History of Panerai

Once only exclusively reserved to the Italian Navy

, Officine Panerai is one of today's most respected watch brands. The story dated back as far as 1860 when Giovanni Panerai founded the first watch-making company in Florence, Italy, under the name Panerai while maintaining close professional ties with its prominent counterparts in Switzerland.

Giovanni's grandson, Guido Panerai, was the one who succeeded in building Panerai's legacy by becoming the Royal Italian Navy's official supplier. But it was Guido's son, Giuseppe, who took the credit of the births of the legendary Radiomir and Luminor. These watches were made famous in December 1941 when the Italian commando frogmen used these two models to execute two British battleships, a tanker and a destroyer in the port of Alexandria, Egypt during the World War II. This impressive attack carried out by only 6 men, attracted the watch enthusiasts with their luminous featured that allowed them to glow even in the darkest depth of the sea.

Panerai started to research making these watches with luminous materials back in 1910. Radiomir was finally fully developed after they settled on using a mix of zinc sulphide and radium bromide. In the early 1950s Panerai Radiomir was produced together with Panerai Luminor whose luminous substance was tritium-based. Luminor later on replaced Radiomir though it was still preserving Radiomir's emblematic watch case and dial. Other unique complicated mechanisms were also added in the model that it got patented in 1949.

During the period where distribution went only to the military clients, Panerai produced mainly luminous devices functioning especially for sighting naval guns at night, knowing depth gauges, getting great timing mechanism and mechanical calculators in order to launch torpedoes from their high-speed motor torpedo boats.

The contract with the military was terminated in the end of 1980's and the company began direct-selling the products to public in the early 1990. The watches were then only owned and adored by a limited number of purists who appreciated the value of the watches from both its precision and its past heroism.

After the Richemont International, SA Group then named the Vendme Group took over the company in 1997, Panerai started to get international exposure. Richemont re-launched the once renowned Radiomir and Luminor models and combined them with additional contemporary automatic movements, which enhanced the quality of the watches. The historical value and its unique aesthetic characteristics combined were the reasons why Panerai gained a rapid international recognition as a great watch brand.

In 1998, the first Panerai watches with automatic mechanical movements were introduced. They were the professional diver's watch the Luminor Submersible, the Luminor GMT featuring a second time zone indication, and the Luminor Power Reserve with an additional watch-making function that reads the power reserve. The following year saw Panerai presenting its new Contemporary watches that featured a smaller case (40mm in diameter), Luminor with a metal bracelet, chronograph function and case, and the use of a titanium-steel combination for the case parts and the links of the bracelet.

The modern admirers of Panerai might not use the watch underwater nor care about the latest fashion, but it is the great working functions that come first when Panerai watches are chosen.

History of Panerai

By: Michael Davidi

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