The Panerai Pre-V dial is one of the most unique in all of watch history. Its intent, to capture the spirit of the 6152 dial produced something that will stand alone as a one of a kind design for all time. I have been lucky enough to come face to face with two of these dials over my last few years of watch modding, so I had to take the opportunity to capture a few pics. I dare say this is an exclusive collection of photos worthy of Panerisiti, but instead is posted on a mere replica website... Go figure:laugh:
When viewed under normal conditions what sticks out immediately is the deeply engraved, trademark Panerai number style
It almost looks like if you ran your fingernail across the surface of the dial you would catch it in all of the recesses and grooves of the numbers.
But this is pure illusion. The indices are filled with a matte lacquer flush with the surface of the dial. This design feature is widely reported and well described. But the lacquer is invisible in most lighting conditions and is rarely photographed accurately, until now...
Another really cool feature of the dial is the fact that it is NOT painted. The dial starts with a brass plate which is bead blasted and then has the iconic number shape milled into the surface. The resulting raw dial is then colored in an acid bath.
You can see how relfective the surface of the dial is in the picture below. See if you can pick out the perfectly reflected light fixture in the out of focus dial pic
Finally, the number thickness. It has been posed in the past, but others, that the number thickness is only an optical illusion produced by how the lume in painted in the indices. This is false. These dials were milled with old machines that had bits that would become worn or even god forbid, had variation between production runs and years that they were made, producing differences in thickness of the numbers. This effect has very little to do with the lume.
enough with the narrative, let's just enjoy some pics.
(brass hour and minute, steel seconds)
A true work of hand made art that Panerai would be wise not to forget.
Hope you enjoyed!
When viewed under normal conditions what sticks out immediately is the deeply engraved, trademark Panerai number style
It almost looks like if you ran your fingernail across the surface of the dial you would catch it in all of the recesses and grooves of the numbers.
But this is pure illusion. The indices are filled with a matte lacquer flush with the surface of the dial. This design feature is widely reported and well described. But the lacquer is invisible in most lighting conditions and is rarely photographed accurately, until now...
Another really cool feature of the dial is the fact that it is NOT painted. The dial starts with a brass plate which is bead blasted and then has the iconic number shape milled into the surface. The resulting raw dial is then colored in an acid bath.
You can see how relfective the surface of the dial is in the picture below. See if you can pick out the perfectly reflected light fixture in the out of focus dial pic
Finally, the number thickness. It has been posed in the past, but others, that the number thickness is only an optical illusion produced by how the lume in painted in the indices. This is false. These dials were milled with old machines that had bits that would become worn or even god forbid, had variation between production runs and years that they were made, producing differences in thickness of the numbers. This effect has very little to do with the lume.
enough with the narrative, let's just enjoy some pics.
(brass hour and minute, steel seconds)
A true work of hand made art that Panerai would be wise not to forget.
Hope you enjoyed!
