Passions Watch Exchange

About This Watch

Brand New. Comes with orig. wooden box+outer box, polishing cloth, manual, rubber cap & dated paper. Fresh stock from Italy & very hard to come by.

Launched in 2012, this is one of the two models to pay tribute to the history of Officine Panerai which in 1930s the Radiomir formed the milestone in the history of professional diver’s watchmaking.

The name of this watch refers to the “Siluro a Lento Corsa” (S.L.C.), the slow-speed torpedo on which the commandos of the Royal Italian Navy rode during their heroic underwater missions, equipped with Panerai watches and instruments. The slow-speed torpedo is shown as a relief on the dial and the inscription “S.L.C.” is engraved on the flange at 12 o’clock

If you read history, Italy was an Axis power during WW2 and so the S.L.C. was used in much success against Allied forces. On 19 December 1941, a group of three SLCs were sent on a mission known as Raid on Alexandria where British Navy's HMS Elizabeth & HMS Valiant along with some other ships were mined & crippled them for over a year from active duties. 8 men were killed. So, not sure if you really like this if you're a supporter of Allies but in the 1943 Armistice, Italy broke from Axis to join Allies against Germany while the disposed Mussolini took control of Northern Italy and so the Italian forces served two masters. Some Decima MAS sailors joined the Allied cause to form Marassalto while others regrouped in the German occupied Italy. Nevertheless, the Italian Navy commandos with the manned torpedo units are well recorded in history while it's murky history makes collecting such watches more intriguing.

Notable features of this new movement are: When setting time, the hour hand does rapid change by jumping in hourly sectors so it doesn't interfere with the minute hand or movement of the mechanism like traditional engines. It also has a large 13.2mm balance wheel with variable inertia so adjustment of timing is possible via the screws on the wheel rim.