The PAM00422 is limited to 2,000 pieces

This is it, folks. I recently sampled my ULTIMATE Panerai…my ultimate timepiece, in fact. The PAM00422.

Now, Paneristi refer to Panerai by their reference number – PAM00422 or 422 for short. Non-Paneristi would look on Panerai’s website and call it the LUMINOR MARINA 1950 3 DAYS ACCIAIO. To break it down, Luminor Marina refers to the piece having a small seconds as opposed to a base dial with only two hands. The 1950 case is that sensational cushion shape. 3 days refers to the power reserve of the in-house P.3001 hand-wound movement. And Acciaio means steel. And you wanna know the best part??? It’s a 47mm case! Bam!

This, my friends, is TimeCaptain’s most prized possession. I recently reviewed my own 359, which I really would NOT want to part with…unless it got me into a 422. You see, the 422 is my grail piece. Panerai is my favorite brand and, to me, the 422 is the ultimate expression of everything Panerai. It’s 47mm so it’s even larger than the typical 44mm Luminor. It is manually wound, which is SO Panerai. It has a high-end movement. It has a stunning color scheme. And, my most favorite detail of all is the power reserve indicator… ON THE BACK! This is my favorite design move ever by a watchmaker. The power reserve is my favorite complication and the 422 puts it on the BACK so it doesn’t spoil the clean, simple dial. This is absolutely brilliant. I loved winding the piece and watching the indicator move from 0 to 3 days. Fantastic.

Now, I’m just getting warmed up here, people. I haven’t even really begun my review. Are you ready? Shall we start? Let’s go.

I guess I won’t go into too much history of Panerai and this 422. It’s basically a modern homage to the real historic diving pieces that Panerai made decades ago. However, it uses a very modern and robust and high-end in-house movement. Remember – Panerai only began making their own movements 10 years ago. So let’s start with the movement.

The hand-wound calibre P.3001

The P.3001 movement is serious stuff, people. The fact that it’s hand-wound gives it authenticity for an homage and is a joy to use. There is no date – superb. I have mentioned the power reserve indicator already and the 3 days reserve makes the piece practical. When Panerai designed this movement, they must have been reading my mind. It is EVERYTHING I want in a movement. Just superb. P.3001 is quite a large movement, paying tribute to the huge pocket watch movements fitted to the historic Panerai diving pieces. At first glance, a two-hand watch with a small seconds and no date is extremely basic. But look deeper. As discussed, there is that power reserve indicator on the back. As well, the P.3001 has a seconds reset function where you can reset the second hand instantly back to zero. This is fantastic for a guy like me who obsessively synchronizes the time on his piece to a benchmark. And it has another cool feature – you can move the hour hand independently from the minute hand. This is quite useful when travelling across different time zones as you can rapidly advance or reverse the hour without adjusting the minute. As you can see, this ‘basic’ movement has some great features packed into it. I should also mention that P.3001 was designed to be a real daily wearer and it has high end shock absorption features. It is not a showpiece – this movement was designed to withstand commutes, power walks, happy hours and even diving (with a rubber strap, of course).

The cushion shape of the PAM00422 makes it easily wearable despite its proportions.

Let’s move on to the design. You can study the photos yourself. This is a huge watch. The dial just oozes Panerai DNA. Large. Simple. Clean. Bold. It is a sandwich dial, which means it has two layers. The bottom layer is a luminous substance. Then the top layer actually has the numerals cut out, exposing the luminous lower layer. This is a Panerai hallmark and very desirable for a Paneristi. Being so simple, the dial has lots of empty black space which showcases the gorgeous quality of the dial itself. Less is more, as they used to say in my film class. The 422 has a ‘dirty dial’ meaning that the color of the lume is a vintage patina. It’s like a sandy color. So it’s like a beige-on-black color scheme. In person, the effect of this color scheme is absolutely stunning. In my 10 years or so of obsessing about and analyzing watches, I have never come across a color combo as striking as this. And the assolutamente strap complements the colors perfectly. As you know, Panerai straps are easily changed and varied. We should not discuss the strap in great detail. But I’d wear my 422 on its original OEM strap at least 75% of the time. It’s just such a beautiful match for the piece. Now the case is that 1950 case. It is a sculptured piece of art and the presence on the wrist is without equal. Oh, this is the real deal, folks. I mean, if I set out to design my ideal timepiece from scratch, I would end up with a 422. What more could you possibly want, from an aesthetic point of view? The 422 will command attention no matter which situation you walk into.

Another side view of the PAM00422

So what’s it like to wear the 422? Its amazing strap is rich and soft and putting it on is a real luxury experience. Then- the size. Now, my wrist is quite large at 7 3/8 inches. I found the 47mm size to be perfect. What really surprised me was how easily the piece fit under my shirt cuffs. I would wear the 422 with dress shirts and suits all the time- no problem at all. The curvy contours of the 1950 case make it wear smaller than 47mm and I didn’t expect it to be so “easy” to wear. It still looks big- even on me. But I like way oversized watches. I like that look. Would it look good on a 6 1/2 inch wrist? I think so. But I know many guys (WatchPaper readers included) have this paranoia about their watch being too big for their wrist. So I think the 47mm PAM00422 might not satisfy everyone. I think the whole point of a Panerai is to make a statement and be bold, so bigger is better for my tastes. As I say, it’s not for everyone. Wearing the 422 exceeded my expectations and set a new benchmark for timepieces in my mind. I used to prefer the base dial of the 372, but after wearing the 422 and other Luminor Marina, I actually like the small seconds. It allows you to measure accuracy and time steaks on the BBQ. Once again, the 422 was designed to be worn and used!!!

The power reserve indicator is located on the bridge of the movement.

So we’ve covered the movement, the design and the wearing. Now how can I adequately express my appreciation for the PAM00422? Let me put it this way, if I had to choose between a brand new Porsche 911 Carrera S and a PAM00422, I would choose the 422. I am dead serious. I have driven the Porsche and, for me, the satisfaction of wearing and operating the 422 far exceeds the experience of driving a Porsche over Montreal’s potholes. Most people will disagree, but I’m different. I really do rank a great Panerai higher than a luxury performance car. I liked Panerai to begin with, but the 422 is the absolute pinnacle of Panerai. It is the larger size. It has a magnificent high-end movement with a few tricks. And it’s hand-wound. It has a clean, classic Panerai design with a stunning color scheme. It has tons of wrist presence. It is my grail piece. The 422 is, at least for now, the ULTIMATE timepiece for me.

With Panerai, you can find many subtle variations of the same theme. So if the 422 is not right for you, you can look at other models with similar movements, smaller cases or more complex dials. Check out Panerai’s catalogue. As always, the fun is in the search.

Yours truly,

TimeCaptain