The history of Officine Panerai

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A summary of Panerai's long and generous history: its origins in Florence, its technological legacy, its connection to the ocean, and its 160 years of success.

First days

The origins of the house date back to 1860 with the opening of Giovanni Panerai 's watchmaking workshop on the Ponte alle Grazie in Florence, Italy. This location served as a shop, workshop, and the city's first watchmaking school. The boutique later moved to its current location in the Archbishop's Palace in Piazza San Giovanni, where it was renamed Orologeria Svizzera at the beginning of the last century.

In 1916, to meet the needs of the Regia Marina (Italian Royal Navy), a long-time customer of high-precision instruments, Panerai created Radiomir , a luminescent powder obtained from radium . The name Radiomir derives from the "high visibility of the substance and the excellent adhesive qualities of the paint underwater," according to its own patent, the first of many registered by Panerai throughout its history.

In 1936, Panerai created the first prototypes of the model known today as the Radiomir , producing 10 prototypes for the submariner commandos of the First Submarine Corps of the Regia Marina. The Radiomir retains many of the characteristics of those prototypes to this day: a 47 mm cushion-shaped steel case with luminescent numerals and indexes, wire lugs welded to the case, and a hand-wound mechanical movement with a waterproof strap long enough to be worn over a diving suit.

Regia Marina and Navy Militare

Production of the Radiomir with the characteristics of the 1936 prototype did not begin until 1938, and to implement its functions, Panerai made several changes, such as a dial with superimposed plates , perforated indices and numerals to increase legibility and the luminescence of the radium, and increased resistance of the lugs. Another innovation to increase visibility underwater were the numerals on the dial : four large Arabic numerals at the cardinal points, in addition to the indices.

The Regia Marina required watches to be able to remain underwater in extreme conditions for extended periods, so their resistance to extreme pressure was increased, for example, by means of reinforced lugs that were part of the same steel block as the case. The "Radiomir 1940" appeared that same year, with a cushion-shaped case and pronounced edges on the sides, and a cylindrical, rather than conical, crown.

In 1943, Panerai introduced a model designed specifically for deck officers: the Mare Nostrum , a prototype chronograph of which only two or three examples are believed to have been produced. It was in the 1940s that one of the brand's fundamental design elements began to be developed: the crown-protecting bridge , designed to prevent water from entering the case and protect the crown from wear caused by handling when winding the watch.

At the end of the decade, Panerai set a new milestone by replacing radium paste with a new self-luminous substance obtained from tritium (an isotope of hydrogen) and patented in early 1949 under the brand name "Luminor." This new substance would serve as inspiration for the Radiomir's successor.

The following year, the transition to the Luminor was completed thanks to the technical research the company conducted during World War II. Thus, the Luminor incorporated the crown guard and reinforced lugs that are part of the steel case block, which retains the cushion shape of the Radiomir 1940, but with a flatter, wider bezel.

In 1956, Panerai developed a Radiomir for the Egyptian Navy known as the "L'Egiziano." This gigantic watch featured a 60 mm diameter case, excellent water resistance, and a graduated bezel for calculating diving time. That same year, the patent was filed for the crown-protecting bridge, previously only found on prototypes, which would become the defining feature of Luminor watches and the brand's emblem.

Sixteen years later, 1972 would be a year of transition for the company, with the death of Giuseppe Panerai, Guido's son. The family business, and the contracts with the Marina Militare that were kept secret, passed into the hands of engineer Dino Zei , who changed the company name from "G. Panerai & Figlio" to "Officine Panerai SRL" , a name that already appeared on the first models. Instruments such as compasses, wrist depth gauges, and pressure-compensated underwater flashlights for greater resistance at great depths would also begin to be created and supplied to the Marina Militare for many years to come.

Pre-Vendôme Stage

In 1993, Officine Panerai presented a collection based on the Durand De La Penne cruiser of the Marina Militare, consisting of three limited-edition series: Luminor , Luminor Marina , and Mare Nostrum , inspired by the historical models of the same name. They immediately became highly sought-after pieces by collectors and enthusiasts, forming the first Officine Panerai collection as such.

In 1997, Officine Panerai was acquired by the Richemont Group (then known as Vendôme ), establishing a significant network of retailers in Italy. The following year, the brand debuted on the international high-end watch market. The new collection consists of two models: the Luminor and the Luminor Marina, in three different versions. The Mare Nostrum version introduced in 1993 was also re-released in a new version with a narrower bezel and screw-down caseback.

Richemont Group and internationalization

Following its acquisition by Officine Panerai and a careful restoration, the historic Panerai boutique in Florence's Piazza San Giovanni reopened in 2001. This refurbished workshop became a meeting point for collectors and enthusiasts of the brand, who could now obtain not only current pieces but also limited-edition models and special productions that the company reserves exclusively for its boutiques.

2002 marked a milestone for Officine Panerai, as the Panerai Manufacture opened in Neuchâtel, Switzerland . This brought the watchmaking house together in a single location for the planning, development, and research of new products. That year, Panerai also opened its first boutique in Asia, in the Landmark Prince's Building in Hong Kong .

Panerai Manufacture and current events

In 2005, Panerai's first in-house movement was launched internationally, the P.2002 (named after the year Panerai opened its production facility). This hand-wound caliber features a GMT function and an eight-day power reserve, inspired by the Angelus movements of the 1940s. Then in 2007, Officine Panerai introduced three new in-house calibers: the P.2003 , P.2004 , and P.2005 . The latter features an innovative tourbillon adapted by the Florentine brand, in which the cage containing the balance wheel and escapement rotates around an axis perpendicular to the balance wheel, not parallel, and also rotates every 30 seconds, not every minute, like traditional tourbillons. A year later, Officine Panerai introduced the P.9000 and P.2006 movements, both calibers developed and produced by the Florentine brand. The P.9000 caliber, with a 72-hour power reserve, powers a number of Luminor 1950 and Radiomir models. The P.2006 caliber is an evolution of the monopusher chronograph caliber, adding a split-seconds function controlled by a second push-piece at 10 o'clock.

In 2010, to mark the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first observations of the heavens, Officine Panerai created three exceptionally complex models in his honor: "L'Astronomo" , "Lo Scienziato " and the Jupiterium . The Jupiterium is a planetary watch with a perpetual calendar that displays, from a geocentric perspective, the positions on the celestial sphere of the Sun, the Moon and Jupiter, along with the so-called "Galileo Moons" , their four main satellites. Officine Panerai also launched its P.999 manufacture movement and the first Panerai Composite watch at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie.

The following year, in 2011, Panerai introduced the Luminor Submersible 1950 3 Days Automatic Bronzo , which for the first time used bronze, a material that acquires a worn appearance over time and evokes the sea, an element linked to Panerai throughout its history. Then in 2013, continuing its technological development characteristic of fine horology, Officine Panerai launched three new in-house movements: the calibre P.9100 (the first Panerai automatic movement with a flyback function in the chronograph), the calibre P.9100/R (regatta countdown function), and the P.5000 (manual winding and eight-day power reserve). At the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie in Geneva that same year, Officine Panerai presented the Pocket Watch Tourbillon GMT Ceramica , a striking ceramic pocket watch.

In 2014, Panerai opened its new Manufacture in Pierre-à-Bot , in the hills surrounding Neuchâtel, Switzerland . The new building brings together all the specialties of fine watchmaking in a single location, with the aim of housing and combining Italian design and Swiss tradition. That same year, Panerai introduced the calibre P.4000 , an in-house movement with an eccentric oscillating weight. In 2015, the company officially reopened its boutique on Canton Road in Hong Kong, which became the brand's largest boutique in the world. That same year, the Manufacture P.1000 movement was launched, a calibre defined by the watchmaker itself as its masterpiece, both technically and aesthetically, with a thickness of just 3.85 mm.

In 2016, Panerai launched the Radiomir 1940 Minute Repeater Carillon Tourbillon , the most complex watch ever produced by the Panerai Manufacture in Neuchâtel, a watch equipped with the in-house tourbillon regulator and the striking minute repeater mechanism capable of striking the local time or a second time zone every hour, ten minutes or one minute.

Also in 2016 is the launch of the LUMINOR DUE collection with a new redesigned case, inspired by the lines of the classic Luminor of the 1950s. This collection incorporates the Manufacture movements P1000/10 and P.4000/10 , the thinnest automatic calibres ever developed by the Panerai Manufacture.

The future

There's no doubt that when it comes to watchmaking houses with a history and horological heritage sufficient to build a splendid future, one of them is Panerai. We may not all be Paneristi , die-hard fans of the brand, but being a watch enthusiast is enough to value and appreciate Panerai's countless technical and aesthetic innovations. Its decision from the outset to follow its own path makes us respect it; its commitment to function over form makes us admire it; its care for materials, innovation, and tradition makes us desire it.
With more ups than downs, we believe that Panerai's story will continue to be great and will bring us more than a few surprises in the near future.

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