Officne Panerai, an exclusive partner of the North Pole Winter Expedition, has developed a technically advanced watch, the Panerai Luminor GMT North Pole, which had been tested in the course of this hazardous but fascinating expedition. The watch has a steel case with the characteristic bridge protecting the winding crown (an Officine Panerai patent) and an additional internal case made of soft iron, a material which protects the mechanism from the influence of the earth’s magnetic field, the intensity of which increases considerably in the vicinity of the North Pole. The calibre OP VIII, with automatic winding, has been lubricated with special oils to guarantee the best performance even close to the North Pole. The screw back has been personalised with a diagram of the expedition and the watch is water-resistant to a depth of 300 metres.
The special feature of the Panerai Luminor GMT North Pole is its rotating bezel with the applied letters of the four cardinal points. This is a practical solution which enables the wearer’s position to be established by observation of the stars. It is a simple instrument which can be used in the conditions of total darkness in which Mike Horn and Borge Ousland found themselves and it was a fundamental system of orientation in the context of an environment which prevented the operation of equipment such as the compass and GPS because of the extremely severe cold. Blue in colour to make reading the information easier, the dial indicates both the time and the date while the second time zone is indicated by a further hand.
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