In 1860 Giovanni Panerai (1825-1897) opened the first watchmaker’s shop in the Italian city of Florence. He also made contact with some of the most prestigious and established of Swiss watch manufacturers. The family business grew from strength to strength and today Panerai watches bring together the best of Swiss technology and Italian design.
Over the years Panerai have produced some exceptional and lasting timepieces. From the Radiomir, created for the commandos of the Italian Navy in 1936, to the more contemporary Ferrari Collection, produced under license of Ferrari Spa by Panerai.
The Ferrari Collection has a number of different models, illustrated here to the left is just one of these – the Ferrari Granturismo GMT FER00003. Each one includes the iconic Ferrari logo, the prancing stallion at 12 o’clock.
In between these two milestones in Panerai’s watch making history is their Luminor Collection. The first of the Luminor watches was created in 1950, and also designed under commission for the Italian Navy. As a military dive watch, it has features specifically suited to conditions necessary for a dive watch. For instance, there was a hand-wound mechanical movement that had an eight-day power reserve. This enabled the frequency of winding operations to be reduced. An innovative feature then because, the fewer winding operations meant a lower risk of water seepage when divers rewound their watches.
These three ranges, the Radiomir, the Luminor and the Ferrari, continue to make up the brand’s core; and there are other models that are as distinctive.
