Panerai

Officine Panerai
(subsidiary of Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A.)
Industry Manufacturing
Founded 1860 (1860) Florence, Italy
Founder Giovanni Panerai
Headquarters Milan, Italy
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
 Angelo Bonati CEO,
Giorgio Ferrazzi Finance Director
Products Luxury watches
Parent Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A.
Website www.panerai.com
Footnotes / references
[1][2]

Officine Panerai is a luxury Italian watch manufacturer, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A..

Officine Panerai designs, manufactures and markets watches through authorized dealers and company-owned stores worldwide.[1][3] Giovanni Panerai (1825–1897) founded Officine Panerai in Florence, Italy in 1860.

The company is headquartered in Florence and manufactures watches in Neuchâtel, Switzerland using both movements manufactured in-house and movements manufactured by ETA S.A.[4]

Panerai watches, designed and manufactured by Rolex SA played a role in assisting the frogmen of the Decima Flottiglia MAS in their operations during World War II. Notable products include the Luminor and Radiomir wristwatches.

Employee of Panerai in front of the watch store in Florence in 1860

History

Giovanni Panerai (1825–1897) founded Officine Panerai in Florence, Italy in 1860.[5] By 1900, under the leadership of the founder's grandson Guido Panerai (1873–1934), Officine Panerai had become an official supplier to the Regia Marina (the Royal Italian Navy), supplying watches and precision instruments.[6] Panerai watches of this time consisted of cases designed and manufactured by Rolex SA and movements made by Swiss manufacturer Cortébert. The main driving forces behind the production of the first professional diving watches were Hans Wilsdorf Rolex SA and Giuseppe Panerai G. Panerai e Figlio.

The Florence-based workshop produced wrist-worn diving instruments and, between 1938 and 1970, delivered around 1600 watches (~1000 3646, 24 6152, 36 6154, 500 6152/1, 60 GPF 2/56), most of them to the Italian Marina Militare.[7] The GPF 2/56 (Egiziano Grosso) was produced for the Egyptian Navy in 1956.[8] By 1970, the company ceased to provide watches to the Marina Militare, as they were neither cost-effective nor met the naval specifications. In 1993 it then moved to launch its products to the civilian market. Following its acquisition of Panerai, Richemont repositoned Panerai as a luxury watch brand and increased prices.[9]

Products

Ref. 3646 from 1944 with Rolex "California" dial

Panerai offers watches across four marketing lines: Historic, Contemporary, Manifattura and Special Editions in runs of 500, 1000, 2000 or 4000 units — each carrying an issue number on the case back. The company issues Special Editions by year. For example, in 2006 issued the 1936 California Dial Radiomir special edition, a reissue of the first Panerai model presented to the Italian Marina Militare with production limited to 1936 units.

Ferrari branded Panerai products

When Ferrari's contract with rival watchmaker Girard-Perregaux expired in 2005, Ferrari and Panerai entered into a five-year agreement to design, manufacture and distribute Panerai watches carrying the Ferrari trademark. The collection was branded Ferrari engineered by Panerai and consisted of two product lines marketed as "Granturismo" and "Scuderia". The collection consisted of 11 models priced between US$5,000 and US$30,000.[10]

See also

Notes

References

  • Adams, Ariel (2010-03-04). "Panerai And Ferrari Officially Break Up". luxist.com. AOL Inc. Archived from the original on 2011-01-24. Retrieved 2011-01-24. Almost from the beginning the watches could not sell. Consumers disapproved of them, and stores couldn't move them. 
  • Pons, Grégory (2010-03-03). "Panerai-Ferrari: Divorce à l’italienne" [Panerai-Ferrari: Divorce Italian Style]. Business Montres & Joaillerie, la Lettre International des Marchés Horlogers (in French). Geneva, Switzerland: Grégory Pons. Archived from the original on 2011-01-24. Retrieved 2011-01-24. Ainsi donc, Panerai et Ferrari ne font plus écurie commune... 
  • Annual Report and Accounts 2010. Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A. 2010. ISBN 978-2-9700709-0-0. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-12-19. Retrieved 2010-12-19. Officine Panerai operates through a network of authorized dealers as well as its own boutiques. 
  • "In-House Movements". panerai.com. Officine Panerai Marketing e Communicazioni Srl. 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-12-19. Retrieved 2010-12-19. 
  • "Lot 321 / Sale 1348". christies.com. Christie's International Plc. 2007-11-12. Archived from the original on 2010-12-19. Retrieved 2010-12-19. Price Realized CHF97,000 ($86,490) 
  • "Timeline 1860". panerai.com. Officine Panerai Marketing e Communicazioni Srl. 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-01-24. Retrieved 2011-01-24. Giovanni Panerai (1825–1897), founder of the family business, opens the first watchmaker's shop in Florence on the Ponte alle Grazie... 
  • "Timeline 1890–1900". panerai.com. Officine Panerai Marketing e Communicazioni Srl. 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-01-24. Retrieved 2011-01-24. Guido Panerai (1873–1934), grandson of the founder, expands his grandfather's business and gives it new impetus, specializing in high precision mechanisms and becoming official supplier to the Royal Italian Navy. 
  • Munchow, Joshua (2014-03-24). "Panerai Radiomir 1940 Chronograph: The Day Everything Changed". quillandpad.com. Quill & Pad. Archived from the original on 2014-03-16. Retrieved 2014-03-16. It must be taken into consideration, however, that Panerai didn’t build watches for the public; instead it only produced tool watches for the Italian Navy, which means that Panerai watches were always, first and foremost, tools to be used.. 
  • Pasetto, Loris (2013). "Panerai - Una storia italiana". www.paneraibook.com. Loris Pasetto & Luciano Cipullo. Rolex S.A. produced 24 of the 6152 reference number and 36 of the 6154's. Official sources tell us that the Italian Navy bought 30 patented underwater watches in 1954 so it is plausible to presume that this lot was made up of a mix of 6152's and 6154's, which had been acquired for testing purposes. 
  • Pereztroika, Jose (2017). "The History of Panerai Watches at a Glance". www.perezcope.com. Jose Pereztroika. Panerai is pure history! To visualize the amazing evolution of “Panerai” watches, I created a comprehensive, contextual and highly visual timeline that displays every relevant watch and the events that had an effect on its production, looks and use. 
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