PANERAI Watches, past, present and future ...
26 august 2005
Article published by: The Business Time (Singaore) LARRY WEE (August 26, 2005) Images related to this article. The allure of Panerai LARRY WEE explores the Italian sports brand's past, present and future IN a world where new watch brands proliferate, and less successful ones fade from view with alarming frequency, the outsized sports watch brand of Officine Panerai stands out. Although 1850 marked the year when founder Giovanni Panerai opened his first watch shop in Florence, Italy, most of the brand's current owners can only trace their timepieces back to 1998 or later. Then and now: from top, rusty brown girders frame a space that recollects Panerai's vintage, with a replica of the two-man sub used by the elite Gamma group of the Italian navy. Then, a walk through a ""time tunnel'' in under-sea blue takes visitors to an exhibition area of modern timepieces And yet it is already a phenomenon, with a fiercely loyal following both here and abroad. Perhaps it's because the brand's origins and history have not only been faithfully respected to this day, but are constantly recalled and perpetuated with pieces which recall its DNA. And you might quite reasonably say that it all started with the desire to go deeper. The Panerai family of Florence had to make sure that the diving watches and other precision instruments which they made for the Italian navy from as early as the 1930s were truly water-resistant - with dials which would be legible even in the murky ocean depths as well as in the dead of night. For visual clarity, they made their dive watches outsized, with early examples being some 47 mm in diameter. For luminosity in poor lighting conditions, they introduced Radiomir - a mixture of phosphorescent zinc sulphide, radium bromide and mesothorium - which the family company had already patented some 20 years earlier. Radiomir was used in a number of the products which they were already supplying to the Italian navy - such as anti-aircraft gunsights, self-illuminating telescopes and even mechanical calculators for timing the launch of torpedoes from motorised torpedo boats. When adapted to their watches, Radiomir was applied to the middle of a three-layered 'sandwich' dial. And when that mixture proved a bit too dangerous for human use, it was replaced by tritium-based Luminor. The rest, as recorders of times past are wont to say, is history. Today, Radiomir and Luminor have become the signature names for the two most recognisable case-styles for the Italian sports watch brand of Officine Panerai. And Paneristis (as Panerai's zealous fans are christened) will happily remind us that it's almost as if Panerai single-handedly made 44 mm watch cases eminently wearable, and 'normal' 35 to 40 mm alternatives seem almost uncomfortably small. Legend has it that in 1998 - within a year of purchasing the brand from the Panerai family in 1997 - the Vendome Group (predecessor of today's Richemont) had already recouped its investment just with the sale of a 60-piece, platinum version of the Radiomir housing its 16-ligne Rolex movement of old. Between the 1930s and 1940s, the relentless search for water-resistance would also see Panerai watches evolve from the simple screw-down winding crown (recalled in today's Radiomir line) to one which was protected by a bridge. And, on top of that, clamped down by an integrated lever mechanism - a signature of today's Luminor line, and something which allowed Panerai to make the claim that their watches could operate at depths of 200 metres as far back as the early 1940s. Along the way, too, the original wire lugs of the Radiomir line came to be replaced by integrated, horn-shaped ones which, together with the watch-case, were to be carved out of a single block of metal. Current Radiomirs recollect the wired look. And the desire to protect their watch movements from moisture took another giant leap when someone in Panerai reasoned that if their watches did not need to be wound up as frequently, then the risk of moisture invading the movement when the crown was pulled out would also be correspondingly minimised. From that thought came the use of eight-day Angelus movements alongside the tried and tested 17-jewel, 16-ligne movements from Rolex. And from that thought was to come models such as a giant 60 mm, 50-piece version made for the Egyptian navy in 1956 - with moving bezel and a case of polished stainless steel. The quest to go deeper was to continue over the decades. By 1980, a titanium prototype made by Panerai was to boast water resistance to 1,000 metres, powered by an ETA auto movement. And as a salute to Guido Panerai's 1917 patent, tritium replaced the original radium mixture in the little vials placed under hands and dial to illuminate that particular watch. Today, Panerai's Luminor submersibles claim to go two or three times deeper. But, more importantly, the desire to link present with past - and future - remains very much alive under the capable stewardship of Panerai CEO Angelo Bonati. Earlier this year, he honoured Panerai's fans in Japan by personally presenting them with the first overseas exhibition of Panerai's Museum collection. And they were to be treated to something much more than just a history lesson. Visitors to Panerai's 9,000 sq ft Il Valore del Tempo (The Value of Time) exhibition area in Tokyo's downtown Marunouchi venue from June 4-12 first found themselves in an area framed by rusty brown girders reminiscent of an old ship's under-belly. Here, they could see for themselves not only priceless vintage Panerai timepieces but also other precision instruments and tools made by the company such as depth gauges and lathes. Then, just beyond a replica of the two-man sub used by the elite Gamma group of the Italian navy, a futuristic 'time tunnel' in under-sea blue lay in wait to transport them to a more modern, glossy battleship-grey exhibition area. The latter showcased not only Panerai's current collection, but also the world premiere of Panerai's own in-house eight-day movement, the P.2002 calibre. In the course of that little journey through time, Panerai fans old and new would have seen for themselves no less than four versions of that eight-day movement linking past, present and future - each boasting at least one, if not more, of the brand's signature features. On that giant 60mm Egyptian navy's version of the Radiomir in 1956, they would have seen for themselves the circular '8-giorni Brevettato' signature for its eight-day movement on the dial at three o'clock. That same signature was reproduced earlier this year in Geneva, when Panerai announced that it had found, and would restore, 150 of the same historic Angelus movement used in that 1956 watch. These are for sale only through its boutiques later this year. And if you were one of those who had scrambled for last year's Radiomir eight-day movement adapted from Panerai's stablemate Jaeger-LeCoultre, let's just say that you're quite likely to go a bit ga-ga over the P.2002, which will start life later this year as a 250-piece numbered edition, 50 in platinum and the balance in white gold. Possibly, this will be followed by a stainless steel version. To reward Paneristis for their legendary loyalty to the brand, Mr Bonati has conceptualised and brought to fruition a watch which does much more than just tick along happily for up to eight days on a full hand wind of its three barrels - the state of which is reported via an unusual horizontal arrangement just above six o'clock. Take a closer look at this Radiomir incarnation with wire-loop lugs and you will also spot a discreet GMT hand topped by a luminous arrow-shaped pointer. Almost too discreet, some might complain ... until Mr Bonati explains it's designed to hide quietly under the home time hand (with only the arrow-tip peeping out) when the owner is not on the road. And there's more. Reminiscent of the zero-reset seconds feature of A Lange & Sohne, another distinguished Richemont stablemate, the second-hand of the P.2002 (at Panerai's usual nine o'clock position) snaps back to 12 o'clock to allow for precision time-setting when the crown is pulled. Keep your eyes peeled on that nine o'clock marker and you may also notice a smaller version of the GMT hand to serve as 24-hour marker for home time when the wearer is away. And if you try to tell Mr Bonati that it might be a little tough to read, he's already working on another version for the future. A lucky few even got to see a computer simulation of what it might look like, just in case there were any doubting Tomasinos around... And, as the redoubtable gate-keeper for Panerai explained: 'Now, for the first time, we have our own proprietary movement which is strong and sturdy, which provides a link to our past and can also be the basis for new developments which we intend to present every year.'
Images related to this article. Article published by: The Business Time (Singaore) - LARRY WEE (August 26, 2005) 
