Ten years after the original, the Submersible Bronzo is back in the form of the Bronzo Blu Abisso, limited to 1,000 pieces per year. It features a dial in a soft matte tone of blue that I would call royal blue. It’s matched with a blue suede strap that works from a color coordination standpoint, but that you are probably not going to want to think about getting wet. (Instead, you’re going to switch to the blue rubber strap that Panerai thoughtfully includes.)
You might recall that the most recent Bronzo, from 2019, featured a bezel with ceramic insert, in keeping with the general design direction the Submersible collection took that year. The adoption of ceramic put the Submersible on strong footing alongside other dive watches using ceramic inserts. Now for 2021, the original matching bronze bezel is back in all its glory, resulting in a monochromatic bronze appearance. The watch we have here is brand new, but if you live near the ocean or a place with a balm in the air, you can expect the patination process to transform the character into something else entirely.