Panerai Luminor 1950 8 Days Rattrapante split seconds chronograph (Ref. PAM 319)

The new Panerai Luminor 1950 8 Days Rattrapante split seconds chronograph (Ref. PAM 319) manual wind watch is the best “affordable” offering in the whole greatly overpriced model range of the Italian watchmaker.

Damn it! I am starting to fall in love with Panerai watches. Although the brand’s timepieces always seemed too visually unsophisticated and almost boring to me, now I see a certain rugged beauty in them.

The transformation started last week when I stumbled upon the gorgeous PAM 326 Panerai Luminor Chrono Daylight automatic watch that was encased in a light-weight 44 mm titanium body and featured a deep blue dial.

And now this one.

Priced at around $20,000, it is completely out of my budget (at least, for this terrible year that I hope will soon end) and this is the very first time I deeply regret this fact.

With its 47mm wide case, the new PAM 319 is huge, but, unlike many recent cases of horological gigantomania, there was a good reason behind the choice of the body’s size.

The in-house manufactured Calibre P.2006/3 hand-wound movement, which beats inside the case, measures generous 13.75 lignes in diameter, which roughly translates into not very impressive, but still generous 31 millimeters of case fitting size.

The movement is supposed to store enough energy to power the watch for 8 days or about 192 hours, that’s why Panerai employed a relatively rare among other watchmakers design featuring not even two, but three mainspring barrels.

Like earlier 8-Days models, this one also features a linear power reserve indicator at 6 o’clock and features a three-dimensional dial with a SuperLuminova-coated layer sandwiched between the inner and outer layers. The dial itself sports high-contrast and highly-legible, clean layout making it a real pleasure to watch.

Unlike most others rattrapante chronographs, the PAM00319 needs only two buttons to operate the complication with both push-pieces moved to the left side of the case in order to balance the heavy-looking winding crown guard on the right.

It is certainly one of the best offerings on the market. Panerai says that only 300 PAM 319 will ever be manufactured.

Photos: Panerai

Panerai Luminor 1950 8 Days Rattrapante split seconds chronograph (Ref. PAM 319) watch’s specification:

Price range: $20,000
Movement: Caliber P.2006/3 Manifattura, in-house, hand-wound, 34 jewels, 28800 vph, three barrels, 356 parts
Complications: Split-seconds chronograph
Power reserve: 8 days (192 hours)
Case material: Rose gold
Case size: 47 mm
Case height: N/A
Dial: Black, three layers
Water resistance: 100 m
Strap: Brown alligator leather
Crystal: Sapphire, 2 mm spherical, antireflective coating