French Montana and his love for Panerai Watches

This article will discuss French Montana and his love for Panerai watches. Karim Kharbouch aka “French Montana” is a Moroccan born rapper, who grew up in the Bronx district of New York. Having emigrated to the U.S. speaking Arabic and French, classmates started calling him “Bonjour.” Taking the cue, he rebranded himself as French Montana – taking the last name of his favorite character from Scarface, Tony Montana.

French worked hard. Like his father, he knew that he had to hustle to survive. After his father abandoned his family, he became the man of the house and had to work to support his mom and two younger brothers. This fueled his ambition and put in the work to establish himself as a top rapper. With friends Rick Ross, P. Diddy and Drake, his fame took off.

His first hit was the song “Choppa Choppa Down” which was featured in the movie Black Hawk Down, and then he hit number three on the Billboard 200 with the song “Unforgettable”. He has since collaborated with Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, P. Diddy, Nicki Minaj, DJ Khaled, and many more.

Personally, he is both a father and philanthropic. He has raised over half a million dollars to build a hospital in Uganda. The rap lifestyle is one that exemplifies a bad-boy look, wealth and everything over the top. This is where French Montana and his love for Panerai watches begins.

French Montana and his love for Panerai watches

French was looking for accessories that fit his rapper image, his choice of clothing, and was large enough to fit his large wrists. Certainly Rolex wasn’t going to fit the ticket. Panerai became his obvious choice. In his young watch collection, French Montana has 4 Panerai timepieces which we will explore below.

The Luminor Yachts Challenge 44mm, reference PAM01020 is a stunning design. It has a blue sun-brushed dial which fades to darker blue on the top and bottom. There is an hour counter at 3 o’clock and a small seconds at 9 o’clock. On top of the central hours and minutes hands, there is a chronograph seconds and minutes hands which are operated by the two pushers at the 8 o’clock and 10 o’clock positions.

The case is made from 44mm Goldtech which is a special alloy that contains a percentage of copper to achieve a redish hue and prevent the gold from oxidising. The sapphire crystal protects the luxurious looking dial on both the front and the see-through back.

The movement is a P.9100 calibre which was designed in-house by Panerai from 302 components. It provides 3 days of power reserve and a water resistance of over 150 feet.

The strap is a matching alligator dark blue, with beige stitching that matches the gold timepiece. This stunning timepiece has luminescent markings for all the hour markers and the Arabic numerals throughout the timepiece which keep the timepiece visible in darkness. This is a top feature for the rapper who performs regularly in dark clubs and stadiums.

The Panerai Submersible Carbotech – 42mm, Reference PAM00960 is a tough no-nonsense looking timepiece. This divers timepiece has a deep blue luminescence except on the minute hand where the tip actually changes to a fluorescent green color.

It has many standard features including the hours and minutes hands, with a small seconds and a date aperture. The black dial looks impressive, along with the Caoutchouc Black strap and dark grey carbotech case. This timepiece puts its strength in its dive depth, with a water resistance of 1000 feet.

The Panerai Submersible 47mm, reference PAM01305 is a bit lighter version of the above Carbotech dive watch. However the increased size makes this timepiece a much bigger feel and tougher watch look overall. The brushed titanium steel case has reverse clockwise rotating bezel.

The black dial looks stellar with the white luminescent hour markers throughout. The small seconds dial at 9 o’clock and the date aperture at 3 o’clock are not exceptionally large, so they don’t detract from the overall masculine look of this timepiece.

Like all of the Panerai on this list, the 1305 has a locking mechanism to protect the crown. It also has a 1000 foot water resistance.

Made from Panerai titanium, the corosion-resistant Panerai Submersible AMagnetic – 47mm reference PAM01389 has a black bezel which matches the black dial. Touches of blue on the text and on the small seconds hand offer some uniqueness to this timepiece.

The AMagnetic feature is a Panerai developed resistance to magnetic fields, from a minimum of 4.800 A/m up to 40,000 A/m. The PAM01389 has a limit of more than eight times higher than that required by International Standards.

This is still a divers watch with support of depths to 1000 feet. The bezel rotates counter-clockwise allowing the diver to time its oxygen. Standard excellent luminescence will keep this timepiece visible both day and night.

Rubber B has an extensive number of bands to support all of the above Panerai timepieces. All Rubber B bands are designed and produced in Switzerland and manufactured with 100% vulcanized rubber. This substance makes it a perfect counterpart to the Panerai submersibles in French Montana’s collection.

There are many colors as well as designs to choose from, created with the “Blocked Integration” engineering for a flawless, motionless flush mount to the Panerai case. Rubber B also offers it’s exclusive SwimSkin® Rubber Cuff Series, a High-Tech Vulcanized Rubber Combat Strap for Panerai 47mm. This high-tech watch band is made of “SwimSkin®”, Rubber B’s exclusive patented technology, created over a developmental period of many years for absolute perfection, requiring all-new innovative machinery and engineering techniques.

Although this strap looks and feels like moisture sensitive materials such as Kevlar®, it is actually 100% RUBBER, and therefore waterproof for all sports and aquatic activities. It is also Hand-Sewn with HYDROTURF® Marine Thread: Maximum resistance to UV-rays, atmospheric conditions, & chemicals.

For more information, visit Rubber B’s Panerai Rubber Straps here.