Exactly one year ago, when Panerai Luminor Due Luna Automatic launched the Luminor Due, it was well-documented that I wasn’t convinced about this new, second chapter for the much-loved Luminor collection. To come to grips with it and see what it’s like in the metal, I decided to review the Panerai Luminor Due 3 Days Automatic PAM674, which is the stainless steel, 45mm wide version of the four pieces that Panerai debuted the Luminor Due collection with.
The Panerai Luminor Due Luna Automatic presently comes in either 42mm or 45mm-wide cases in either steel or red gold, with the 42mm versions featuring the P.1000, which is a good-looking, small, hand-wound, “3 Days” caliber. The 45mm variants, like the one we are looking at here, are powered by the still remarkably thin but complicated P.4000 in-house caliber, which also offers 3 days of power reserve but adds micro-rotor-driven automatic winding to the mix and about $2,000 to the price. As such, we are looking at a Luminor that retails for slightly over the $10k mark. All this noted, what I first had issues with were the name and some of the specs of the Luminor Due, so let’s see if these start to make sense in real life before we do our regular review run-down on the PAM674.
Due (pronounced “doo-eh”) means “two” in Italian, so the Luminor Due collection carries the weight of being the second generation or second chapter of the Luminor, one of the most successful and recognizable (see how I avoided saying “iconic”?) watch collections of this century. Also, this is exactly what baffled me when I covered the Luminor Due upon its debut in May 2016.
In my mind, in line with product naming practices across any industry I can think of, when a product name has a sequence number added to it, I am led to believe it is all around as good as, or superior to the one that preceded it. This applies to cars, technology, aviation, household electronics, and pretty much every other industry. So the Luminor Due, one could think, is destined by definition to not only succeed, but also outperform the regular Luminor.
However, the Luminor Due offers a remarkably disappointing 30 meters of water resistance, which is measly for any watch and heresy for one that says Panerai on the dial. The Due doesn’t stop there because, like a true Luminor, it has the bare cheek to boast the “REG. TM.” marked crown protector. So, the question stands…
With this major shortcoming noted, I’ll still say: yes, and here’s why. Panerais and especially Luminors are never really very pretty. Cool, masculine, old-school, dashing, even – all these things, surely, but pretty… nah. A pretty Panerai is a rare breed, even if they do get the proportions right a lot of the time. I would not consider any Panerai pretty, save for the two exceptions that enforce the rule – each a Radiomir 1940 in red gold: the PAM575 and the PAM513. The PAM690 in steel comes close with its terrific blue dial and neat case, but misses out by being 47mm and having a petite sub-seconds.
As you have guessed by now, this is where the Panerai Luminor Due Luna Automatic PAM674 comes into the picture. The PAM674 is sold on a black leather strap – the most boring strap in all of strap history and one that does little justice to the watch, though it is, admittedly, a nice back-up if you want to wear it with formal attire. So, after putting it on to ease my conscience, I removed the black strap. Drilled lugs are appreciated and, in this instance, work much better aesthetically than the large, screw-secured pins. The strap I installed is an aged, tan leather strap that truly transformed the looks of the watch.
All this was to describe the uncomplicated process that led to the following awe-inspiring moment. As I went back to the PAM674, now with the tan strap (highlighting the tan numerals and text), laying on its crown protector, I clearly recall thinking to myself, sort of in shock: “My God, that’s a great looking watch.” A challenge to imitate with photography, but a memorable moment that did very much happen.