Officine Panerai is a brand of Italian watches designed, manufactured, marketed and sold by Officine Panerai Marketing e Communicazioni Srl, a wholly owned subsidiary of Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A.

Giovanni Panerai (1825–1897) founded Officine Panerai in Florence, Italy in 1860. Officine Panerai maintains its headquarters in Florence but manufactures watches in Neuchâtel, Switzerland using both movements manufactured in-house and movements manufactured by ETA S.A.

Panerai Marina Militare

Officine Panerai later became the official supplier of the Regia Marina (Royal Italian Navy) and expanded to building precision instruments. The company is famous for its Radiomir and Luminor watches, notable for their use by Italian commando frogmen.

The Florence-based watchmaker produced wrist worn diving instruments and about 300 watches, all for the Italian Marina Militare, between 1938 and 1993. By that time, the company ceased to provide watches to the Marina Militare, as they were no longer cost-effective nor did they meet the naval specifications.  It then moved to launch its products to the civilian market.

Sly Stallone Panerai

The actor Sylvester Stallone spotted and bought a Panerai Luminor in a jewelry store in Rome in 1995 to wear during shooting of the film Daylight. Stallone ordered a small batch of such watches with his signature on the case back, called Slytech. He offered them as gifts to friends, including Arnold Schwarzenegger. The watch gained rapid popularity, and Officine Panerai was eventually taken over by Richemont in 1997.

Panerai has four major lines of watches, Historic, Contemporary, Manifattura and Special Editions. Most watches are produced in a limited run (normally of 500, 1000, 2000 or 4000 units) and carry an issue number on the case back. Panerai issues Special Editions every year.

In 2006 it issued the 1936 California DialRadiomir special edition, a reissue of the first Panerai model ever presented to the Italian Marina Militare. This model was limited to a run of 1936 units. As of September 2008, the price variation within the Contemporary collection varies from $6,000 USD to $25,500 USD for the solid gold Marina.

When the contract between Girard-Perregaux and Ferrari expired a new partnership was signed with Panerai to develop, manufacture and distribute watches under the Ferrari trademark.  These wristwatches, available in the US from early August 2006, have 11 models and cost between $5,000 and $26,500. Panerai Ferrari watches are divided into two collections: Granturismo and Scuderia. This relationship is set to end in 2010 and both companies have mutually agreed to cease the partnership thereafter.

[credit:Wikipedia]

Officine Panerai Collection

Officine Panerai Movements