The Panerai Radiomir P999 42mm Pink Gold Wristwatch

Panerai watches are renowned for producing luxury mechanical watches of exceptional quality. This historic watch brand began life as a family business in 1860 in Florence, Italy when Giovanni Panerai opened a watchmaking shop, but evolved under the direction of Guido Panerai, grandson of the founder to become a specialist manufacturer of high precision instruments and watches and the official supplier to the Italian Navy.

In 1997 the Richemont group acquired Officine Panerai and the company's range of watches, compasses and precision instruments. Following this takeover, the brand was distributed globally and became a favourite among watch collectors and connoisseurs. Panerai now has boutiques world-wide including Hong Kong, Portofino, Los Angeles and Piazza San Giovanni in Florence - the same building chosen by Guido Panerai when he extended the family business in 1900.

The iconic Panerai Radiomir, first produced in 1938 and the Panerai Luminor created in the 1940's were designed especially for use in extreme conditions. With highly luminous dials and patented safety features for water-resistance these 47mm diameter wristwatches although designed to be highly functional timepieces have become style icons.

These bold, military inspired designs are still extremely desirable, no wonder then that the design team at Officine Panerai continue to revisit and update them. The Panerai Radiomir P.999 42mm Pink Gold is one such edition. Powered by the new hand-wound P.999 movement, it features a 60-hour power reserve and water-resistance of 100 metres featuring the screw-down truncated-cone crown synonymous with this manufacture which offers guaranteed protection.

The Radiomir P.999 is perhaps the most understated release in the collection to date - at 42mm it is more suitable to formal occasions and its watchcase is crafted from tactile brushed satin 18ct pink gold. High legibility is retained due to the use of the traditional sandwich design in which a lower disk is coated with luminous substance while an upper one is perforated with the numerals and hour markers.

The classic Panerai dial with small seconds at the 9 o'clock position retains the essential sporting style of the watch, but for this model it is dark brown rather than the traditional black dial. The watch is finished with a dark brown alligator leather strap with pink gold pin buckle, but if you want to test that water-resistance it can easily be changed due to Panerai's patented removable wire loop strap attachments. This elegant Radiomir P.999 watch forms part of the Panerai Historic collection and is a limited release of 500 pieces.