Panerai?s Luminor Submersible is part of the brand?s long tradition of making diving instruments for military frogmen. In this feature from our September-October 2018 issue, we subjected this model, which debuted in 2017, to the ultimate test: ice diving.

Ice diving requires special expertise. The risk of breaking through the ice on a frozen lake and drowning in frigid water is quite high if the layer of ice is not thick enough to hold the divers, their team and their heavy equipment. A diver must pass a training course and become certified in ice diving to learn how to minimize the risks involved. We plan to test the Panerai Luminor Submersible 1950 3 Days during our ice dive. Our dive won?t be nearly as dangerous as the missions of the military frogmen in the 1940s and 1950s for whom Panerai?s watches were originally developed. But we do have to drive up to Tyrol, Austria, high in the Alps, to find a lake covered by a sheet of ice that?s thick enough for our dive. After we obtain permission for our dive, each diver clips himself onto a safety rope. Then we start our chainsaw and begin cutting small blocks of ice, which we push down and shove sideways so they disappear under the icy surface. It takes us only a few minutes to cut a square hole big enough for our two divers. The water temperature is a frosty +1 degree Celsius (33.8 degrees Fahrenheit). To protect themselves from the cold, ice divers wear so-called ?dry suits.? Unlike ordinary neoprene suits, dry suits don?t...