Panerai Gives the Submersible Marina Militare a Black Ceramic Bezel in Destro and GMT Versions

Panerai’s two new Marina Militare Submersibles look identical from across the room, but they're quite different watches. The new PAM01757 is a 44mm Destro with the crown on the left. The PAM01758 is a 42mm GMT. If the Submersible is new to you, it’s the Luminor case with a one-way diving bezel added, a line Panerai started in 1998.

Both watches use Panerai’s cushion case in brushed stainless steel, with a sapphire crystal on top, a solid caseback and 500 meters of water resistance. The Destro is 44mm wide and 13.94mm thick. Its crown and locking lever bridge sit at 9 o’clock, which is supposed to be made for left-handers who wear a watch on the right wrist. Right-handers like myself benefit too, because nothing presses into the back of your left hand. The GMT is 42mm wide and 14.38mm thick, so it’s a little taller but smaller overall. Both bezels have a matte black ceramic insert with a raised dive scale and a lume pip.

The dials are matte black with a grained texture and applied indices. The hands, markers and bezel pip all use beige Super-LumiNova. Each dial has a recessed small seconds subdial. On the GMT variant the small seconds is at 9 o'clock, but on the Destro, which has the crown on the left, the small seconds is at 3 o'clock, since the movement is flipped. The GMT also has a date window with bevelled edges at 3, a 24-hour scale on an angled flange, and a fourth hand with a beige and orange arrow tip. It’s a caller-style GMT, so you set the 24-hour hand on its own while the local hour stays put. The beige lume gives both watches a vintage tint. You know by now how I feel about that.

The Destro uses the automatic calibre P.980, made at ValFleurier and also used in the recent Luminor 42. It beats at 4Hz and has 72 hours of power reserve. The GMT uses the calibre P.900/GMT24H, also beating at 4Hz with a three-day reserve. Both casebacks are engraved with the Siluro a Lenta Corsa, the Italian Navy’s manned torpedo, which sailors nicknamed the Maiale. Each watch comes on a gold-brown Ponte Vecchio vintage leather strap with a brushed steel trapezoid pin buckle, plus a black rubber strap with an accordion pattern. The Destro’s strap tapers from 24mm to 22mm, and the GMT’s tapers from 22mm to 20mm.

The Panerai Submersible Marina Militare Destro PAM01757 is priced at €12,300, and the Submersible Marina Militare GMT PAM01758 at €12,700. Neither is a limited edition, but they are numbered. Both casebacks read “Annual Production,” which means Panerai caps how many it makes each year. See more on the Panerai website, the Destro here and the GMT here.