In May, IWC announced its glow-in-the-dark ceramic material, Ceralume, creating a one-off Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 that would, for better or for worse, glow for up to 24 hours straight. Coincidentally or not, sister brand Panerai is not to be outshone this season, as it reveals its own luminous innovation, the Swiss made replica Panerai Submersible Elux LAB-ID PAM01800 watches.
It may not look as bright as the Ceralume chronograph on the outset, especially considering how IWC has integrated Super-Luminova into both the dial and strap of the watch. However, the 1:1 UK fake Panerai Submersible Elux watches required an equally extensive amount of research and development. Its inspiration, goals, and execution were just different.
The first thing to note is that the Submersible Elux’s P.9010/EL calibre houses a whopping six barrels. Two of those give the perfect Panerai copy watches its three-day power reserve, and the rest are dedicated to powering a mechanical micro-generator. Using custom-made coils, magnets, a stator, and a high-speed rotor, the generator can produce enough electricity to illuminate all the dial indicators for 30 minutes. Because these are electrically charged LEDs, the light is noticeably brighter and more consistent than what traditional luminescent material can offer.
One of the biggest challenges involved illuminating the moving elements, such as the hands and the marker on the rotating bezel, with patents secured for the former and pending for the latter. To conserve energy, the magnetic drive enables smart lighting, which means only 15 out of the total 60 LEDs in the bezel ring will need to be activated, no matter what position the pip has been rotated to. Despite having electricity run inside the bezel, the high quality Panerai replica watches still manages to maintain a water-resistance of 500m. It is still a Submersible, after all.
The light switch is located under a guard at 8 o’clock, and the Power Light indicator at 6 o’clock will track how much juice is left. But don’t worry about being left in the dark if it runs out — the minute hand and bezel pip are still coated with blue Super-Luminova X1, while the hour hand and indexes have been treated with green Super-Luminova X2, both improved variants of standard Super-Luminova that glow brighter and for longer.
The fake Panerai watches for men also references a fascinating chapter of Panerai’s history. The name “Elux” actually originated in 1966, and was an abbreviation for “elettroluminescenza”, a patented technology referring to the electroluminescent panels developed by Panerai. These did not rely on radioactive materials (a concern for the post-radium era), were highly durable, shock- and vibration-resistant, energy-efficient, and had adjustable light intensity. They were also available in various sizes, shapes, and materials, making them ideal for the Italian Navy, who used them for lighting naval instruments in command centres and ships. The Elux panels also helped create luminous pathways and signage on ship decks to aid helicopter landings at night or in poor visibility.
Panerai’s drive for innovation has endured to the present day. The cheap 2024 replica Panerai Submersible Elux watches is the fourth concept watch from its creative incubator, the Laboratorio di Idee, with the previous LAB-ID watches comprising the PAM700 with its carbon nanotube-covered, light-absorbing dial, the lubricant-free PAM1700 with a 70-year guarantee, and the PAM1225 that was made almost entirely out of recycled materials.
On that note, the top wholesale super clone Panerai Submersible Elux watches features a case, bezel, and case back in blue Ti-Ceramitech, another patented invention that took Panerai seven years to develop. The ceramised titanium is 44 per cent lighter than steel and boasts a fracture toughness 10 times that of traditional ceramic. At 49mm by 21.9mm, the Submerisble Elux is not going to be everyone’s everyday watch, but given that the objective here is mechanical creativity, it doesn’t need to be.
The Submersible Elux LAB-ID PAM01800 will have a limited run of 150 pieces, with 50 pieces released each year for three years.