Panerai is one of the most important watchmakers in Italy,producing diving watches and military equipment.
Founded in 1860 by Giovanni Panerai in Florence,Italy,the company was then called“Officine Panerai”.
It served not only as a shop and workshop,but also as the city’s first watchmaking school.
His grandson Guido Panerai(1873–1934)expanded the watchmaking business to become the official supplier to the Marina Regia(the Royal Italian Navy),supplying technical equipment,precision instruments and some of the first diving watches for military forces–the Radiomir model.

This would continue from 1936 until 1993,when the brand would be launched internationally and to the public.
In 1997,the brand would be acquired by the Vendôme group,later known as Richemont.In 2002,
Panerai,also known as“Officine Panerai”,is a brand in its own right.
While Panerai Replicas Watches have only been available to the public since 1993,the brand has a long and rich history,mainly associated with the Royal Italian Navy.
The brand began as a simple workshop created in 1860 by Giovanni Panerai,in Florence,Italy.
Its“official”was not only a shop and workshop for watches but was also the city’s first watchmaking school.
The main step in Panerai’s Replicas Watches history
The main step in Panerai’s history would come in 1916,after Guido Panerai(grandson of the founder)took over the family business and created the“Radiomir”,a self-luminous material that allowed to see the time in the dark and under water.

For several years,Panerai had been supplying high-precision equipment to the Royal Italian Navy.
Radiomir,a radium-based powder that gives luminosity to dials,patented in 1916,would become a key element in Officine Panerai’s production.
In 1936,on the eve of the Second World War,Panerai created the first prototypes of the model now known as the“Radiomir”for the commando frogmen of the First Submarine Command Group of the Royal Italian Navy.
Many developments followed,all exclusively for watches issued by the military.
In 1940,Panerai introduced the Radiomir 1940,with reinforced lugs and a cushion-shaped case made with edges.
That are more pronounced on the side–a shape that would later become the brand’s trademark.
In 1943,another landmark watch would be developed,the“Mare Nostrum”chronograph for deck officers.
In 1949,the brand launched a new luminous material called“Luminor”,this time based on tritium,which replaced the radium-based paste.
The brand continues to operate as a military supplier,with contracts for the Italian Navy long covered by military secrecy.
Production,however,now focuses solely on diving instruments,such as compasses and wrist depth gauges,as well as underwater pressure-compensating lenses.
It was not until 1993 that Panerai would go public.

Officine Panerai did indeed present a collection of three limited-edition watch series:
The Luminor,the Luminor Marina and the Mare Nostrum,which drew inspiration from the historical models created for the commandos of the Second World War.
Invested in Panerai and made it available internationally,transforming it into one of the major players in the industry.
Since then,the brand has released several collections and started creating its own in-house movements,thanks to its production facilities based in Neuchâtel,Switzerland.
However,all Replicas Watches bearing the Panerai name are reminiscent of the watches created for Italian frogmen,with the typical military elements.
