Panerai Opens its First Stand-Alone Boutique In London and Auctions a Unique Bronzo watch to Celebrate

Officine Panerai will shortly be opening its first stand-alone boutique in the UK and to celebrate, the company has created a unique bronze timepiece to be auctioned online by Sotheby’s. All proceeds from the sale of the special Luminor Submersible 1950 3 Days Automatic Bronzo 47mm PAM00907 will be donated to the Royal Yachting Association to support its charitable sailing programme, OnBoard. We’ve got all the details for you here on MONOCHROME, including how you can bid on this one-of-a-kind timepiece.

Officine Panerai Comes To London

Although Panerai watches have been available for years in London through various authorised retailers, including branded boutiques inside the Harrods Fine Watch Room and in Watches of Switzerland on Regent Street, the company has never had its own stand-alone boutique. Several months ago, however, hoarding went up on London’s famed Bond Street, one of the most expensive shopping streets in the world, and work began in earnest on the new space.

Created by the architect and designer Patricia Urquiola, the new Officine Panerai boutique, located at 30 New Bond Street, will extend over an area of 150 square meters across two floors and it will be the second largest in Europe after Panerai’s flagship store in Florence. The boutique will also be home to a watchmaker who will be permanently based on site, much to the excitement of Panerai owners across London.

An example of Panerai Boutique (here, in Milan)

A firm opening date has not been announced yet, at least as far as I am aware, however, the target was for the boutique to be opened by the end of November, so you will definitely be able to visit before Christmas and pick yourself a particularly nice stocking stuffer.

A Unique Panerai Bronzo

As I mentioned earlier, to commemorate the new boutique opening in London, Panerai has created a unique version of its Luminor Submersible 1950 3 Days Automatic watch. As the name suggests, the iconic, 47mm Luminor Submersible case has been made in bronze and paired with a brown dial, for a very distinctive, vintage look.

The unique Panerai Luminor Submersible 1950 3 Days Automatic Bronzo 47mm PAM00907 to be auctioned by Sotheby’s

As our readers will no doubt already be aware, bronze cases develop a lovely patina over time as a result of the reaction of the metal to its environment. This gives the case a sort of modern ‘aged’ look, and of course, no two cases develop the same patina. Not that you have to worry about that in this instance, as the watch in question is already one-of-a-kind.

The bronze used to make the case and the classic bridge device protecting the winding crown is an alloy of copper and pure tin, which is highly resistant to the corrosive action of seawater and atmospheric agents. Also made of bronze is the rotating bezel with a graduated scale for calculating the time of immersion, connected to the case by a special system designed and patented by Officine Panerai.

Panerai’s association with the Royal Italian Navy is already well-documented, so I won’t bother going into detail about it again here but the connection with the sea and diving is self-evident. Not surprisingly, the watch is rated water resistant to 300m.

The watch is of course based on the Special Edition Luminor Submersible 1950 3 Days Automatic Bronzo – 47mm, which has a blue dial and is limited to 1,000 pieces. Inside is the in-house P.9010 calibre, an automatic mechanical movement beating at 28,800 v/ph and offering a max power-reserve of 3 days thanks to a double barrel system. Completing the look is a brown leather strap, which will age nicely with the bronze case and a titanium buckle.

Officine Panerai x Sotheby’s x Onboard

Now for the important part; how you can buy this unique watch. Panerai has teamed up with international auction house Sotheby’s to offer the watch for sale online as part of a special charity auction that will run from the 30^th of November to the 15^th of December. Called “The Panerai Experience Online”, it will include the opportunity to bid on a number of bespoke Panerai experiences – to be revealed shortly – as well as, of course, the star of the show, the piece unique Luminor Submersible 1950 3 Days Automatic Bronzo – 47mm.

Best of all, Sotheby’s is waiving the buyer’s premium on all items in the auction and all proceeds will be donated to the OnBoard Programme run by the Royal Yachting Association. Started in 2005, the goal of this programme is to give over half a million young people in Britain the opportunity to try sailing and windsurfing. To date, over 700,000 OnBoard beginner sessions have been run across the country, with more than 88,000 young people taking up sailing or windsurfing on a regular basis.

Understandably getting more people involved in sailing and other water-based activities very much aligns with the Panerai ethos. Plus, this is a rare chance to own a one-of-a-kind bronze Panerai watch that is going to age beautifully with you over the years.

For more information about the auction, check out Sothebys.com.