Panerai Creates its “Most Complicated Watch Ever”

The Radiomir 1940 Minute Repeater Carillon houses a tourbillon, a minute repeater for two time zones, and a power-reserve indicator and date.

However, it’s most impressive feature is its repeater function that can be activated both for local time and for a second time zone, which is indicated on the dial by the central arrow hand and the am/pm indicator on the counter at 3 o’clock.

In the system patented by Panerai, the rotation of the tourbillon is different from that of the classic tourbillon. In the traditional version the balance cage rotates continuously on itself, cancelling out any variations caused by gravity and possible shocks. However in the Panerai mechanism, the tourbillon cage rotates on an axis which is perpendicular, not parallel, to that of the balance.

Furthermore, while the rotation is once a minute in a traditional tourbillon, in the P.2005/MR it takes 30 seconds, and this is shown by an indicator which rotates in the small seconds counter at 9 o’clock. The greater speed and the particular arrangement of the mechanism enable it to compensate for any changes of rate, ensuring a highly accurate precision timepiece.

In terms of appearance, the watch is easily identifiable as a Panerai creation, featuring an 18-carat red gold case and characteristic bar markers and figures covered with Super-LumiNova.

Panerai was founded in Florence, Italy by Giovanni Panerai in 1860.