Panerai 024 tritium review

[rootbeer7]

New to me and from 2002, this is an early Submersible model. Tritium dial but brushed stainless bezel (first series had polished).
The dial is an early no surrounds tritium and has changed to a wonderful warm yellow against the black of the dial & white of the print. The hands are early replacements, as many are on these older models.
It arrived on its original rubber strap and I replaced this with a red Cordes painted ammo which suits it perfectly.
If you don’t get Panerai this won’t change your mind, but if you’re already a fan, these early models are great.
It’s 44mm but feels smaller as lugs are stubby and it sits perfectly well balanced on the top of my just under 7” wrist. It is tall, with the addition of the bezel, but with an integrated date magnifier it never feels ungainly. You know it’s on your wrist, but it never feels like it’s in the way.
The movement is based on Valjoux 7750 of which I’m a massive fan. Fantastic time keeping and it can sit in watchbox all weekend and still be running on Monday morning.
As ever with the early models, the screw pins make strap changing a pleasure and part of the analogue process lacking in most of what we do now! Like all Panerai it’s a great strap monster.
It’s become my daily, leaving my 112 (pictured below in the case images) as my weekend watch.
An interesting point to note is the replacement hands. I enquired on a Panerai group about replacement tritium or colour matching them and the answer was simply “Panerai are bought to be worn. That watch has a history and is better for it!”