Panerai

One of our favourite brands here at BWC, is the Panerai. With a good Italian history, now Swiss made, and such an elegant/yet simple watch – there are not many brands that are as cool as this!

Panerai was founded in 1860, by Mr Giovanni Panerai, and he specialised in producing precision mechanical instruments. Within a few short years, Panerai became an official supplier of instruments to the Italian Navy. These ranged from fuses, to depth measuring devices and compasses.

As business grew, Panerai renamed itself Officine Panerai, and in 1936, Panerai produced its first divers watch, known as the Radiomir. In the 1940’s, Panerai developed a lever which locked down the crown, in order to make the watch even more water tight for the Navy divers. This feature is still used today on many of the Panerai models.

Panerai watches were only available to the Italian Navy right up until 1993, when they produced a first (and limited) range of watches for the general public. In 1995, Sylvestor Stallone requested a limited run for himself and close friends. Having such a famous watch lover and purchaser, helped put Panerai on the map. Richemont Group then purchased Officine Panerai in 1998, taking the watch brand international.

Today, Panerai is one of the most sought after ‘cult’ watches in the world. Their watches are simple to look at, BIG, and are extremely well made. Through recent success, Panerai (under Richemont Group) have started to produce a movement for their own range of watches.

Did you know?
In the early years of Panerai, many of their movements were sourced from Rolex. (These models are highly sought after today, by collectors of both Panerai and Rolex)

www.panerai.com
Wristwatch annual, P Braun (Abbeville Press Publishers; 2007)
The Watch, G Stone (Abrams; 2006)
QP Magazine, K Kessler (Issue 14, pp46-47; 2005)