LUMINOR 1950 TOURBILLON GMT 47 MM TITANIUM Research, development and innovation have always been the strong points of Officine Panerai since it was founded, and the company has always excelled in the technical area. Coming to the fore in 1938 with the production of the first professional diver’s models for the Royal Italian Navy, but already with almost a century’s experience in the field, Officine Panerai has recently made a further leap in quality by creating some manufactured calibres, or to be precise, calibre which are designed, developed and made within its own workshop. The calibre is the technical tem for the movement of a watch, that is, its “engine”, and of the four such “engines” recent developed, the Panerai P. 2005 is the most sophisticated creation. An exceptional synthesis of innovation and technology, the P.2005 was the obvious choice to give life to a model with so many remarkable characteristics, the Luminor 1950 Tourbillon GMT 47 mm Titanium, a model which combines tradition, sports qualities and exclusivity. It is a mechanical watch of the highest level and the greatest accuracy, contained within a strong yet light case created in Grade 2 titanium, a metal with remarkable characteristics but one that is extremely difficult to mould and finish. The new Luminor is distinguished in particular by the “tourbillon”, a device invented by the great horologist Abraham-Louis Breguet at the end of the 18th century in order to eliminate errors of rate (that is, faster or slower variations in indicating the time) caused by changes in the centre of gravity, inaccurate workmanship, the thickening of the lubricating oil and the consequent varying friction in the different positions assumed by the watch. To do this, Breguet made a cage containing the balance, escapement and related pivots which rotated continuously on its own axis: in this way the deviation which was found when the balance was in a particular position was cancelled out once the balance was in the opposite position. For more than two centuries synonymous with great difficulty of construction and in recent years adopted only in wristwatch models of the highest quality, the tourbillon escapement has fascinated generations of enthusiasts and constitutes an important challenge for many engineers. This challenge has been taken up by Officine Panerai which has succeeded in making a technical innovation in this area and thus to put its “imprint” on a watchmaking speciality which has been substantially unchanged since its birth, but which Panerai Manufacture has made more perfect with a completely new device which has been patented. In traditional tourbillons the cage with the balance rotates on a plane perpendicular to that of the base of the movement and it usually makes one complete rotation each minute; in the Luminor, however, the cage rotates on an axis parallel to the base of the movement; furthermore, it makes two revolutions per minute and this, combined with the particular arrangement of the cage itself, makes Panerai's innovation better adapted to compensate for running errors due to position, which in a wristwatch are very much more numerous than those found in a pocket watch. The device is created by a series of gear wheels that require an accuracy of workmanship which only specialist engineers in a manufacture such as Officine Panerai's can achieve. A masterpiece of mechanical complexity, the tourbillon is the jewel in the crown of the calibre P. 2005, which is also distinguished by various other important details. Consisting of 239 parts, it has manual winding and with its three spring barrels it accumulates enough energy to operate the watch for at least six days; in addition it is fitted with the GMT function, that is, a second time zone. To admire the fascinating rotation of the tourbillon and to read the indication of the remaining power reserve, displayed by a hand which moves across a circular arc, the Luminor 1950 Tourbillon GMT Titanium has a back with a large sapphire crystal window which reveals the entire movement. This manual winding movement completely executed in the Officine Panerai manufacture is 16 lignes in diameter. In spite of its technical complication with the tourbillon which makes a complete rotation every 30 seconds, it is only 9.1 mm thick. The new watch has the unmistakable case that for more than 60 years has identified Panerai Luminor models, distinguished chiefly by the lever device protecting the winding crown. Unlike the previous model, it is executed in Grade 2 titanium, which has enabled the case and the bridge of the lever device to have a brushed finish with a contrasting mirror-polished finish for the bezel (in Grade 5 titanium). With a diameter o f 47 mm and water-resistant to 100 metres, as befits the marine vocation of the House, the watch has a sapphire crystal 2 mm thick with anti-reflective coating. This protects the dial which is itself very distinctive with its elegant dark brown background, instead of the black of traditional models. With its sandwich construction, another Panerai innovation, the dial has large hour markers and Arabic numerals cut through the upper plate and it is particularly visible in darkness as a result of the substantial quantity of luminous material contained between the two plates of which the structure consists. The wide baton hour and minute hands contrast with the thinner hand of the GMT function, tipped with an arrow point, which indicates the time in the second time zone. Unlike most other sophisticated models with a tourbillon escapement, the Luminor 1950 does not show off this technical speciality on the dial: the device is actually only visible through the back. Its presence is subtly indicated on the dial by a small, sophisticated detail. In the little subsidiary dial on the left (looking at the watch) there is a continuous seconds hand and a small circular white indicator which is connected to the tourbillon; it therefore rotates twice as fast as the seconds hand which makes a complete revolution once a minute. The other subsidiary dial has a hand which makes one rotation in 24 hours, indicating, through the inscriptions “am’ and “pm”, whether the time shown by the GMT hand is during the day or the night. An alligator strap with the characteristic large buckle in titanium, also brush-finished and personalised Panerai, completes the watch, which is supplied with a second interchangeable strap and the special tool for changing it. Identified by the reference PAM00306, the Luminor 1950 Tourbillon GMT 47 MM Titanium is undoubtedly one of the most innovative, exclusive and sophisticated sports models in the whole panorama of current watchmaking. Press release | 
TECHNICAL DETAILS Movement: Hand-wound mechanical, Panerai P.2005 calibre, executed entirely by Panerai, 16 ¼ lignes, 9.1 mm thick, 31 jewels, Glucydur® balance, 28,800 alternations/hour. KIF Parechoc® anti-shock device. Power reserve 6 days, three barrels. 239 components. Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds, second time zone, 24h indicator, power reserve indicator on the back, tourbillon. Case: Diameter 47 mm, brushed titanium.
Bezel: Polished titanium. Back: See-through sapphire crystal. Device protecting the crown: (protected as a Trademark) Brushed titanium. Dial: Brown with luminous Arabic numerals and hour markers. 24 h indicator at 3 o’clock, small seconds and tourbillon indicator at 9 o’clock. Crystal: Sapphire, made from corundum, 2 mm thick. Anti-reflective coating.
Water- resistance: 100 metres (10 bar).
Strap: PANERAI personalised alligator strap and large-size brushed titanium buckle.
Supplied with a second interchangeable strap, a tool to change the strap and a steel screwdriver Reference: PAM00306
|
