Panerai PAM359 review Luminor Marina 1950 3 Days Automatic Acciaio

Panerai PAM359 was introduced at the Geneva SIHH in 2010 and it has a bit different styling compared to other Panerai models. Someone would say that it has some interesting features and not so common Panerai look. Let’s dig into and explore this Panerai PAM359 review into details.

The Look

Your usual Panerai watch won’t have all the numbers on the dial, but Panerai PAM359 is not what you would expect. It has all the numbers on the dial, expect for the 3 as it was replaced by the date window. The dial is being the biggest difference to other Panerai Luminor 1950 models as most models have only 3-4 cardinal numerals. However, this Panerai PAM359 has really cool sandwich dial which makes all the difference in the world. My first impression was that the role for this watch was to replace Panerai PAM164 as it didn’t have what you would call standard Panerai look. However, this watch is definitely inspired by some vintage Panerai models.

Panerai PAM359 Review

Luminova on Panerai PAM359 is beige (as opposed to standard greenish) which might come strange to some users. Some call this “dirty dial” cause it’s sandy vintage colour. However, the black sandwich dial with nice brownish hue just compliments this beige Luminova. It will look good with anyone with brownish wardrobe. The case on this Panerai PAM359 is 1950 style which is completely polished, whereas all other watches with this case type are brushed (with polished steel bezel). The polished case is nice, but more of a suit watch in my opinion. If you want something for a daily routine, more “Panerai”, my suggestion would be brushed case. As you can see in the above photo, the PAM359 has a crystal case back. The watch has Panerai’s in-house P.9000 automatic movement with a power reserve of three days. The watch comes with nice black leather strap with beige stitches (the colour of stitches perfectly matches colour of Luminova).

A standard Panerai Luminor differs from a Panerai Luminor Marina in two aspects. Panerai Luminor has no seconds hand whereas a Luminor Marina has a small seconds hand. Secondly, a Panerai Luminor (Marina) 1950 has an entirely different case to a Luminor. The “standard” Panerai Luminor has a “boxy” case whereas the Luminor 1950 has a sensational cushion-shaped case. This difference is huge and I’m still to understand how can someone not like the 1950’s case. Also, most the of the Panerai Luminor 1950 models use more high-end movements such as P.9000 while many Luminor models are still using ETA-based movements until they are phased out by the new calibre P.5000 movement.

The Movement

Let’s cut to the case – Panerai PAM359 is a 44mm steel Luminor with the 1950 case and a high-end, in-house calibre P.9000 movement. Now we’re getting serious. Every serious Paneristi has watched “How it’s Made” by the Discovery Channel that actually shows a 359 being produced. Yes, this actual model It’s all laser-guided machines and high-tech stuff. It’s awesome! The P.9000 looks the part. It is an automatic movement with a full 3 days of power reserve. Let me explain the importance of this. After wearing it for a few days, you can put down your Panerai PAM359 on Friday night, and wear any other watch all weekend, and find your PAM359 still ticking on Monday morning. And if you want to manually wind it, just open the crown guard and voilla! It’s that easy.

Panerai PAM359 Review movement

Now this is easily the most accurate piece I’ve ever worn. For the past year, it has been losing less than 2 seconds per day. That’s a staggering level of accuracy — and it’s been consistent. The most interesting aspect of the P.9000 is that it has no quick-change for the date. Instead, you pull the crown to position 1 and then you adjust the hour hand (back or forward) independently of the minute hand.If you’re 10 days off, it’s quite long to set the date. But it’s cool and it’s useful for changing time zones as you can advance or reverse the hour while holding the minute steady. I would recommend any model with the P.9000 movement any day of the week. Simply put, it’s just that awesome!

Wearing PAM359

Like most of the Panerai’s, this is a bold and in-your-face watch. You won’t be unnoticed wearing it. As you may know, lots of fun owning a Panerai is swapping lots of different straps and ending with totally different time pieces. The original leather strap that comes with this watch is more of a suit type, but you can always get several after market or OEM straps to match the occasion. The strange thing is that I rarely see people wearing the rubber strap that comes with almost all Panerai watches. I really wonder why is that… Maybe cause that’s the strap you should take on the beach or diving and noone will take $7000-8000 watch on the beach. I might be wrong, so please correct me…

You can comfortably wear any 44mm Panerai if you have wrist large enough. However, I’ve been seeing folks with smaller wrist wearing it just fine. If it get’s to heavy for you, you can always go with some of the titanium models (Panerai PAM177 for example). The 44mm width is not that big, but due to it’s height, it sits really high on the wrist. This will be benefit for some people (like myself), but some people will find this being a problem. To me, this is one of most important advantages of Panerai watch – their bold presence.

Panerai PAM359 Review