If you're looking for an extreme watch, we've got one for you here.
SwissWatchExpo. Fresh from the Showcase.
This might be one of the most extreme watches we've ever reviewed here. SwissWatchExpo. Fresh
from the Showcase.. This is the Panerai Depth Gauge. It's a titanium watch that just makes
everything else. It just blows everything else out of the water. But when you look at this, watch,
it is a titanium case, even though it's a 47 millimeter case, it really the weight on it. It
feels about like a 44 millimeter Luminor, but this watch has just got everything else going for it. I
mean, if you're someone like The Rock or Shaq or somebody like that, this is going to be the right
watch for you. You can see it's really thick. So even though it's only a 47 millimeter case,
it's almost 23 millimeters thick. And a lot of that is this case back that has just really don't.
So you can see the brush titanium case that keeps the shape of the 1950 Luminor,
but the dial and the entire execution of the rest of it is just sort of out
there even for Panerai because when you look at it even side by side comparison
to my Luminor, you can see it's just a world of difference and thickness and an overall scale.
It's this is a watch that definitely will attract a lot of attention. And it's definitely going to
start some conversations when you wear this one, but the interesting aspects to it, of course,
you have the Panerai trademarked crown protection system here with the lever that holds the crown
in. So this was their answer to Rolex's screw down crown. They felt like with a lot of diving
that if you were screwing the crown in and out, in and out, you would wear out that tube and crown.
So they came up with this system to make sure that it's fully engaged and fully watertight.
It also would be difficult to accidentally leave this lever open and not realize that you weren't
watertight. So it makes it real obvious that when you're, when you're good to go and when you're
not the bezel itself, it has sort of 3d bumps here, sort of like the stations on a Breitling
you can really feel it. I'm sure it would be easy to use with a gloved hand.
And it's a little bit of a stiff bezel that I don't think you'd accidentally knock it,
but this is what a Panerai is talking about. When they say that this watch includes
a immersion time calculator. It's a fancy word for the rotating bezel. Of course, you'd just line up
the pep here with your minute hand. And that would tell you how many minutes you had been under.
The dial itself has sort of crazy. It's a, it's a black dial. And if you notice
at the bottom, it says tea, Swiss made tea. So it actually is a tritium dial,
which I know we don't see a lot of in 2021. This watch was made in 2012. It's mint condition
comes with the full box and papers and everything, the strap changing tool, everything you see
in the listing, but this dial it's really going to glow. And so you'll have real high
legibility for it even underwater in deep depths. The way the movement works is just
ingenious. It's such a an interesting aspect to it. And you can see there's a couple of different
colors here in the loom on the dial. It's easier to read what time it is the, the primary function,
but Panerai actually characterizes this watch, not as a watch, but as a special instrument.
So that tells you it's, it's sort of a, a scientific instrument of sorts. It's a sporting
instrument. And the way the depth calculator works is you push this button and when you push it, it
will show you what your most recent deepest depth you went to was. So when you come back up, you can
push it and get the reading. When you hold it down for six seconds, it will reset back to zero. And
then as you're diving, it will show you how deep you're going. Now. It makes us out in 120 meters.
Not necessarily that the watch max is out at one 20, but because Panerai said that's the,
the maximum depth for sport diving for a casual, scuba diving, not people going down in saturation
and a diving bell, that sort of thing. Now you saw how smooth that was, and you might be thinking to
yourself, how in the world did they do that with a mechanical watch while I'll tell you
this, watch it almost it's like it has two separate components within the same case.
That's probably part of why it's 23 millimeters thick, but it has a mechanical movement. That's
based on a Valgjioux 7750. So it's Bulletproof and absolutely reliable for keeping the time.
And then it has a separate module that runs on a lithium battery. And so that's the part,
that's the Depth Gauge. Now there's two different certifications of this watch,
which is really unusual. You have a COSC chronometer certificate from the movement,
and then there's also a menace certificate, the same company that a mega uses for their master
chronometer series. And they have certified the Depth Gauge part of it. So two separate things
it will beep and let you know when there's the battery's running low and you need to replace
that. So you wouldn't start your dive with a bad battery, but I would be really curious if
anybody can comment in the comments, I'm find out if you've actually used this.
If you have used it to see your depth of how far down you went and how long you stayed
it's a really cool diving calculator on your wrist. That's to me, one of the most interesting
watches that we've ever had if you wear it, you can see, even though it's super thick, I mean,
you know, I don't have the biggest wrist and it still looks I think acceptable on me which
means that if you had a bigger wrist, if you had a seven and a half, eight inch wrist,
it would probably look really good on you. And it definitely would be something unusual. The whole
thing is titanium. Like I said, it's still pretty heavy, so there's a lot of movement in there.
But it does have the standard Panerai Tang buckle and the rubber strap. So it does
have the strap changing tool. If you're already collecting Panerai straps. And you're into that
creativity that the Paner-istie have with their straps, you can use the straps. You've already
got to move them right over to this one. No, I I'd love to hear if someone has used it as a
diving calculator that click the bell, like, and subscribe, let us know what you think about this
watch. And if you'd wear it every day here at SwissWatchExpo fresh from the showcase.