Haute Complication: Meet The Most Complicated Panerai Ever

By Martin Green February 21, 2017

Because the Radiomir 1940 Minute Repeater Carillon Tourbillon was announced three months after the SIHH of 2016, it was not officially part of the brand’s novelties of this year either. Fortunately, that didn’t stop Panerai for taking it to Geneva. What makes this watch truly unique is not even that it is the most complicated Panerai ever, but more so that it contains a collection of complications rarely ever seen together.

This start with the minute repeater. Most minute repeaters have two gongs, where one indicates the hours, they both chime to indicate the quarters and the other one chimes solely to indicate the minutes. The Radiomir 1940 has three gongs and can, therefore, add the term “Carillon” to its name. They strike in the same fashion as a minute repeater with two gongs, yet it doesn’t indicate the quarters, but rather ten-minute segments for which the third gong also chimes in, making the watch sound like a miniature cathedral.

Although already impressive by itself, it doesn’t stop there for Panerai. The Radiomir 1940 also has another unique complication, and that is that the minute repeater can not only chimes the current time for your current time zone but also that of a second-time-zone. Both times are indicated on the dial, and with the crown, you can select for which the minute repeater should chime. The combination of these two complications is unique, but yet again, this was not enough for Panerai.

The Radiomir 1940 is also fitted with a tourbillon, and once again Panerai did not go with the obvious. Where most tourbillons make a 360-degree turn in 1 minute, this one does it in 30 seconds. It also doesn’t turn on a vertical plane, but rather on a horizontal one. This makes it quite spectacular. It is also testimony that Panerai knows its DNA very well. Traditionally nobody expects a Panerai to be slim, and in fact prefer that the watch is larger, allowing the space to implement such a tourbillon.

With such intricate complications, it is quite an accomplishment that Panerai succeeded into making the Radiomir 1940 Minute Repeater Carillon Tourbillon into such a serene design. Yes, there is a lot to see, and fortunately so, but Panerai found a very nice balance in showing off the intricate mechanisms of the watch and that typical clean Panerai look. Not that you are without any influence in that matter because Panerai only makes the Radiomir 1940 Minute Repeater Carillon Tourbillon order and offers selective options for customization which include the case material, hands, and even the dial color. Prices start at $414.000,-