Bright Idea

In a technological breakthrough, Panerai's new Submersible Elux Lab-ID combines electric fields with a mechanical movement for a powerful luminescence

- Chitra Lohani Saharan

A 49mm blue Ti-Ceramitech™ case, 21.9mm in thickness, today houses one of the most complicated powerhouse movements ever created by Panerai. What makes the Calibre P.9010/EL groundbreaking is that it can power luminescence on demand. And not just a fraction-of-a-minute, blink-and-you-missit glow, but one that lights up to 30 minutes. This is thanks to Elux, short for 'electroluminescence' (electroluminescence), a new technology and movement housed inside Officine Panerai's latest Submersible Elux Lab-ID. "The objective behind the development of the Elux has been fairly simple," says Alessandro Ficarelli, Chief Marketing Officer, Panerai. "Our goal was to push luminosity to the maximum we can without putting too much constraint on the solution, except for one: Not to have any battery."

The Submersible Elux Lab-ID PAM01800 reflects Panerai's eight years of research and development at the brand's manufacture in Neuchâtel. The watch's on-demand lighting is powered by a mechanical energy storage system. By opening the patented pusher protector system and activating the mechanism, the watch illuminates through an arrangement of four energy-storing barrels that unwind in a microgenerator, out of the total six barrels in the movement, where the rest two ensure the precision of the P.9010/EL movement and offer a three-day power reserve even when the light energy is depleted. This microgenerator, compact at 8mm x 2.3mm, converts mechanical energy into electricity without active electronics. It is composed of custom-made coils, magnets, and a stator, and features a high-speed rotor operating at 80 revolutions per second, generating high-frequency electrical energy of 240Hz.