Historical milestones of the Panerai replica brand

Italy has given the world a number of essential things without which we can no longer imagine life. Sports cars, espresso, pasta, wine and so on. But few would guess that one of the most popular diving replica watches was born in sunny Italy.

We are, of course, talking about Panerai replica watches, originally from Florence, Tuscany. The founder was Giovanni Panerai in 1860, who opened a shop, a workshop and also the first watchmaking school in Florence. In 1916, Panerai filed a patent for a material called “Radiomir”. It was a luminescent powder that was used to illuminate dials. An interesting fact is that Radiomir was based on the radioactive element Radium.

The equipment it uses is still radioactive to this day, but nonetheless, they are very valuable as collectibles. Radiomir for watches, compasses and Panerai depth gauges. During World War II, the Italian Navy had diving units known as frogmen. These specialists used Panerai watches and built the Radiomir model for them. At that time, it was a very massive watch (47 mm) with a pillow-shaped case, a luminescent California dial and a manually wound movement. Panerai uses leather straps for fixing, specially modified to withstand the long-term effects of aggressive seawater. As early as 1936, Panerai created the prototype of this watch, and then gradually improved the model. It comes with a sandwich dial for better glow. The case received new, more massive shapes for greater resistance to water and mechanical damage.

In the 1950s, Panerai made an evolutionary step, another step related to the Luminous patent. Luminor replaced Radiomir, the name Panerai used for tritium-based luminescent paints. Luminor is the name of a new model created by Panerai, and they also received a new case that already has the characteristic crown protector.

This has the shape of a crescent moon and prevents the crown from unintended loosening during diving, which could lead to unintended ingress of water into the watch. This protection is still one of the main hallmarks of Panerai watches today. In 1956, the Panerai company processes an order for the Egyptian Navy. The resulting watch has a diameter of 60 mm and a rotating bezel to read the time spent underwater. “Egiziano” is the watch’s nickname among collectors, meaning Egypt in Italian.

In the 1990s, the Panerai brand experienced a minor renaissance. Panerai created new models, but also based on the original ones. The sales figures were very poor, but one day Sylvester Stallone came to see the watch and immediately fell in love with it. He bought several watches and began to actively wear them in his personal and professional life. For the first time Panerai watches looked on the movie screen precisely on Stallone’s hands. This happened in the 1996 movie – Daylight. fake watches uk

In the same year, Stallone’s film colleague Arnold Schwarzenegger also liked them. He took it on the set of the film The Liquidator. Hollywood movies have proven to be a great medium for marketing. Sales picked up and the brand took off. Later, we could see Panerai watches for example in the films Bridget Jones’s Diary, The Courier, The Wildcats, After Dark and many others.

Since its inception, Panerai watches have undergone great development. Today it is possible to buy watches on a metal bracelet (previously only on a leather one) and since 2005 the watches have been fitted with in-house calibers with various complications. There is a choice of power reserve indicator, time display in the second time zone (GMT), tourbillon, ceramic case, extended power reserve (8 days), date and stopwatch.

Now, people feel that luxury and practical fashion accessories also have military watches. They also produce several limited editions every year. This year, for example, the Radiomir model with tourbillon, GMT and red gold case.