Company profile:
Panerai, or Officine Panerai, is a brand whose success is based on making relatively small numbers of watches that all look fairly similar, because they are based on the company’s historical precedents. During the 1930s and ‘40s, Panerai supplied the Italian Navy with timepieces for its commando divers, and the watches that they developed were large, often with cushion-shaped cases, with good luminosity in low light conditions underwater, and with simple, easily readable dials. Today, every year, the same description can be applied to its new watches. At the trade fair SIHH, retailers place orders knowing that they will get less than what they ask for. Panerai’s marketing includes the sponsorship of vintage yacht events, with the brand’s own 1936 ketch Eilean. An important part in their communications is played by the various independent online forums run by Panerai enthusiasts, “paneristi,” who write about historical and contemporary Panerai watches in meticulous, obsessive detail.
A period photo, courtesy of Panerai. The diver on the right is wearing a Panerai instrument over his suit.
Panerai is a brand with an important Italian heritage. It was founded by Giovanni Panerai in Florence in 1860, and at that time it was simply a watchmaker’s shop. Giovanni was an enterprising man and he also founded a watchmaking school. In 1916, Guido Panerai began supplying the Royal Italian Navy with watches made specifically for its divers. The company invented Radiomir, one of the luminescent substances based on radium that gave the dials excellent luminosity in low light conditions, but also made the watches radioactive. In 1936, the name Radiomir was given to a watch made for the First Submarine Corp, with a large steel cushion-shaped case, luminous numerals and hour markers, wire loop lugs welded to the case, and a tough water-resistant strap large enough to be worn over a diving suit. Later, the sandwich dial was invented, with the luminescent material as a continuous layer, visible through perforations in the top layer. This increased the luminosity of the dial markings. A new luminous substance based on an isotope of tritium-based hydrogen was formulated and named Luminor. A lever bridge crown protector was patented, used on a model also named Luminor. Panerai’s watches were made with a water resistance rated at 200 metres and so are a candidate for the title of first diving watches. Another intriguing Panerai story is the origin of the so-called California dial on which there are both Arabic and Roman numerals.
In 1993, Panerai launched its first collection to be sold to the public, with three limited-edition watches based on the navy commando models made during the Second World War. These pieces, made from 1993 to 1997, are known as the “pre-Vendôme” watches by collectors.
In 1997, the company was purchased by the Richemont Group (at that time named Vendôme), which built a network of retailers in Italy, and then launched the brand internationally. In 2002 production was moved to Neuchâtel in Switzerland, and in 2005 the first in-house movement was presented, the P.2002. Up until this date, Panerai had used Swiss movements made by a number of brands such as Angelus. Although production is now entirely Swiss, the brand keeps the Italian tradition alive with a head office in Milan running communications and product development management.
Location:
Manufacturing unit:
Officine Panerai
Route de Pierre-à-Bot 87, CH 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Milan office:
Officine Panerai Marketing e Comunicazioni Srl
Viale Monza 259, 20126 Milano, Italy
Personalities:
CEO Angelo Bonati
New watches:
Panerai L’Astronomo Luminor 1950
Panerai Luminor Marina Logo 3 Days Acciaio
Panerai Luminor Base Logo 3 Days Acciaio
Other posts:
Panerai Submersible 1950 3 Days Automatic Titanio 47mm PAM01305
Panerai Luminor Marina 1950 America’s Cup 3 Days Automatic Acciaio 44mm PAM00727
Panerai Luminor 1950 Oracle Team USA 3 Days Chrono Flyback Automatic Ceramica 44 mm PAM00725
Panerai Luminor 1950 Regatta Oracle Team USA PAM00726
Panerai LAB-ID Luminor 1950 Carbotech 3 Days PAM 00700
Panerai Luminor Submersible 1950 BMG-Tech 3 Days Automatic PAM00692
Panerai Luminor Submersible 1950 3 Days Automatic Bronzo PAM00671
Panerai Luminor Submersible 1950 3 Days Automatic PAM00682
Panerai Luminor Submersible 1950 3 Days Automatic Oro Rosso PAM00684
Panerai Luminor Marina 1950 3 Days Automatic Titanio 44mm PAM00734 and PAM00733
Panerai Radiomir 1940 3 Days Acciaio 47mm PAM00662
Panerai Luminor 1950 3 Days Acciaio 47 mm PAM00663
Panerai Luminor 8 Days Set PAM00786
Panerai Lo Scienziato Luminor 1950 Tourbillon GMT Titanio 47mm
Panerai Radiomir 1940 3 Days Automatico Acciaio PAM00655
Panerai Radiomir 1940, PAM00627, PAM00 628, PAM00657 and PAM00658
Panerai Luminor Base Logo Acciaio – 44mm, PAM00634
Panerai Mare Nostrum Titanio PAM00603
Panerai Luminor Submersible 1950 Carbotech PAM00616
Panerai Luminor Submersible 1950 3 Days Chrono Flyback Automatic Titanio 47 mm PAM00614
Panerai Luminor Submersible 1950 3 Days Chrono Flyback Automatic Titanio 47 mm PAM00615
Panerai Radiomir 1940 Equation of Time 8 Days PAM00516
Panerai Luminor 1950 Equation of Time 8 Days PAM00601
Panerai Radiomir Firenze 3 Days Acciaio 47 mm PAM00604
Radiomir 1940 Chronograph Oro Rosso PAM00519, PAM00518, PAM00520
