Watch Radar — September 22, 2026

The day in brief

Panerai today introduced three 42 mm Luminors — PAM01710, PAM01711 and PAM01714 — bringing the 1990s case to this diameter for the first time, with 500 metres of water resistance and the automatic P.980 calibre. Roger Dubuis closed the Merlin trilogy of its Knights of the Round Table collection with The Metamorph Merlin, the first in the series with a hand-engraved case. And in Hong Kong, a white gold Cartier Cheich sold at Sotheby's for US$3.38 million, a record both for the brand and for a quartz watch.

Panerai takes the 1990s Luminor down to 42 mm

Panerai has launched three new Luminors based on the Ref. 5218-201/A and 5218-202/A, unveiled in 1993 when the brand stepped out of military secrecy and began selling to the civilian public. It is the first time the 1990s design has been offered at 42 mm.

Luminor PAM01710, PAM01711 and PAM01714: 42 x 13.8 mm case, 500 m water resistance and the P.980 calibre with a 72-hour power reserve. © Panerai

The case measures 42 mm across and 13.8 mm thick and is water resistant to 500 metres — more than several larger Luminors. It keeps the crown-protecting bridge, whose lever presses the crown against its gasket, the solution that has defined the Luminor from the start. The PAM01710 has a black dial and the PAM01711 a green one, both in steel; the PAM01714, in black DLC-coated steel, has a blue dial.

One detail worth noting: this is not a sandwich dial. Numerals and markers are printed in Super-LumiNova over a luminous base, and the small seconds at 9 o'clock has a luminous hand.

The calibre is the automatic P.980, 12½ lignes and 4.2 mm thick, with 23 jewels, running at 28,800 vph with a 72-hour power reserve from a single barrel, plus hacking seconds. Three days of autonomy from one barrel at 4 Hz calls for a long mainspring and a well-optimised gear train, which is why many calibres with this reserve use two barrels. Prices are 6,500 euros for the steel versions and 7,500 euros for the DLC version.

Roger Dubuis closes its Merlin trilogy

Roger Dubuis has unveiled the Excalibur Knights of the Round Table The Metamorph Merlin, the third and final chapter of the trilogy devoted to the wizard, after the Omniscient Merlin (2024) and the Enchanter Merlin (2025).

The dial is an architectural construction of 57 hexagonal blocks set at different heights, inspired by the basalt columns of the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland, in four materials: blasted and polished glass with green CVD coating, clear glass, pink gold and Crystalium. Around them stand the 12 micro-sculpted pink gold knights, each about 6 mm tall.

What is new is that the story leaves the dial: for the first time in the series, the 45 mm pink gold case is hand-engraved, depicting Merlin in human and animal form. The 16.87 mm thickness comes from the side sapphire ring that reveals the backs of the knights. The movement is the automatic RD821, with 33 jewels and a skeletonised oscillating weight. The edition is limited to 28 pieces.

A Cartier Cheich sets two records in Hong Kong

Cartier Cheich in white gold, commissioned by Giorgio Seragnoli, sold for HK$26.5 million. © Sotheby's

A white gold Cartier Cheich sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong auction for HK$26.5 million with fees, roughly US$3.38 million. It is now the most valuable Cartier ever sold at public auction and the most valuable quartz watch ever sold.

The Cheich was created as a prize for winners of the Paris-Dakar Rally while Cartier sponsored the race, and reproduces the rally's emblem: the stylised bust of a turbaned Tuareg. Four originals were made in yellow gold; Gaston Rahier's, winner in 1984 and 1985, was sold by Sotheby's in 2022 for just over one million euros. The example sold now was made some 25 years later, commissioned by Italian collector Giorgio Seragnoli. The estimate ranged from HK$8 to 40 million.

Worth watching

Today's three stories point the same way: form and history weigh ever more heavily in a watch's value. Panerai shrinks the diameter without touching the silhouette, Roger Dubuis turns the case itself into a canvas for engraving, and a quartz watch with no mechanical interest becomes the most expensive of its kind on the strength of design and provenance. For those who work on mechanics, it is a reminder that case, design and documented history are an integral part of the horological object.