The Panerai L’Astronomo Reference PAM00920 – Luminor 1950 Tourbillon Moon Phases Equation of Time GMT Titanio was recently released at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie event. This fantastic timepiece is the first of Officine Panerai’s creations to have moon phases indication and an innovative system using a polarised crystal to indicate the date. This watch is dedicated to the genius Galileo Galilei and is a follow-up piece to the First Panerai L’Astronomo, presented in 2010 on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the celestial observations made by Galileo as a result of the invention of the telescope.
The Panerai L’Astronomo was the first timepiece created by Panerai with a Tourbillon regulator, calendar, equation of time indication, and the display of the times of sunrise and sunset. Galileo made remarkably accurate and detailed drawings of the moon and its movement. Panerai captures this with its complex P.2005/GLS movement which shows the day/night indication and the phases of the moon on the back side of this timepiece. This movement is hand-wound but has a power reserve for up to 4 days. Since neither the front nor back of the watch have a dial, you can easily admire the complex feature-filled movement with ease.
One of the unique patents arising from this timepiece includes the display of the date using polarized crystals. A traditional date disc would conceal some of the movement of the skeletal design. Panerai instead invented a date disk made of borosilicate glass with laser-modified numbers which remain invisible except the one that is in the date window and accentuated by a polarized crystal above the date disk.
The watch has a system of two discs, packed with enormous features including hours, minutes, small seconds, date, months indicators, second-time zone, 24h indicators, sunset and sunrise indicator, equation of time, tourbillon, and moon phases. The upper disk displays the 24 hours of the day, showing the sun during the hours of daylight and the stars of the sky at night. At the center of the starry sky is a little round window through which the lower disc can be seen; on this appears the moon, its shape evolving day by day as a result of a small supplementary rotation of this disc of about 6.1° per day, a figure based on the exact duration of one lunar cycle (an average of 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 3 seconds).
The Panerai trademarked crown protection is made with Brushed Titanium. The front and back are covered with sapphire crystal and the bezel is made of polished titanium. The watch is a significant 50mm in diameter. The Panerai L’Astronomo has a water resistance of up to 300 feet.
The Panerai L’Astronomo Luminor 1950 Tourbillon Moon Phases Equation of Time GMT Titanio – 50mm comes with a standard Black Alligator strap with the 22mm size. We strongly recommend removing this strap immediately upon purchase and replacing it with a 22mm replacement strap by Rubber B. Not only will you have a higher quality and more durable watch band, but you will preserve the original value of the watch by keeping the band safe for resale value down the road.
Rubber B has a perfect replacement band selection for the Panerai L’Astronomo Luminor 1950 Tourbillon Moon Phases Equation of Time GMT Titanio – 50mm (Reference PAM00920). The L’Astronomo would look fantastic with a Cognac (brown) replacement strap, a Jet Black replacement strap, or the eye-catching Red Devil (red and black). The surface of these straps is available in full-grain leather or genuine Alligator. Since the Panerai L’Astronomo uses a 22mm lug, please visit our 22mm replacement watch band page to visit all your options for replacing your band for the Panerai L’Astronomo. There are 6 beautiful watch band options that will help increase wearability and extend the useful life of this fabulous timepiece.
