Manufacturer
Panerai
Also recorded as: Officine Panerai · G. Panerai & Figlio · Panerai Firenze · Guido Panerai & Figlio
Florentine watch shop and naval instrument maker whose luminous diving watches became a modern brand.
Giovanni Panerai opened a watch shop and workshop in Florence in 1860. Under his grandson Guido Panerai the firm became a supplier of precision instruments to the Italian Royal Navy, and in 1916 it registered a radium-based luminous material, Radiomir. In the late 1930s it supplied large cushion-shaped diving watches to the Navy's frogmen, built around Swiss movements and cases supplied by Rolex, and in the 1950s it introduced the Luminor, named after a new tritium-based luminous compound, with a lever-locking crown guard.
Panerai's watches remained military equipment until the 1990s, when the firm began selling them to the public; the Vendôme (later Richemont) group bought it in 1997. Most Panerai records in the catalogue are modern references from auction records.
- Country
- Italy
- City / centre
- Florence
- Founded
- 1860
- Status
- Active (Richemont)
- Key people
- Giovanni Panerai (1825–1897); Guido Panerai
Innovations & specialities
- Radiomir luminous material (1916)
- Military diving watches (late 1930s)
- Luminor crown-protecting bridge (1950s)
Works by Panerai in the catalogue
All 52 records →
Wristwatches · 1993
Panerai wristwatch, ref. 5218-301/A, Mare Nostrum Pre Vendome, 1993
Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva
Wristwatches · 2000
Panerai Luminor Marina Militare Amerigo Vespucci (Ref. PAM00082), 2000
Huntington Company (dealer)
Wristwatches · 2002
Panerai Luminor Submersible Automatic PAM00024 Diver, ref. OP6561, 2002
Vintage Portfolio (dealer), Vienna
Wristwatches · 2006
Panerai Luminor Base Sandwich Dial (Ref. PAM00176), 2006
Huntington Company (dealer)
Wristwatches · sold in Feb 6th, 2006
Panerai wristwatch, ref. PAM190-, Radiomir 8 Days H0715/1000, sold in Feb 6th, 2006
Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva
Wristwatches · 2007
Panerai Radiomir Black Seal, ref. PAM00183, 2007
Vintage Portfolio (dealer), Vienna
Wristwatches · 2008
Panerai Luminor Marina Automatic PAM00048, ref. OP6625, 2008
Vintage Portfolio (dealer), Vienna
Wristwatches · 2009
Panerai Luminor Base Sandwich Dial (Ref. PAM00176), 2009
Huntington Company (dealer)
Wristwatches · Sold on 23rd Oct 2009
Panerai wristwatch, ref. PAM, Radiomir Limited Edition 348/500, Sold on 23rd Oct 2009
Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva
Wristwatches · 2010s
Panerai Radiomir California 'Officine Panerai', 2010s
Analog/Shift (dealer), New York
Wristwatches · 2015
Panerai Luminor 8 Days Titan Diver PAM00562, ref. OP6938, 2015
Vintage Portfolio (dealer), Vienna
Wristwatches · sold on May 18, 2018
Officine Panerai wristwatch, ref. PAM, 3-Day Going;, sold on May 18, 2018
Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva
Linked through the Atlas maker authority list, which reconciles the spellings used by different institutions. Attributions are as stated by each holding institution or auction house.
