Officine Panerai

Founded in Florence, Italy in 1860, Officine Panerai is known around the world for designing and producing precision diving instruments and tough military wrist watches. Panerai spent years as the official supplier to the Royal Italian Navy and Egyptian Navy before transitioning to civilian sales in the mid 1990’s. American actor Sylvester Stallone has been credited with bringing Panerai to the mainstream after purchasing a number of customized pieces while filming a movie in Italy. Stallone – along with friend and fellow actor Arnold Schwarzenegger – helped to introduce the Panerai brand to the world. Officine Panerai has a long history of innovation and holds many patents including those for their groundbreaking luminescent application Radiomir and its successor, Luminor, along with the iconic crown-protecting bridge which has become a distinguishing feature of the Luminor models. In 2002, Panerai opened their first Swiss production and development facility in Neuchatel. Now a certified manufacture, Panerai began producing in-house movements in quick succession, with their first being released in 2005 and featuring an eight-day power reserve. In 2007, Panerai released the first movement to include a tourbillon, which can be found in the limited edition Lo Scienziato Luminor 1950. Each year, Panerai releases special editions in limited numbers which are very highly sought after by collectors and are very difficult to acquire.