Looking at SIHH this year I've noticed that Panerai hasn't released anything in the 40mm Luminor case size and over the last few years there hasn't been many new 40mm releases period. I would guess its because the 44mm models and above sell a lot better but I think most people new to Panerai do try a 40mm verison first before moving up in size.
I know when I first laid my eyes on a Pam 51 about 5 years ago I got hooked. Since that time I've had many Pam's on my wrist in all different sizes and one thing I could never seem to do was pull off any Pam 44mm or larger. Believe me I've tried to like the "regular sized Pam's" but in my mind they never looked right on my wrist so I've stayed with the 40mm size and have tried to aquire the rarer ones produced over the years, which leads me to some photo's of two of my favorite 40mm Panerai's made. A Pam 189 in WG and Pam 122 is SS and Ti. I would love to add a Pam 108 someday and maybe a 60 or 168.
Any other 40mm Pam lovers out there???
Tony
Some wrist shots.....
As you can see, 40mm looks like its about the perfect size for my 6.5 inch wrist.