Panerai brings bronze to the Luminor Marina for the first time

Panerai’s love affair with bronze continues, but this time, fresh off the back of the steel and titanium refresh shown at Watches and Wonders 2025, the brand has unveiled the Luminor Marina PAM01678 – the first Luminor Marina ever made in bronze. And I think it looks stunning.

Bronze isn’t new territory for Panerai. The brand kicked off the modern “Bronzo” craze back in 2011 with the Submersible PAM00382, which quickly became a cult favourite watch. What makes Panerai’s approach different is its alloy. Instead of a generic mix, the Maison uses pure copper and tin, which encourages a more dramatic patina. Wear it for a week, and it still looks fresh. Wear it for a year, and it will start to patina – a bit like a leather jacket that ages with you.

That patina doesn’t compromise strength, either. Bronze earned its keep on old yachts and ship fittings long before stainless steel took over, and that history sits neatly with Panerai’s maritime roots.

The PAM01678 keeps the familiar Luminor Marina silhouette intact. You get the iconic crown guard, the sandwich dial, and the clean, no-date layout that nods back to Panerai’s 1960s models. The dark blue dial fades subtly towards the centre and pairs nicely with the warm case tone and beige lume. It’s a classic Panerai look, just with a bit more Bronzo swagger.

Inside, there’s a new movement: the automatic P.980. It’s slim, shock-resistant thanks to a traversing balance bridge, and offers a three-day reserve. The sapphire caseback shows it off.

The movement’s compact size has also helped boost water resistance to 50 bar (around 500 metres), which frankly is more than most owners will ever need, but it’s very Panerai to overengineer things. The brand even pressure-tests watches in water, not air.

The watch comes on a blue calf strap with beige stitching, plus a bonus blue rubber strap for rougher days.

It’s priced at $17,500 in the US and £14,400 in the UK and boutique-only, which means you’ll need to hunt one down.

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Spencer Hart Buying Guide Editor

About

As Buying Guide Editor, Spencer is responsible for all e-commerce content on Stuff, overseeing buying guides as well as covering deals and new product launches. Spencer has been writing about consumer tech for over eight years. He has worked on some of the biggest publications in the UK, where he covered everything from the emergence of smartwatches to the arrival of self-driving cars. During this time, Spencer has become a seasoned traveller, racking up air miles while travelling around the world reviewing cars, attending product launches, and covering every trade show known to man, from Baselworld and Geneva Motor Show to CES and MWC. While tech remains one of his biggest passions, Spencer also enjoys getting hands-on with the latest luxury watches, trying out new grooming kit, and road-testing all kinds of vehicles, from electric scooters to supercars.

Areas of expertise

Watches, travel, grooming, transport, tech