Panerai Watches

About Panerai

The company was founded in Florence, Italy in the year 1860 by Giovanni Panerai. It is now a subsidiary of Compagnie Financière Richemont SA. The brand is officially listed as Officine Panerai under the company name Officine Panerai Marketing e Communicazioni Srl. Known for producing watches with clean designs and rugged builds, the brand values utilitarian function over fashionable form. These design principles have led to partnerships with brands/organizations such as Ferrari and the Royal Italian Navy. Common features of the brand include large dials, oversized numerals for underwater visibility, luminescent markers, locking crown, high-quality leather bands and heavy steel cases. Ever since partnering with the Italian Navy the brand has been heavily associated with the sea and sea travel. Most of its models feature industry-leading water resistance and underwater usability. Panerai watches are organized into four distinct collections: the Historic, the Contemporary, the Specialties, and the Special Editions. Ever since 1996 the company has annually released Special Edition models in extremely limited quantities. These models are in high-demand and often experience long wait lines for purchase. In addition to watch manufacturing the company has maintained its own retail presence in various markets throughout the world. Due to the limited quantities of watches manufactured each year, it is said that Panerai watches are the best selling timepieces in the world (when comparing sell-through of inventory).

Although Giovanni started the company along its path to eventual success, it would be his grandson Leon who took the company to new heights and established Panerai as a leader in the watchmaking industry. The partnership with the Regia Marina Militare Italiana proved to be the single most important achievement for the blossoming company. The strict standards of function and craftsmanship demanded by the Navy remain present to this day in all of the company's timepieces. Leon's son Guido is largely credited with establishing this partnership. He founded Guido Panerai and Figliothe which eventually became Officine Panerai. The family tradition continued when in 1934 Guido's son and daughter assumed control of the company. Maria was charged with management of the watch manufacturing shop while Guiseppe managed the relationship with the Royal Italian Navy.

Since the initial founding of the company in 1860 up until the year 1992, Panerai watches were not available to the general public. All inventory was manufactured and shipped for military use and distribution to the general public was discouraged by the Navy. When World War II ended the company had a small supply of watches originally destined for Navy use. The company offered these watches to the general public and saw overwhelming demand. This solidified the company's decision to enter the public market with its products. Ever since then demand for their timepieces has drastically outpaced supply. The decision to manufacture small quantities has aided in the exclusivity of owning a Panerai watch.

Up until the year 1996 Panerai made no claim of using in-house movements. All their watches released with third-party movements. Rolex was a major supplier for Panerai for many years. This practice of utilizing proven movements supplied by other watchmakers allowed Panerai to enter the market at reasonable price points. It was the company's practice for many years to avoid costly movement research and development. This changed in the year 1996 when the company introduced its own collection of self-manufactured movements. The collection included a 6 day tourbillon, an 8 day manual, a 10 day automatic and an 8 day chronograph. To many in the industry the true measure of a watch manufacturer is determined by its movements. For anyone that discredited Panerai in the past due to a lack on in-house movement, their voice would now be silenced.