Officine Panerai continues looking into its own past to relate fascinating new stories to its enthusiastic collectors. A new Luminor 8 Days Set – available in only 500 examples – contains two watches inspired by models created in the pre-Vendôme era, that is, that stage in the history of the brand running from 1993, the year of the first collection made for the public, and 1997, the year in which Panerai was acquired by Vendôme, part of the Richemont Group. In those years, a very small number of watch was produced and they quickly became highly sought after in the collector’s market.

Notably, in 1996 Panerai made a few small series of watches commissioned by Sylvester Stallone. The new Luminor 8 Days Set takes two models originally created for the American actor: a Luminor Black Seal, here presented for the first time in a left-handed version, and a Luminor Daylight with an original, extremely rare white dial with blue markers and numerals. The two watches are supplied in a box inspired by those used for vintage Luminor watches, made of pear wood with a teak base and containing a model of the human torpedo (Siluro a Lenta Corsa – slow speed torpedo), together with a rare publication about the military equipment of the special forces of the Royal Italian Navy, in which Panerai watches and instruments appear.

The Luminor Black Seal Left-Handed 8 Days is the version with the winding crown and the lever device protecting it on the left side of the case of the historic Luminor Black Seal. The tradition of making watches for left-handers had already been started by Panerai in the 1940s, when some models were made in this way to enable the watches to be worn on a frogman’s right wrist, while the compass and depth gauge were worn on the left. The Luminor Case, 44 mm in diameter, is made of stainless steel coated with DLC (Diamond-Like Carbon).

The Luminor Daylight 8 Days, the other watch in the Luminor 8 Days Set, is the reproduction of a model of 1996 of which only a very few examples exist. The striking detail of the historic example, faithfully reproduced in the new model, is the white dial – as in the Daylight models of the time – on which, unusually, all the markers and the hands are an intense blue colour. It is likely that this version was replaced after the delivery of the first prototypes, so the few surviving examples have become extremely rare. The hands, including the small seconds hand at 9 o’clock, are blue, as are the large markers indicating the hours. In this model the case 44 mm in diameter is made of AISI 316L stainless steel with a polished finish, as is the winder- protecting device placed traditionally on the right side. In keeping with the dial the strap is blue alligator, and the steel tongue buckle is sewn-in, as in the vintage models.

The Luminor case of both watches of the Luminor 8 Days Set (PAM00786) is closed by a screw back, engraved with the words “Officine Panerai Firenze” and the OP logo, and each of them has a hand-wound movement with a power reserve of at least eight days, stored in two spring barrels connected in series. The P.5000 calibre, entirely made in the Panerai Manufacture in Neuchâtel, recalls many of the “historic” characteristics of the calibres used in the watches at the time – such as the hand winding and the long power reserve – but it meets the standards of contemporary high quality watchmaking in the purest Panerai style, the structure of the movement being remarkably strong with its large bridges protecting the mechanism and the balance bridge with twin supports.

Both watches are water-resistant to 30 bar (equivalent to a depth of about 300 metres) and the special box in which they are supplied also includes a spare strap for each model and a screwdriver.