Sometimes the simplest solutions are the most elegant.
Anyone who owns a Panerai will know just how much the look of the watch can change with a different colour strap. If you are like me and you have collected a variety of different straps over the years, changing the strap on your watch on a regular basis will have become second nature, however this can bring with it a problem.
Panerai Luminor watches have bars that hold the straps in place, and with the traditional system these bars have a screw thread on one end which screws into the inside of one of the lugs. Regardless of how careful you are, un-screwing (and tightening) these screw bars can lead to slips with the screwdriver, and marks on the watch case as a result. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I absolutely hate it when one of my watches picks up a new scratch, so these spring bars are perfect.
These new spring bars for Panerai Luminor were designed to be used with watches where the thread inside the lug has been damaged, and of course they are a perfect solution if this is the case with your watch, but I think they should also be considered by anyone (like me) who hates marking their watch. They are very easy to fit and remove without risking a slip of a screwdriver, and importantly when a strap is fitted they look exactly like the original screw bars. The photo below shows my old Panerai 24 with one spring bar fitted and the other to the side.
They also mean no more need for tubes in straps. Tubes have always been recommended when the strap is to be worn on a Panerai Luminor using the traditional screw bar strap fit system (rather than the newer push release bars) to reduce friction from the strap on the bars, which can result in the bar loosening. These spring bars can rotate freely in the lugs without any risk of loosening.
If anyone is interested, I am carrying them in stock in three widths – 22mm, 24mm & 26mm, and they are suitable for any Luminor that uses the traditional screw bars.