The long history of Panerai military-grade dive watches would not be complete without discussing the PAM00312. When you look at the Panerai 312 dial it feels like you are joining the Italian elite special forces who have worn these time-honored and battle tested pieces of equipment.
Panerai has been designing equipment, not just watches, for the Italian armed forces for over 100 years. It is only rather recently that the history of Panerai has culminated in the regular production of timepieces. Panerai historically would special order a small subset of timepieces, such as for the Italian or German Navy.
Although Panerai pioneered the luminescent diver timepieces, they were never really intended to be a consumer made brand. The early Panerai timepiece was a purpose built tool watch that combined the military grade visibility and luminosity with the Rolex-supplied waterproof case design.
Panerai not only worked with various types of luminous paint in order to improve visibility, they developed the unique locking mechanism on the crown helped protect the winding crown from damage.
The Panerai 312 Dial
Panerai is unlike many elegant timepieces. They are meant to be highly visible in day and at night. This means Panerai made many of their cases larger than most watch companies dared. This not only improved the visibility of the timepiece, but the beefy nature looked natural on a muscular arm of a true warrior.
The Panerai 312 dial has a very simple, clean, and elegant dial in black. The lettering on the dial is extremely precise and sharp. Rather than embossed and popping out and surrounded by metal to prevent bleed, the dial hour markings are indented into the dial. It is almost as if there is a 2nd layer of luminescent paint – in fact a dial that sits under the perfectly cut black dial disk.
The disk design ensures there is no bleed over the age of the watch. The luminescent feature can last for more than four hours in darkness. That provides truly magnificent visibility whether you are diving in the deep or in the evening hours and the lighting is not strong.
The hour markers around the Panerai 312 dial are dashes with the exception of the 12 o’clock, 6 o’clock and 9 o’clock positions where the large and highly visible numerals appear in Arabic numbering.
The other position that has only a slight hour marker is the 3 o’clock position where the date aperture appears. The aperture is highly visible even though it doesn’t have the Rolexesque cyclops lens over it.
The 9 o’clock position is graced with a highly luminescent small seconds dial. The hand is luminescent along with the 12 o’clock, 3 o’clock, 6 o’clock and 9 o’clock seconds markers.
Both the hour and minutes hands are highly luminescent with the same color lume as the rest of the timepiece.
Imprinted under the 12 o’clock notation is the spartan text “Luminor Marina.” Over the 6 o’clock position is imprinted with the name “Panerai.”
Everything about the timepiece is made to support the simplistic beauty of the dial. The polished steel of the case and the beefy size of the case allow the timepiece owner to enjoy and not be distracted by anything except the functions and features of this highly legible dial.
Although the 312 is not sold any longer by Panerai, it is available in the aftermarket, and Panerai released the PAM001312, which is an updated model that is nearly identical and is listed at the reasonable cost of only $7700.
Rubber B can enhance the Panerai Luminor Marina PAM00312 with its wide selection of bands that connect to it. The Panerai PAM00312, with it’s black dial and polished steel case, has multiple coloring options. Add a dash of color to make a bold statement, or stick to a dark black and it will look transform into a business timepiece that is always ready for action.
The Solid Series is the Rubber B patented “Blocked Integration” series which has a tight fitting band to the Panerai case. Rubber B has 6 luxury colors to choose from in this series.
The Swimskin Alligator series pictured above has the look and feel of real genuine alligator hide, but is actually 100% rubber, making it waterproof for all aquatic activities. Swimskin Alligator comes in both expresso and jet black.
The Swimskin Ballistic series has a Kevlar look to it, but is also 100% pure vulcanized rubber. It has the toughness and texture you would expect a rubber band to have, while maintaining a comfortable fit. Rubber B offers both a military green and a jet-black option in Ballistic.
The Vulchromantic Series is similar in design to the Solid Series. It, too, employs the “Blocked Integration” of the Solid series, but adds a complimentary stripe down the side, also in pure rubber. Rubber B manufactures all of its bands in Switzerland with the highest specifications, made with no coatings, blends or bonding.
Although these bands come with a 316L Stainless Steel Tang Buckle, the original Panerai tang Buckle fits perfectly onto these straps. For more information on all of Rubber B bands visit our Panerai page here.
