James Purdey & Sons is a British maker of handmade sporting guns that cost as much as a nice car; US$100,000 gets you a pretty basic rifle. A corporate sibling of Panerai in Swiss luxury conglomerate Richemont, Purdey has teamed up with the watchmaker several times on the Luminor Sealand watches, distinguished by hinged lids covered with gun engraving.

The latest is the Luminor 1950 Sealand 3 Days Automatic Acciaio, a series of watches depicting the “Big Five” game animals of African hunting: lion, elephant, Cape buffalo, leopard, and rhinoceros.

While not the only engraved timepieces Panerai offers – the range includes the Sealand engraved by Italian craftsmen and Radiomir Special Editions – the Purdey watches are especially finely finished.

Each watch is decorated by Purdey’s artisans in the same manner as its guns, with each watch taking a week to finish. The decoration starts with a temporary outline done in chalk, which is then traced with a burin, a sharp-tipped engraving tool.

Shading and depth is added by engraving fine parallel lines, while the rim of the lid is finished with a gold inlay in a motif inspired by African art.

The five share the same stainless steel Luminor 1950 case with the in-house P.9000 hand-wound movement inside.

Price and availability 

Limited to 80 watches in total for the “Big Five”, each costs £20,500 taxes included, equivalent to US$25,500. They will be available starting November 17 at Purdey in London’s Mayfair or online.

The model references are as follows:

PAM00853 – African lion
PAM00854 – Leopard
PAM00855 – Cape buffalo
PAM00856 – African elephant
PAM00857 – Rhinoceros