Panerai Submersible Ecopangaea Tourbillon GMT 50mm Mike Horn Edition PAM01108 Watches & Wonders 2020

Presented in a very limited run of 5 pieces and available only in Panerai boutiques, this timepiece comes with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take an expedition to the Arctic with Mike Horn himself.  The journey is both an opportunity to test your physical limits and witness the imperilled state of our ecosystem.

Beyond simply donating to the cause or engraving something on the watch, Panerai has developed the very structure of the Submersible Ecopangaea Tourbillon GMT 50mm Mike Horn Edition PAM01108 from sustainable materials. The 50mm EcoPangaea high-tech steel case is made from recycled metal from the 35-meter drive shaft of the Pangea, Mike Horn’s sailing ship that accompanied him on various expeditions around the world. And that bit of information just changes the watch completely for any owner. Of course the material has been purified, perfected and finally shaped into an extraordinary Submersible, the first in the collection equipped with a tourbillon.

The case is water-resistant to 300 meters, and the unidirectional rotating bezel features polished indexes on a sandblasted base. A soft iron ring housed in the case protects the hand-wound P.2005/T, skeletonized titanium movement, from the negative influence of magnetic fields. Calibre P.2005/T drives the hours and minutes, the small seconds at 9 o clock, the GMT, 24h indicator, the power reserve indicator at 7 o clock and the tourbillon which is positioned at 10. Unlike conventional tourbillons that rotate on the same plane as the dial, the 30-second tourbillon here rotates along a perpendicular axis. Thanks to a series of three barrels, a magnanimous power reserve of 6 days is also made possible.

Underwater legibility is guaranteed by the use of copious amounts of Super-LumiNova on the large skeleton hands, the hour indices, and on the points suspended on the rehaut. The sapphire glass caseback is engraved with Horn’s signature boat silhouette.

Completing the watch’s eco-friendly ensemble is a black rubber strap and a second strap – also in black, with anthracite stitching and a Velcro closure – made of recycled PET material. A special tool to change the straps, a screwdriver for removing the buckle and a display box made of recycled plastic are the final elements of the special edition package.