The History Of Panerai

[TwoTone]

Officine Panerai Watch History

Panerai watches do more than just tell the time – they are durable precision instruments capable of withstanding considerable physical stresses. These watches are also quite large and they are certainly not for those with petite wrists.

The history of these distinctive watches begins with Giovanni Panerai (1825-1897), a craftsman in precision engineering, who opened a watch shop on the Ponte alle Grazie in Florence. Upon his death, Giovanni was succeeded by his son, Leon Francesco Panerai.

Concurrently, Guido Panerai, Leon Francesco Panerai’s eldest son founded Guido Panerai & Figlio in Florence. With an eye to diversifying the business, Guido Panerai (1873-1934) established the company’s high precision mechanical engineering division and became an official supplier to the Royal Italian Navy. Later on, the company was renamed Officine Panerai.

In the early 1900’s, the name Orologeria Suizzera appeared on the door of the shop. Specializing in Swiss watches over the years it becomes one of the most respected and prestigious distributors of Rolex and Patek Philippe watches in Italy. Their store next to the Duomo in Florence still stands. During this period, the company completed its first delivery of optical and mechanical precision instruments to the Ministry of Defense.

This business relationship continued throughout World War I, as the company supplied precision instruments for the Royal Italian Navy (Regia Marina Militare Italiana), including luminous devices for firing naval guns at night, timing mechanisms, depth gauges and mechanical calculators for launching torpedoes from “Mas” (motor torpedo boats). As the war progressed, aiming instruments, whose distinctive feature is that they are very luminous in total darkness, were added to Officine Panerai’s product line.

In 1934, upon the death of their father Guido Paneari, Giuseppe and Maria took over the firm. Giuseppe devoted himself almost entirely to overseeing the military equipment division, while Maria focused on the watch shop. The following year, Officine Panerai designed and manufactured a series of underwater instruments, torches, wrist compasses and wrist depth gauges, designed for the commandos, assault swimmers and divers of the Italian Navy.

In 1936, the Permanent Commission supplied a Radiomir wristwatch to the Commander of the 1st Submarine group. A single prototype of this watch was made. Two years later, another one-off piece – this time, a single presentation example of a new prototype watch, with a 12-sided bezel engraved “Officine Panerai Brevettato” (“Patented Officine Panerai”) – was produced. Unique in its design, it had a transparent caseback, enabling the movement to be seen. As with all of the early Panerai watches, both of these watches used Rolex movements. The cases were also made by Rolex and were, in fact, nothing more than oversized versions of the early Oyster cushion cases. However, they differed in one major aspect: they were designed to be opened with a wrench rather than the conventional milled oyster tool, making them the only Rolex oyster watches ever made without a milled back.

Officine Panerai presented the prototype of the Mare Nostrum chronograph in 1943, a notable development because the lever and bridge protecting the winding crown was fitted to the Radiomir for the first time. Six years later, a patent was granted for Luminor, the luminous material used on the celebrated Luminor dial of the watch of the same name.

During the 1950’s, Panerai’s military division kept busy. For example, in 1954, the Italian Navy placed an order for the supply of torches and thirty “patented diver’s watches”. Each watch cost 75,000 lire, at a time when a typical Rolex Submariner sold for 67,000 lire. Likewise, a special model was commissioned for the Egyptian Navy in 1956, which proved quite popular. Officine Panerai subsequently assembled this watch in small production runs of about 30 pieces each to supply orders from several Mediterranean navies. In the same year, Maria and Giuseppe Panerai were granted an Italian patent for the lever device, a distinctive feature of Panerai watches.

Despite their durability and high quality, Panerai watches were not marketed to the general public. As a result, they were produced in small quantities and vintage Panerai watches are very valuable today. In 1980, a prototype titanium watch was produced, designed to survive a pressure equivalent to a depth of 1,000 meters (3,280 feet).

In 1992, Officine Panerai produced a limited re-edition of the “Luminor” and “Mare Nostrum” models. The Mare Nostrum chronograph never went beyond the prototype because World War II came to an end. Now it was re-designed and went into series production. Needless to say, the re-issued watch was met with great enthusiasm and sold out immediately. This series of events convinced Panerai that the luxury watch market would embrace their unique products. They were entirely correct – and Panerai watches emerged as a much-desired status symbol.

The Vendome Luxury Group acquired Officine Panerai in 1997 and challenged the firm’s designers and watchmakers to introduce new models. Thanks to an extensive marketing effort, the official watch of the commandos of the Italian Navy gained international recognition and took its place in the pantheon of fine watches.

One year later, Panerai presented three new watches with automatic mechanical movements: the Luminor Panerai GMT with second time zone indication, the Luminor Panerai Submersible professional diver’s watch, and the Luminor Panerai Power Reserve with winding indication. The following year, the Luminor Marina Automatic 40mm debuted at the 1999 International Salon of Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) in Geneva. The base model has a steel bracelet, while the chronograph is an innovative version made of titanium and steel.

In closing, it is interesting to note that Panerai watches are highly regarded by divers and watch enthusiasts alike. The reason for this is simple: a Panerai is durable and precise, yet magnificent to behold and historically important.

[Drizznay]

Nice read TT!

[hanswurst]

Very informative! Thanks a lot...

[Thor]

If not known already... here an very nice article from watchtime february 2003...

Click here