Panerai Perfected Its Iconic Dive Watch. Here’s How

The Luminor Marina began a new era in 2025.

Close-up of a Panerai Luminor Marina watch with a black dial, luminous hands, date display, and a stainless steel case with crown guard.

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Published December 26, 2025

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Panerai’s Luminor Marina, the most emblematic example of the Italian brand’s bold and unique design language, is a dive watch icon. If Panerai had left the Luminor Marina as is, the watch likely would’ve continued to be a best-seller for the brand for as long as it remained in production.

But for 2025, Panerai not only updated the Luminor Marina. It perfected it.

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two panerai watches underwater, one seen from the front and one from behind — It’s Panerai’s icon, but better.

The latest generation of Panerai’s most recognizable tool watch received significant updates in almost every area, culminating in a vastly improved watch.

The water resistance was bumped up from an already sufficient 300m to a category-leading 500m. A sapphire display caseback was also added, offering a view of the movement. These two moves always translate to a thicker watch, but through some deal with the dive watch devil, the new Luminor Marina is somehow 12 percent thinner than before, and 15 percent lighter.

the side view of a Panerai watch — Despite boasting 40 percent more water resistance, the watch is 12 percent thinner than before.

This is largely thanks to a new movement, the in-house P.980 automatic, which is not only thinner than the outgoing calibre but also adds a hacking seconds function that had been missing from the collection since 2020.

Panerai made strap swaps decidedly easier by adding the PAM Click quick-release system to the included straps, and references fitted with a bracelet also received a brand-new on-the-fly micro-adjustment system called Quick Length Adjustment that offers 2mm of travel on each side.

a closeup of a panerai luminescent watch dial and crown — Even the lume was improved for the new generation.

Even the lume, one of Panerai’s signature features, was improved, with the 2025 Luminor Marina being one of the first watches in the world to feature Super-LumiNova’s new X2 formula, which is 10 percent brighter than before.

Panerai didn’t need to update the Luminor Marina. But the myriad improvements made to the watch show that even icons can use a tune-up now and then.