Panerai

Giovanni Panerai founded his watchmaking workshop in Florence in 1860, and later his grandson Guido strengthened Panerai’s role as a developer of precision instruments and supplier to the Italian Navy. In 1910, Panerai developed a self-winding solution of zinc sulphide and radium bromide mixed and preserved in glass tubes, called Radiomir, and from 1934 to 1938, Guido Panerai’s son Guiseppe supplied wristwatches to the Italian Navy. At the time, Radiomir watches were fitted with Rolex movements and produced in very small quantities. Later, in 1949, Panerai developed a tritium luminescent material for watches. This was patented and named Luminor. After the death of Guiseppe Panerai in 1972, the company was taken over by DinoZe and renamed Officine Panerai s.r.l. Since 1997, Panerai has been based in Neuchatel, Switzerland, and today Panerai’s popular ranges are called Radiomir and Luminor.