Carbon fibre – in all its composite guises – has become the material of the moment and has been used across the board, from Bvlgari’s chiming marvel to faux carbon dials on TAG Heuer’s Aquaracer… Whether or not an Haute Horlogerie model like the Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater Carbon looks good in its high-tech black suit is debatable, but one thing is certain, carbon cases work especially well for a brand like Panerai. A top military secret until 1993, Officine Panerai crafted high-tech instruments for the Italian Navy’s its covert underwater operations before it surfaced and worked its magic on dry land. Panerai was the first brand to use Carbotech – a composite material based on carbon fibre – and unveiled its 47mm Luminor Submersible 1950 model in a striking, black mottled case. Although this was back in 2015, we recently had the watch in our hands and thought a reappraisal was in order.
