BRAND HISTORY

Although based in Switzerland, Officine Panerai’s roots are in Florence where Giovanni Panerai started it in 1860 as a watchmaker’s shop as well as the city’s first watchmaking school. In 1916, they patented their creation, Radiomir, a radium-based luminescent powder employed in their watches. Later, a new substance, Luminor, replaced Radiomir and a new collection of watches was named after it, characterised by the now-iconic crown protector, cushion case, flatter bezel and signature sandwich dial. Today, the brand has its workshop in Neuchâtel, along with the rest of the big players in the watch industry—testament to how far it’s come since the days of its founder Giovanni Panerai. Find out more here.