THE ART OF ITALIAN MASTER ENGRAVERS MAKES THIS NEW SPECIAL EDITION FOR THE YEAR OF THE MONKEY UNIQUE. IT IS THE EIGHT EXAMPLE OF THE SERIES DEDICATED TO THE CHINESE ZODIAC BY OFFICINE PANERAI.
From the meeting between two ancient and far distant traditions comes the Luminor 1950 Sealand 3 Days Automatic Acciaio – 44mm (PAM00850), the new Special Edition made in only 99 units on the occasion of the Year of the Monkey, part of the series created by Officine Panerai in honour of the signs of the Chinese Zodiac. The watch is the eight of this exclusive series which started in 2009 with the Special Edition created for the year of the Ox. This has been followed by the watches made in the year of the Tiger, the Rabbit, the Dragon, the Serpent, the Horse and the Goat. The Year of the Monkey will start on 8 February 2016 and end on 27 January 2017.

In the Chinese Zodiac, the Monkey symbolises virtues
such as intelligence, eloquence and talent. Those born
under the sign of the Monkey have a strong and clever
personality but they are also honest and charitable. As
in all the watches of the series, the new Luminor 1950
Sealand has a remarkable engraving on the steel cover of
the dial, the subject being the Monkey. While the subject
and style of the engraving are a tribute to ancient Chinese
astrological tradition, the sophisticated technique used is
the creation of highly skilled Italian craftsmen who make
each individual cover entirely by hand, producing examples
that are truly fascinating. The steel is first of all engraved
with a special tool called a “sparsello”. Then threads of gold
are inlaid in the grooves made in the steel; these are laid
in multiple parallel layers and beaten until they completely
fill the engraved outlines, thus embellishing the image of
the monkey. The work demands extraordinary skill on the
part of the craftsmen, because the threads of gold are
embedded on the cover which has already been engraved
and polished, so the smallest error could damage the work
carried out earlier.
The case with the engraving of the monkey, on the inside of
which is a little mirror, conceals a minimalist grey dial with
a small seconds counter at 9 o’clock and a date window
at 3 o’clock. The cover is fitted to a Luminor 1950 case
(diameter 44 mm), which is made entirely of AISI 316L
stainless steel with a brushed finish, as is the lever device
which protects the winding crown.
The watch has a Panerai in-house calibre: the automatic
P.9000 calibre, with a power reserve of 3 days, an
oscillating weight which rotates in both directions and the
device for rapid setting of the time which also automatically
changes the date.
The Luminor 1950 Sealand 3 Days Automatic Acciaio
– 44mm (PAM00850), available exclusively in Panerai
boutiques throughout the world, is water-resistant to 10
bar (a depth of about 100 metres) and it is supplied with a
strap of soft brown leather, a spare strap, a screwdriver to
replace and the special tool for interchangeability.
LUMINOR MARINA 1950 3 DAYS AUTOMATIC TITANIO – 44mm
TECHNICAL DETAILS
Reference: PAM00850
Movement:
Automatic mechanical, Panerai P.9000 calibre, executed entirely by Panerai, 13¾ lignes, 7.9 mm thick, 28
jewels, Glucydur® balance, 28,800 alternations/hour. Incabloc® anti-shock device. Power reserve 3 days, two barrels. 197 components.
Functions:
Hours, minutes, small seconds, date.
Case:
Diameter 44 mm, brushed steel AISI 316L.
Cover:
Polished steel, cover engraved by hand.
Back:
See-through sapphire crystal.
Device Protecting the Crown:
(protected as a trademark) Brushed steel.
Dial:
Grey with Arabic numerals and hour markers. Date at 3 o’clock, seconds at 9 o’clock.
Crystal:
Sapphire, formed of corundum, 1.6 mm thick. Anti-reflective coating.
Water Resistance:
10 bar (~ 100 metres).
Strap:
PANERAI personalised leather strap and brushed steel buckle. Supplied with a second interchangeable strap, a tool for changing the strap and a steel screwdriver.