Panerai Sausage Dials or Sandwich Dials?

Everest has always specialized in Rolex models, but in 2019, we expanded to our good friends, Panerai. You can check out both leather and rubber Swiss Everest Bands for Panerai here. We’re about to explore what it means when Paneristi discuss “Sandwich” or “sausage”? 

These terms are in reference to the different dial techniques Panerai uses. Let’s dive into sausage dials first. Sausage dials have painted on hour markers and markers that protrude slightly. The technique to create this begins with first etching into the dial and then filling it with the luminescent material. Or, on some versions, the lume is painted directly onto a flat surface. Either way, the result is that the numbers and markers are curved and swell above the dial - hence the nickname sausage. 

Sausage dials are also referred to as painted dials sometimes which are different from printed dials. Printed dials sport a flat surface. Sausage dials are more legible whereas sandwich dials have a distinct, visual depth appearance. Sandwich dials seem to be more popular despite the difficulty in reading the markers from all angles because of the sunken effect. 

Panerai sandwich dials use a layering technique. Early Panerai sandwich dials used three layers, but more recently, they have adopted the more common two-layer construction. Sandwich dials are very distinct and easily recognized because the two seperate disks create a cut-out stencil effect. 

The bottom layer of the two discs has the luminescent material in the depressed indexes. The top layer has the cut-outs for the luminescence to clearly shine through. The first lume material was radium-based - patented as “Radiomir” which caused deadly side effects for a large group of women called the “Radium Girls.” You can read more about that here. 

Panerai then moved to a proprietary tritium-based substance called “Luminor” which is where Panerai watch model names stem from. Now, Panerai uses Super-LumiNova which is non-reactive. Panerai has moved away from sandwich dials on most of their current watches and decided to use this technique for special releases instead. For instance, this technique reappeared with their more recent release of the Pam 914 and 915 which we will explore for our next Panerai article (so stay tuned).

Whether you are a Panerai sausage dial lover or a sandwich dial lover, Panerai creates beautiful watches. Drop a comment below on which is your favorite!