Introducing: Panerai Honors The Pre-Vendome Luminor With A Smaller 42mm Offering
What We Know Don't call it a comeback—they've been here for years, but if today's release is any indication, Panerai seems on the verge of "having a moment," or whatever you'd call it in a hyper-masculine, intensely Italian way. The feedback for a while, even from people who love the brand, is that the brand (which was on the forefront or even progenitor of the large watch trend that dominated the early 2000s) hadn't adapted as well or as quickly as big watch brands. Size was one sticking point; price another. Privately, I have heard multiple people say that if Panerai could fight it out closer to Tudor pricing, they'd be printing money at a new clip. Today, the brand is showing that it's listening, with three new (and newly smaller) 42mm Luminors at an attractive price. Let's go back to 1993, to the pre-Vendome days of Panerai. Brand representatives stood aboard the Italian destroyer Durand de la Penne (D560) to revive the Luminor's design language—the big case, bold numerals, and unusual crown lock—and bring it to a civilian audience. The original references, Luminor Ref. 5218-201/A and Luminor Marina Militare ref. 5218-202/A, became collectible icons, and the latter was revived last year with the PAM05218, in a 44mm case with a new automatic movement. If you looked closely at that caliber—the P.980 with hours, minutes, and hacking seconds—you'd see it was small enough to fit in an even smaller case. Yes, it's similar in architecture to a few in-group IWC and B...