Panerai watches

The history of Panerai began in 1860, when Giovanni Panerai opened his watchmaking shop at the Firenze Phone alle Grazie. The brand would move to Piazza San Giovanni somewhat later - the current Firenze Panerai Boutique is still located there. Although a specialist at watches, the Panerai firm would grow fame as a supplier of military instruments, including torches, compasses, depth meters and others. In 1916 the first patent was filed for 'Radiomir', a luminescent substance that would increase the readability of dials of instruments and devices in dim light. In 1936 the first prototype of a Radiomir-type dive watch was shown. Its oversized (47mm) case was fitted with wire-loop lugs and it featured a hand-wound movement. It was produced in cooperation with Rolex.