Matt Pickering
Panerai recently celebrated the opening of their first Australian stand-alone boutique with an event at the new store in Sydney’s King Street peppered with all the Italian flair and charisma their clients have come to expect from the brand. While the availability of Panerai in Australia is not new and may not seem like big news, the decision to go to a mono-brand store is definitely something to celebrate. Featuring the usual trappings and decor of a modern Panerai boutique, including my favourite element – the giant Luminor wall clock in full lume, the King St boutique will now also have access to some seriously rare and limited pieces not usually available to the larger chains.A few of the pieces that caught our eye was the hulkish Submersible Forze Speciali. Released last year, the piece features a DLC-coated titanium 47mm case with a navy ceramic bezel. Despite the pure size of the watch, it didn’t feel overly large on my seven-inch wrist, mainly due to the lightness of the materials used and stealthy colour scheme. The limited edition of 300 pieces features a flyback chrono function with the flyback button situated at 8 o’clock to not get in the way of the signature crown guard. The real showstopper though is the countdown pusher found at 4 o’clock, which allows you to set a countdown timer. As expected with Panerai, the watch features water resistance of 30 bar and has a three-day power reserve thanks to the P.9100/R movement inside.Another pice which continues to catch our eye was one we reviewed on site last year, the Submersible Goldtech OroCarbo in 44mm. The Submersible case is a classic cushion style, with a set of thick squared-off lugs that let the watch sit with massive presence on the wrist. It's 44mm in diameter and isn't afraid to show every part of that, conforming with the Panerai attitude that bigger is better, although a 13.35mm thickness isn't as chunky as you may have expected. The huge crown guard is definitely a large part of the watch's character too, extending the amount of gold across your arm even further. The Goldtech bezel uses a carbon insert, completing the nomenclature of OroCarbo, which also helps the watch maintain an element of sportiness rather than swing wholly into the dress-diver it would be if made of glossy ceramic.Check out Andrew’s review below for the full story on this one.Below you can see some of the other wrist candy on display from the night at Panerai’s Sydney boutique on 84 King St.This event was in partnership with Panerai. However, the opinions expressed in this article are our own in accordance with our?Editorial Policy.
11.03.23