It was in 1913 when Panerai began a close collaboration with the Italian Navy and on 23 March 1916 registered the first of the patents that characterise and distinguish Panerai's history of success and innovation: the Radiomir, a radium-based powder capable of making the dials of instruments and sighting devices visible, even in low light.

In 1936, on the eve of World War II, the instruments developed for the Regia Marina Militare took on an increasingly strategic role. Panerai created the first prototypes of the watch called 'Radiomir' for the raiders of the 1st Submarine Group.

Known for being the first watch with large dimensions (47 mm in relation to the time), it is also the first diver's watch with a capacity of 10/15 atmospheres. The mechanism is supplied by Rolex, as is the screw-down crown and the dial called California, distinguished by Roman numerals at the top and Arabic numerals at the bottom.

This dial was later replaced in 1938 by the so-called 'Sandwich' model consisting of two superimposed plates in the middle of which is the radiomir and where the hour markers and Arabic numerals are perforated in such a way that the radium paint can make the time more legible and luminescent in the darkness.

Although the Navy archives show that Panerai only produced ten examples, this innovation allowed the Navy divers better visibility and reading of the dial even in extreme conditions.

The cushion case, due to its shape, has flush lugs welded to it, a strap that is water-resistant and long enough to be fastened over the wetsuit.
At the dawn of 1940, with the Second World War now exploding, Panerai decided to make the cushion-shaped case more resistant to the heavy stresses suffered by the raiders.

At the same time, the proportions become more massive: a case is developed as a single block with lugs to accommodate the strap and a new, much more robust winding crown. Thus, in 1943, the prototype of the 'Mare Nostrum' watch was born, intended for deck officers, of which it is assumed that three examples were created (only one was found, in 2005).

Four years after the end of the Second World War, two other major innovations marked the history of this brand: the iconic 'Crown Protector' and were created instead of the Radiomir a new luminescent substance based on tritium (a hydrogen isotope) called Luminor.

It was indeed the Luminor, patented on 11 January 1949, that gave its name to the new line of Panerai watches, which came to life in 1950.
An evolution of its predecessor Radiomir, its main features are the crown protection bridge, strengthened lugs and a cushion case, like the one mounted on the Radiomir 1940, but with a wider flat bezel.

The successes in design and innovation continued thereafter so that, in 1956, the first rotating bezel was created and the Angelus mechanism was used for the first time, bringing the power reserve up to eight days.

In 1972 a serious bereavement struck the Panerai family: Guido's son Giuseppe died. The family business, with its heritage of supplies to the Navy, passed under the management of Engineer Dino Zei, who changed its name from G.Panerai & Figlio to Officine Panerai Srl.

When the military secrecy agreement with the Navy expired, in 1993, Officine Panerai finally presented to the public three limited edition models inspired by the models created for the Regia Marina Militare's incursors: the Luminor Pam 000, the Luminor Marina Pam 001 and the Mare Nostrum which immediately became cult objects among enthusiasts and collectors.

These watches produced from 1993 to 1997 are known to collectors as pre-Vendôme, since it was in 1997 that Dr. Cologni's Vendôme group acquired Officine Panerai and in the same year, at the SIHH show in Geneva, in the Cartier space, four Luminor watches, three Luminor Marina versions and the Mare Nostrum model were exhibited, with the intention of introducing these great and revolutionary models to the world's best dealers.

In 2002, the first Officine Panerai Manufacture was inaugurated in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, andn 2005, the first P.2002 manufacture calibre was created with 245 components: manual winding, GMT, three barrels ensuring eight days of power reserve indicated by the linear indicator on the dial, and a seconds reset device.

Each Panerai watch represents the history of a company that has always looked ahead, continually seeking quality and technical excellence, characteristics that stand out in each of its new collections.

Italian design combined with Swiss manufacturing perfection means that Officine Panerai is able to interpret year after year a passion born over 150 years ago by continuing to create high-precision time-measuring instruments with a strong distinctive aesthetic and functional identity.