2019-03-01 Business Traveller

businesstraveller.com MARCH 2019

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Submersible

na Militare

botech, £34,800

in recent years. Details on the

two-day programme are scant

(it is a secretive unit, after all)

but one can assume that the

33 will at the very least be

required to pass a medical.

If being shouted at by an

Italian sergeant major isn’t your

thing, allow me to draw your

attention to the Submersible

Mike Horn edition. Mr

Horn is a South African-born

explorer and adventurer with

solo expeditions across South

America and around the

Arctic Circle to his name, as

WORDS CHRIS HALL

LEFT:

Mari

Carb

the Luminor family of watches,

now it becomes its own thing,

with a greater sense of identity.

That comes hand-in-hand

with a few aesthetic tweaks

• bolder luminous markings
  on the dials; bezels with relief-
  etched numerals; chunkier,
  more cartoonish hands; and
  a smattering of fresh colours
  and textures throughout, from
  sailcloth to “sharkskin”.
  One change that may irk
  devotees of the brand – and
  they are legion – is the absence
  on many models of “sandwich”

dials, but they have been

replaced by some impressively

three-dimensional luminous

numerals and hour markers.

Alongside some handsome

base models – the royal blue

and pale grey combination of

reference PAM00959 (£8,300)

is a particular highlight –

Panerai has made three special-

edition watches, and it’s these

that come with the high-energ y

holidays attached. Let’s start

with the Submersible Marina

Militare Carbotech. As the

name suggests, this watch pays

homage to Panerai’s beginnings

as a supplier to Italian frogmen

in the Second World War, and

its dusky green and carbon

stylings have more than a hint

of the armed forces about them.

The 33 buyers will be

dispatched on a two-

day training session with

“Comsubin”, the Italian navy’s

elite special forces commando

unit. Based in La Spezia in

north-west Italy, the group

numbers roughly 700 men and

has been deployed in Somalia,

Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya

Each watch comes with

a side order of danger

and excitement