Panerai is a brand with two distinct personalities. On one side of the coin you have watches like the Brabus Verde Militaire, which is robust and tactical with its skeletonised display and carbon case. On the flip side are hyper luxurious timepieces such as the Radiomir Annual Calendar. Their latest launch, the Panerai Luminor Quaranta BiTempo Goldtech, falls on the latter side of that divide by introducing gold to the Luminor BiTempo.
Goldtech is Panerai’s proprietary alloy of rose gold featuring platinum and copper that ensures a high lustre that doesn’t tarnish easily. It makes for a particularly intense colour especially on the polished bezel. The rest of the case is brushed to provide a nice degree of contrast. The case measures 40mm in diameter with 100m water resistance, which is much smaller and less resilient than Panerai’s thoroughbred dive watches, further highlighting its luxe dress watch design.
Completing the aesthetic of the Panerai Luminor Quaranta BiTempo Goldtech is a sunray brushed sandwich dial in black. The almost gloss-like finish reminds me of obsidian, which contrasts with gold and gives the watch a sharp impact to look at. There’s a small seconds subdial at 9 o’clock and the central hand stack consists of hours, minutes and a second 12-hour hand for displaying a second time zone. It essentially functions in the same manner as a GMT complication without the additional 24-hour scale and is what gives the watch the BiTempo moniker, meaning dual time.
Beneath the dial is housed the P.900/GMT automatic calibre. It has a 3-day power reserve, which is equivalent to 72-hours, nice and weekend proof. Between the high quality movement and precious metal case, the Panerai Luminor Quaranta BiTempo Goldtech is priced at £21,900.
Price and Specs:
More details at Panerai.
