green stitching, 22/20 BA, buckle in Steel DLC with QR system
Water-Resistance: 10 bar (~100 meters)
Availability: Limited to 500 pieces and available at Panerai boutiques only or online at panerai.com