Panerai’s new watch pays homage to its history with the Italian Navy – and divers will love its 500 metres water resistance

Panerai has just dropped two new Submersible Marina Militare watches, and they take underwater performance to a whole new level. Featuring a GMT function or Destro configuration, the Panerai Submersible Marina Militare watches come in brushed steel cases, matte black dials and brown leather straps – but there’s much more to them than initially meets the eye.

The latest Panerai Submersible Marina Militare watches pay homage to the brand’s history with the Italian Navy which started back in 1910. The partnership between the two extended beyond watches to include depth gauges, compasses and even naval aviation devices, so to say that Panerai knows a thing or two about dive watches would be an understatement.

The two versions of the Panerai Submersible Marina Militare available are the GMT PAM01758 and the Destro PAM01757. Both have great functionality for divers, and have similar features, including 500 metre water resistance, brushed steel dials and unidirectional rotating steel bezels.

The bezels of the Panerai Submersible Marina Militare watches are fitted with a matte black ceramic disc. Having it be unidirectional allows the bezel to be set and read elapsed immersion time, so if the bezel accidentally moves, it only shortens the reading rather than extends it.

Both dials of the Panerai Submersible Marina Militare are matte black and have circular and bar-shaped hour markers. These elements, as well as the hours and minutes hands have beige shading to tie into the brand’s vintage heritage, and have Super-LumiNova to enhance visibility.

Despite having similar features, the new Panerai Submersible Marina Militare watches are extremely different, including their case measurements, crown positioning, dial accents and movements. Starting with the Panerai Submersible Marina Militare GMT PAM01758, this watch measures 42mm, and has a GMT 24-hour scale on the rehaut so wearers can track a second time zone via an orange-tipped GMT hand.

The Panerai Submersible Marina Militare GMT PAM01758 has a stop-seconds function at nine o’clock, and a date window located at three o’clock. Its crown and guard sits on the right side of the case. Powered by the P.900/GMT24H automatic movement, the watch has a three day power reserve, and measures 5.2mm in thickness, making it one of Panerai’s slimmest automatic calibres.

In comparison, the Panerai Submersible Marina Militare Destro PAM01757 is the more understated of the two, but it is bigger at 44mm. It removes the date window and replaces it with a small-seconds display at three o'clock instead, and its Destro configuration moves its crown and guard to the left side of the case.

The Panerai Submersible Marina Militare Destro PAM01757 also has a three day power reserve, but it uses the P.980 automatic calibre movement to achieve this, rather than the P.900 that the GMT option has. Both watches are finished with brown leather straps.

The Panerai Submersible Marina Militare watches are available to buy today at Panerai. The GMT edition is priced at £10,900 while the Destro version is £10,600.