Panerai Pre-Vendôme Models
Watches made between the "rebirth" of Panerai in 1993 to the acquisition of the company by the Vendôme group in 1996/97 are usually called "pre-Vendôme" models. The basic pre-Vendôme range consisted of some 44mm hand-wind watches with the classic 44mm Luminor case, and some 42mm Mare Nostrum chronographs. The line also included limited edition Slytech watches, endorsed or commissioned (depending on who you believe) by the film star Sylvester Stallone. The Slytechs are distinguished by the signature of Mr Stallone engraved on the caseback, and some writing on the dial.
All the pre-Vendôme models came on straps with the large "bottle opener" or "fancy" buckle, although the Mare Nostrum buckles were smaller than the full-sized ones.
Most watches came in an oak box, with additional paperwork and straps, however the Slytechs came in a very large box with all manner of gadgets such as the miniature submarine model.
The numbers given below for production volumes have been verified as much as possible, and may not necessarily agree with numbers on watch casebacks, rather they are based on actual productions achieved instead of planned productions.
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5218-201/A 1993 "Logo" Luminor The "logo" Luminor, so-called because of its use of the distinctive "OP" logo on the dial has a 44mm stainless steel case, with a black dial. It displays hours and minutes only, using a UT 6497 movement. It's closest contemporary relative is a Luminor Base.
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5218-201/A Slytech Submersible The first series (prototypes) of the Slytech Submersible (see below) retained the same matriculation number as the Logo Luminor.
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5218-202/A 1993 Marina Militare Very similar to a PVD Luminor Base, the Marina Militare had a PVD case, black dial, and a UT 6497 movement.
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5218-203/A 1994 Luminor Marina A classic Luminor Marina with a PVD case, black dial, small seconds at 9 and a UT 6497 movement.
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5218-205/A 1995 Slytech Submersible Not to be confused with a contemporary Submersible, the first Slytech model was a basic Luminor Marina design, with a polished stainless steel case, black dial, small seconds at 9 and a UT 6497 movement.
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5218-207/A 1996 Slytech Daylight Very similar to a contemporary Luminor Marina, and identical to the Slytech Submersible except for the dial. Some 5 or 10 of the pieces were the "blue index" version as seen in the pictures below.
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5218-209 This watch was a stainless steel Luminor, made in early 1997. It had one long screw to hold the strap.
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5218-210 This watch was a PVD Luminor, made in early 1997. It also had one long screw to hold the strap.
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5218-218/A 1996 Black Seal Goodness knows what happened with the Black Seal, but it was
only ever produced for a total of 5 pieces. Rightfully claiming the
crown of "rarest Panerai", this watch is a fairly regular 44mm PVD
Luminor case, with a black dial and small seconds. The movement was the
regular UT 6497. Subsequent
research has indicated that this watch was never produced by Panerai
but was assembled by ex-Panerai employees using left over parts. |
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5218-301/A 1993 Mare Nostrum The Mare Nostrum is a reproduction of an officer's deck chronograph which never actually went into production. The design was revived for Panerai in 1993, producing this 42mm watch, with a two register chronograph. The case is stainless steel, it has a blue dial, and a tachymeter dial. The dial reads "km/h" at 1 o'clock, later editions read "tachymeter". The movement is an ETA 2801-2 with Dubois-Depraz 3127 chrono module.
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5218-302 1995 Slytech Mare Nostrum This is where the Mare Nostrum meets the Slytech range. A standard Mare Nostrum has been given a slate blue dial. It has the tachymeter bezel (with km/h engaving) an ETA 2801-2 movement with Dubois-Depraz 3127 chrono module. There is a picture of this watch on page 50 of Panerai Historia.
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5218-304 1995 Slytech Mare Nostrum The last of the Slytech series, the plain-bezel Slytech Mare Nostrum has the same slate blue dial, but has a large and completely plain bezel. It houses the same ETA 2801-2 movement with Dubois-Depraz 3127 chrono module. Casebacks were marked xxx/500.
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