There are a handful of watch designs that are instantly and unmistakably recognizable from across a room. If a watch brand is lucky enough to have one of these, then a lot of the hard work is already done. The Panerai Luminor is without question one of these designs. It's the watch that most people tend to think of when they hear the name Panerai and maybe even hear the words "oversized watch." Panerai is, after all, credited with kicking off the large watch trend that started in the late 1990s and continued through much of the Aughts. Even though the "I" word really does get tossed around far too often in watch reviews, and I endeavor to keep it out of my own as much as I can, the Panerai Luminor is a legitimately iconic watch and I've come to regard it as an actual design object.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
FUNCTIONS
Hours, minutes, small seconds, date
CASE
Diameter 44mm, AISI 316L brushed steel
BEZEL
Polished steel
DIAL
Blue sun-brushed with luminous Arabic numerals and hour markers. Date at 3 o'clock and small seconds at 9 o'clock
WATER RESISTANCE
"30 bar (~300 metres)"
STRAP
Alligator Dark blue, Beige Stitching, 24/22.0 Standard size