New Panerai is a limited edition tribute to its earliest dive watches

When it comes to dive watches, few brands have the cachet of Panerai. The Italian brand has a storied history, having produced watches for the armed forces for decades prior to becoming available to the general public in the 1990s.

Now, it has launched a limited edition model, which pays tribute to some of the earliest watches it made. The Panerai Luminor Marina reinterprets key features from some of the brand's most historic watches, creating a watch with a vintage look, but which still meets modern expectations.

Cased in 44mm of stainless steel, the piece uses the iconic cushion case shape that Panerai is known for. That comes complete with an oversized crown guard, which is arguably the most iconic part of the silhouette, and underpins the diving prowess the brand is renowned for.

The dial here is really clean. The central stack only includes hour and minute hands, with a small seconds register at the nine o'clock position. There's also no date window here, which is another part of the reason why things look so neat.

The dial is also a more traditional design, with Arabic numerals coated with green Super-LumiNova. That's a far cry from the sandwich dials which are more commonplace in the Panerai catalogue these days.

All of that attaches with a dark brown calf leather strap, which feels right at home. There's also a black rubber strap in the box, for those who like to change things up, or for anyone planning to make use of those dive watch capabilities.

Speaking of which, you'll get a solid 300m of water resistance on this model, which makes it very capable indeed. There's a good chance you'll never get close to using that, but it should at least provide some peace of mind as you're scrubbing the dishes.

Priced at £8,400 (approx. €9,500 / US$11,000 / AU$17,000) and limited to just 1,000 pieces worldwide, this is certain to be a popular pick. The model is exactly what you'd picture as a classic Panerai, and that's certain to resonate with fans.