New moon phase watch is CEO Angelo Bonati’s parting gift to Officine Panerai
Bonati has taken Panerai from one watch and no designs to a brand with more than 150 novelties in its collection
Officine Panerai’s remarkable L’Astronomo Luminor 1950 at this year’s SIHH was probably only overshadowed by one thing: the underlying sadness at the Italian watchmaker’s booth, as the reality of the impending departure of the man who had become as iconic as the brand starts to sink in.
Although official announcements are yet to come, after two decades at the helm, CEO Angelo Bonati is expected to step down in mid-2018 and hand over the reins to incumbent Roger Dubuis CEO Jean-Marc Pontroué.
“I cannot say, ‘see you next year’ any more because I don’t know if I will be attending the fair,” Bonati tells me, not without a tinge of melancholy, adding that Panerai was more than “just a job”. “It was my life; it is still my life. To cut something after 20 years is very hard.”
In the two decades, Bonati has taken Panerai from one watch and no designs to a brand with more than 150 novelties in its collection; literally to the moon and back. So it seems apt that he should be ending his career with the brand’s first moon phase, the L’Astronomo Luminor 1950 Tourbillon Moon Phases Equation of Time
GMT (50mm).
The L’Astronomo Tourbillon Moon Phase follows in the steps of its predecessor introduced in 2010, and features the brand’s patented tourbillon regulator, a GMT function, and a new date display at 3 o’clock that uses polarised crystals and is being patented. In a departure from the regular, the moon phase is located on the back of the movement and is visible only on the caseback.
We wanted a moon phase but we knew we wanted something different and totally unique. It’s technical, easy to use for sure, and reliable and strong
The new L’Astronomo is powered by the skeletonised P.2005/GLS movement dedicated to Galileo Galilei, and has a day/night indicator which clearly displays the phases of the moon with two superimposed discs which rotate in combination. The upper disc displays the 24 hours of the day, showing the sun during the hours of daylight and the stars of the sky at night.
A little round window at the centre reveals the lower disc which shows a 3D representation of the moon which evolves about 6.1 inches a day. The moon phase display is accurate for 122 years. The new L’Astronomo will only be made to order so that the coordinates can be customised to buyers’ locations and takes into account the differences in the northern and southern hemispheres.