Panerai’s New Logo-Less Watch Is a Subtle Masterpiece

The first prototypes of Panerai’s now-signature Radiomir watch were designed in 1936. The watch was then conceived to meet timekeeping needs of the First Submarine Group Command of the Royal Italian Navy.

Originally produced in a run of 10 pieces, the military-grade ticker was refined over the next few years, with each design remaining big enough for easy reading (47mm case with reinforced lugs) without looking gaudy or bold. In fact, Panerai chose to present the Radiomir watch with a logo-less dial, the watchmaking equivalent of leaving their work unsigned. This was to stop the Allies from identifying the manufacturer of the watch if its wearer was captured during WWII.

What’s with the history lesson? Because the special edition PAM 721 Radiomir 3-Days Acciaio that Panerai just debuted a Design Miami is almost a dead ringer for those first Radiomirs.

Only the second modern Panerai to be offered with an unsigned dial, the Radiomir 3-Days Acciaio’s 47mm stainless steel case, blued-out hands and minimalistic dial look quite familiar. Panerai did decide to update the watch’s movement, to a manually wound, in-house caliber P3000 with a three-day power reserve that’s clearly visible if you flip it over and sneak a peek through the watch’s open-format sapphire caseback.

Now exclusively available at Miami Design, the watch will eventually be available globally for a price of $9,800.

This timeless ticker exudes vintage class, so if it slips into enemy hands, you ain’t getting it back.