Panerai Radiomir Titanium PAM 322 Luxury Watch Review

Описание: http://www.thewatchbox.com

The Panerai Radiomir Titanium PAM 322 is like a horology Hall of Fame for your wrist. Take the original specwar/tactical forces watch and add a movement from Minerva, one of the top micro-manufactures in Switzerland, and the result is a very special Panerai limited edition of 150 watches.

Minerva is the greatest watchmaker most people have never heard of. A practitioner of nearly dead arts including manual hairspring manufacture and movement polish with indigenous flora (e.g., grass stems and young branches), Minerva isn't so much a watch factory as a living time capsule of old Swiss savoir faire.

And Panerai's Radiomir Titanium PAM 322 puts the best of old-school Minerva on display through a sprawling sapphire case back.

Within the Radiomir Titanium PAM 322, Minerva's traditional architecture reads like the blueprint of a nineteenth century railroad chronometer; simply reveling in the elegant simplicity of this movement is like taking an introductory course in watchmaking; the progression of power from winding crown to barrel to train to beating escapement is crystal clear.

As for the finish, well... examining that is more like taking a master class.

The movements from Villeret feature exquisite finish to rival the best of Geneva and Saxony. Panerai's caliber OP XXVII (Minerva 16-17) in the PAM 322 is resplendent with a black polished swan's neck regulator and screw heads, gorgeous Geneva stripes, radiant dressage graining on the rhodium-plated wheels and circular graining on the brass wheels of the train.

And the Villeret factory's output is measured in mere hundreds of units per year. And since 2007, the Montblanc brand has owned a virtual monopoly on Minerva's output... with a few rare exceptions.

As Montblanc's corporate cousin within the Richemont luxury group, Officine Panerai is granted occasional access to the shop floors of Villeret, and the 150-unit 2008 special edition PAM 322 represents a rare successful run through the Montblanc corporate blockade.

The Panerai Radiomir PAM 322 adds a visual knockout punch to the mechanical mastery of Minerva. A brushed titanium case, polished titanium bezel, tobacco-colored "sandwich" Panerai dial, rose gold hands, and a knurled rose gold dial rehaut create an upscale image worthy of the regal heart that beats within.

See this exceptional Panerai Radiomir Titanium PAM 322 with full factory boxes, manuals, and documents of provenance in high-resolution images on www.thewatchbox.com. Video and content by Tim Mosso.