Panerai
More about Panerai
Panerai watches, whose cases hide the manufacture’s own automatic and mechanical movements, fall into four collections. The first two, slightly more basic ones, Radiomir and Luminor, were created in the mid-20th century. Among Panerai watches, it is the Luminor, both in its original version and in the elegant Luminor Due edition, that has remained one of the brand’s most popular timepieces. Since 2019 the warranty period has been extended to eight years.Panerai gained in popularity in the 1990s thanks to the action film hero Sylvester Stallone, who would wear the brand’s robust timepieces. However, it doesn’t want to be a regular watch manufacturer, Panerai wants to be a lifestyle brand. For this reason, some of its limited editions come with a unique experience. The exclusivity of the brand is further enhanced by limited production and the fact that many Panerai watches become the object of desire of many collectors. Panerai is also one of the brands pioneering a sustainable approach to watchmaking.
The most sought-after Panerai timepieces
The brand’s history
In 1860 Giovanni Panerai opened his watch shop, Orologeria Svizzera, in Florence, Italy. This doubled as a workshop and watchmaking school for young watchmakers. Yet the real beginning of the brand, whose full name is Officine Panerai, starts in 1916: this is when Guido Panerai, the founder’s grandson, had a radium-based powder patented. Named Radiomir, this material made it easy to read numerals and markers in the dark. Panerai’s first collection, a series that has been manufactured for the Italian Navy since 1938, bears the same name.
The brand’s second collection, Luminor, with its emblematic crown-protecting bridge, was born in 1949 and has remained one of the Panerai icons.
Panerai’s solid foundations were laid during the first half of the 20th century, yet the brand’s true expansion came as late as the 1990s. In 1993, Panerai presented a collection of watches that was not designed for army use but for the general public. This was the first time the brand had forayed into this sector. Four years later, the Richemont Group acquired Panerai and the brand has remained part of the Group to this day. Panerai has since come a long way: in 2002 the brand opened its own manufacture in Neuchâtel, Switzerland and three years later presented its own in-house calibre. By doing so, Panerai made a clear demonstration that it belongs to the world of high horology and has never quit its place in it since.
At present, Officine Panerai manufactures some twenty-five calibres and its watchmakers aren’t afraid of such royal complications as a tourbillon or minute repeater. Panerai certainly doesn’t rest on its laurels when it comes to innovation, so deeply imbedded in the brand’s history and spirit, and develops new materials for cases, dials and even movement components.