We get to grips with Panerai’s shiny new Luminor – just what exactly is BMG-Tech anyway"
By Chris Hall

This is the latest high-tech watch from Panerai – the Luminor Submersible 1950 BMT-Tech Automatic 3 Days. Yes, they need to get the length of their names under control, but you can’t criticise Panerai for effort these days. We’ve had a genuinely thought-provoking concept in the form of the Lab-ID, and countless desirable iterations on the trusty Radiomir and Luminor designs. A personal favourite remains the slimline Luminor Due from last summer. 
So you could be forgiven, perhaps, for experiencing a touch of Panerai overload. But stay with us, because this is a good one – and really nowhere near as complicated as the name might sound. Mechanically it is unchanged from the standard Luminor Submersible, with the in-house Calibre P.9010 doing the business under the bonnet.
That’s the same movement found in most other Luminor 1950 references, from the Carbotech of a couple of years ago to the 42mm models. It has, as the name implies, a three-day power reserve and is a slight upgrade on Calibre P.9000 (it adds better support for the balance bridge, and slims down the movement overall, to 6mm).
What’s interesting about this watch is an all-new case material. As in, not just new to Panerai but something no-one else has done before. The case is made from BMG, which stands for Bulk Metallic Glass. This describes an al...