The fourth Panerai “bronzo” edition, from the brand that really popularised the idea of a bronze watch.

Watch brands don’t really like the idea of trends. Watches take several years to design and manufacture, and once released unto the world, are expected to remain current for anywhere up to a decade before getting an update. Not for them the twice-yearly seasonal drop of sensational new looks.

It is, however, unavoidably true that certain ideas ripple through the watch industry like a gentle wave. You’ll have noticed us talking more about colour and style in our watches in the last two or three years, with particular emphasis on revived designs from the 1970s, and taking a wider view, that is part of a bigger trend for watchmakers to talk more about design and appearance than functionality and engineering. (Relatively speaking – you’ll never shake watchmaking’s love of mechanical innovation, and rightly so.) One such unmistakeable trend of late is a passion for bronze-cased watches. It has spread brand by brand, from the likes of Tudor and Montblanc, to IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN, Bremont, Bulgari, Zenith and many more. It began as a quirky, interesting option for dive watches, but has expanded its brief: bronze is now an intriguing alternative for high-end chronographs or style icons – less expensive than gold, but more glamorous and characterful than steel.

We can – almost certainly – lay the credit for this trend at Panerai’s door. (Although it cannot claim to have made the first bronze watch – that honour belongs to Mr Gérald Genta, whose Gefica Safari watch was cased in bronze because he wanted a less reflective metal.) In 2011 the brand released its first “bronzo” – a Submersible cased in bronze, inspired, it is said, by the fittings on a yacht: the 70ft Eilean, which the brand had acquired and restored between 2006 and 2009. The bronzo (PAM00382) grabbed collectors’ interests and was followed up with further pieces in 2013 and 2017. Last year, Panerai launched the latest – this non-limited PAM00968 with its dark-brown dial, brown ceramic bezel and matching leather strap, powered by the in-house P.9010 calibre.

Aside from the bronze and brown working exceptionally well together – no great surprise – the thing about Panerai’s bronze watches is just how natural it feels. Some designs and some materials are made to be together; gold dive watches don’t always feel like such a match, for example, but here the sheer mass of the 47mm Submersible body is a strength. Like all bronze watches, it will patinate over time, acquiring a lived-in look that depends entirely on how you treat it; the ceramic bezel, meanwhile, will remain as crisp as the day it left the factory, as will the dial (as long as you keep the crown down when you’re in the water, that is). So, whereas a vintage watch – or even all of Panerai’s previous bronzo models, with their full metal bezels – will age together as one, this piece stands to take on a slightly different character. I’ll be very keen to see a well-worn one five years from now.

Panerai Submersible Automatic PAM968

Materials: Bronze, titanium caseback and leather strap

Diameter: 47mm

Height: 16mm

Water-resistance: 300m

Power reserve: 72 hours

Price: £14,300