Carbotech, a light and very resistant composite material based on carbon fibre, never used before in the world of watchmaking, is the new coup-de foudre for luxury Swiss watch manufacturer Officine Panerai. The remarkable new technical innovation was introduced in the Luminor Submersible 1950 Carbotech 3 Days Automatic 47mm.
“While the technology of the material looks to the future, every detail of the design of the watch is faithfully inspired by the history of the luxury brand,” says the prestige watch manufacturer.
The unique composite material Carbotech reduces the weight, offering unique appearance and properties. Carbotech has an uneven, matt black appearance, which varies according to the cutting of the material: the result is that each example is unique.
The structure of carbotech is designed to enhance both the aesthetics and the performance of the material, which is used to make the case, the rotating bezel and the lever bridge which protects the winding crown. To form the plates of carbotech from which these components are made, thin sheets of carbon fibres are compressed with a high-end polymer which binds the composite material, making it even stronger and more durable.
The mechanical properties of carbotech are much higher than those of similar materials or of other materials used in the world of watchmaking, such as ceramics and titanium: carbotech is lighter than these and much more resistant to external solicitations, as well as being hypoallergenic and not subject to corrosion.
The Luminor 1950 case (47 mm), developed by Panerai in the late 1940s to be worn on the wrists of commandos of the Italian Navy, is enhanced by a rotating bezel with markers consisting of small studs, inspired by the model created by Panerai for the Egyptian Navy in 1956. The bezel rotates only anticlockwise and enables the time of immersion to be calculated: a very useful function for a professional underwater instrument which is tested for water-resistance up to 30 bar (about 300 metres).
The dial of the new Luminor Submersible 1950 Carbotech is black with applied hour markers, the date window is at three o’clock and the small seconds counter marked by Panerai blue details is at nine o’clock. The screw- in caseback, which helps to ensure the watch’s high degree of water-resistance, is made of titanium with black treatment and it is engraved with elements characteristic of the Panerai brand: “Florence 1860”, the city and year of birth of Panerai watchmaking, and the image of a Slow Speed Torpedo (SLC), the notorious “pig” on which in the 1940s the commandos of the Italian Navy sailed through the depths of the sea on their missions while wearing instruments made by Panerai.
The technological heart of the Luminor Submersible 1950 Carbotech is the P.9000 automatic calibre, developed and made by the Officine Panerai manufacture in Neuchâtel.
The new ocean-ready timepiece is fitted with a black rubber strap, personalised for the first time by the OP logo in Panerai blue.
