Panerai Submersible Marina Militare (Ref. PAM01697 & PAM01698): The Aviazione Navale Tribute Divers in Steel and Carbotech — W&W 2026

Description

The Marina Militare line is the historical soul of Panerai — the original Italian Navy connection from which the brand's entire DNA is drawn. At Watches & Wonders 2026, Panerai extends that story by dedicating two new Submersibles to the Aviazione Navale, the Italian Navy's dedicated naval-aviation arm whose pilots operate in some of the most physically punishing conditions in military service.

The two references — PAM01697 in brushed 316L stainless steel and PAM01698 in Panerai's lightweight carbon-fibre Carbotech — share a 44mm case, a green matte ceramic bezel, a gradient green-to-black dial inspired by naval flight gear, and grey Grade X2 Super-LumiNova for low-light and underwater legibility. Both are pressure-tested to 25% beyond their rated 300m depth, in line with Panerai's internal spec. The movement is the automatic Panerai Calibre P.900 with a 72-hour power reserve.

Design

Panerai's Submersible case is already one of the most distinctive diver silhouettes in Swiss watchmaking — crown guard, oversized rotating bezel, and broad sandwich dial. For the Aviazione Navale editions, the dial finish is the headline: a matte green-grained base that fades to black at the flange, mirroring the tonal transitions of modern Italian naval flight suits and helmet visors. Applied indices and broad sword-shaped hands are filled with Grade X2 grey Super-LumiNova, a distinct light-green daytime tone that glows with a highly legible, slightly cool green in the dark. The PAM01697 is brushed 316L steel; the PAM01698 is Carbotech, Panerai's proprietary pressed-carbon-fibre composite that is around 30% lighter than titanium and gives every piece a unique swirl pattern. Both come on a rubber tool strap with quick-change system.

Specifications

References: PAM01697 (steel) / PAM01698 (Carbotech)
Case: 44mm, brushed 316L stainless steel (01697) or Carbotech (01698)
Bezel: Unidirectional rotating, green matte ceramic insert with luminescent pip
Dial: Green-grained matte finish with black gradient fade, Aviazione Navale-inspired
Indices & hands: Applied, filled with Grade X2 grey Super-LumiNova
Crystal: Anti-reflective sapphire
Water resistance: 300m, tested 25% beyond rated depth
Crown: Panerai lever-lock crown guard
Strap: Rubber, tool-less quick-change system
Movement: Panerai Calibre P.900 (automatic, ValFleurier-manufactured)
Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
Power reserve: 72 hours
Functions: Hours, minutes, central seconds, date at 3 o'clock
Price: EUR 12,100 (PAM01697) / EUR 18,900 (PAM01698)

What's Exciting

Tribute divers are endemic to every Swiss brand now, and most are pure graphics exercises. These two are closer to the real thing. The Aviazione Navale framing is specific — not vaguely "military-inspired" but an actual dedication to the naval-aviation pilots embedded in Italian Navy operations — and the dial finish (matte green with a black gradient that mimics helmet visors) is genuinely different in the Panerai catalogue. The Grade X2 lume is another subtle but meaningful change: not the over-saturated vintage-yellow that dominates heritage divers, but a greyish cool-tone lume actually designed for operational low-light legibility. Carbotech in particular remains one of Panerai's most technically distinctive materials — lighter than titanium, with a unique visible fibre structure that makes every PAM01698 subtly different from every other. For around EUR 12,100 for the steel version, this is a Submersible with a proper tool-watch argument.

History

The Marina Militare name predates modern Panerai by decades. In the 1930s and 1940s, Officine Panerai in Florence supplied highly specialised depth instruments and luminous dive watches — Radiomir and Luminor cases, powered by Rolex-supplied movements — to the Italian Navy's combat-diver corps, the Decima Flottiglia MAS. Those watches were not commercially available; they were military issue, stamped with references tied to specific naval units. The Marina Militare name began appearing on caseback engravings of these pieces in the 1940s.

When Panerai relaunched as a commercial brand in the 1990s, it recovered the Marina Militare designation for specific modern models as a direct reference to that military heritage. The Aviazione Navale — the Italian Navy's air arm founded in the late 1950s and responsible for naval helicopter and (until 2023) Harrier operations — is a related but distinct service branch, operating in conditions that place specific demands on watches: glove-wearability, legibility under helmet visors, resistance to vibration, and rapid bezel orientation. The PAM01697 and PAM01698 extend the Marina Militare story into that specific operational culture.