SIHH 2009: Panerai Luminor 1950 Regatta Rattrapante 44mm DLC Watch

Officine Panerai has announced the special edition Luminor 1950 Regatta Rattrapante 44mm DLC watch, which celebrates anew the relationship between the luxury watch manufacture and the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge boating event.   Just 500 examples will be produced. 

The Panerai Luminor 1950 Regatta Rattrapante 44mm DLC watch, which carries the reference number of PAM00332, features the characteristic cushion-shaped Luminor case in stainless steel and a curved sapphire crystal.  In contrast to the 2008 edition, this robust steel case forgoes a polished finish, and instead features a black DLC treatment.  An abbreviation of "Diamond-Like Carbon", this process hardens the base stainless steel, and greatly improves its resistance to corrosion.   Decorated with a distinctive fine hobnail pattern, the black dial displays a peripheral tachymeter scale and luminous hour markers and dual chronograph counters.  A brilliant blue adorns sections of the dial, including the 30-minute counter, and the central split-seconds chronograph hand.   On the right side of the case is the winding crown with the distinctive Panerai security system that ensures water resistance to a depth of 100 meters.  The two buttons flanking the crown govern the chronograph start, stop, and return to zero sequence, while the supplemental button at the 8 o'clock position enables the activation of the complex split-seconds function.

Animating the Panerai Luminor 1950 Regatta Rattrapante 44mm DLC watch is the Panerai OP XVIII caliber, a self-winding mechanical movement with a 42-hour power reserve, and a balance frequency of 28,800 vibrations per hour.  The chronograph mechanism--which features a prestigious split-seconds complication for the independent timing of a separate event of elapsed time--is governed in the traditional manner by two column wheels.  The OP XVIII caliber has undergone 15 days of testing by the Controle Officiel Suisse des Chronometres (COSC) and emerged successfully with a chronometer certificate as a testimony of its precision and reliability.  

The Panerai Luminor 1950 Regatta Rattrapante 44mm DLC watch is supplied with a leather strap and a large Panerai tang buckle in DLC-stainless steel; a second interchangeable strap is also included, along with a small steel screwdriver.  A special commemorative engraving noting the Classic Yachts Challenge 2009 decorates the black-coated stainless steel caseback.