Panerai

Giovanni Panerai (1825–1897) opened up his first watch shop in Florence, Italy in 1860.^[6] Giovanni's grandson Guido Panerai (1873–1934) expanded the watch shop "Orologeria Svizzera"^[7] and took over his wife's family business, a mechanical workshop. In 1915, Guido Panerai invented gun sights that were illuminated by a radium-226/zinc sulfide powder enclosed in small, hermetically sealed vessels.^[8] Radiomir, the name for the radium-based luminous mixture is derived from "radio mire", which is Italian for "radium sights". Panerai became an official supplier to the Regia Marina (the Royal Italian Navy), supplying a variety of technical equipment and precision instruments.^[9] All Panerai watches, except for the GPF 2/56 were designed and manufactured by Rolex SA using pocket watch movements made by Swiss manufacturer Cortébert.^[10] The main driving forces behind the production of the first professional diving watches were Hans Wilsdorf of Rolex and Giuseppe Panerai.^[11]

The Florence-based workshop produced wrist-worn diving instruments and, between 1935 and 1970, delivered around 1,600 watches (c. 35 2533s, 1000 3646s, 24 6152s, 36 6154s, 500 6152/1s, and 60 GPF 2/56s), most of them to the Italian Marina Militare.^[12] All watches, except for the GPF 2/56, were made by Rolex, and G. Panerai e Figlio produced only the dials for these watches. Panerai dials were rendered luminous with Radiomir, a highly radioactive radium-based self-luminous compound, and later in around 1965, with Luminor, a harmless compound activated by tritium.^[13][14]

The GPF 2/56 (Egiziano Grosso) was produced for the Egyptian Navy in 1956.^[15] By 1970, the company ceased to provide watches to the Marina Militare, as they were neither cost-effective nor met the naval specifications. In 1993, it then moved to launch its products in the civilian market.^[15] Following its acquisition of Panerai, Richemont repositioned Panerai as a luxury watch brand and increased prices.^[16][17]

Panerai offers watches across four marketing lines: Historic, Contemporary, Manifattura and Special Editions in runs of 500, 1000, 2,000 or 4,000 units; each with its issue number on the case back.^[18] The company issues Special Editions by year. For example, in 2006 issued the 1936 California Dial Radiomir special edition, a reissue of the first Panerai model presented to the Italian Marina Militare with production limited to 1936 units.^[19]

When Ferrari's contract with watchmaker Girard-Perregaux expired in 2005, Ferrari and Panerai entered into a five-year agreement to design, manufacture and distribute Panerai watches carrying the Ferrari trademark.^[20] The collection was branded Ferrari engineered by Panerai and consisted of two product lines marketed as "Granturismo" and "Scuderia". The collection consisted of 11 models priced between US$5,000 and US$30,000.^[21] The Panerai-Ferrari partnership ended in 2010.

Panerai watches have appeared on the wrist of multiple celebrities, politicians and other influential individuals, notably Sylvester Stallone who wore a Luminor model in the 1996 film, Daylight,^[22] American football player Peyton Manning,^[23] former President of the United States Bill Clinton,^[24] and English actor Hugh Grant.^[25]

• Panerai Luminor
• Panerai Luminor 1950
• Panerai Radiomir
• Panerai Radiomir 1940
• Panerai Luminor Due
• Panerai Ferrari
• Panerai Luminor Submersible 1950

• List of Italian companies