Panerai

Radiomir Watches

Originally founded in 1860, Panerai is an Italian luxury watch brand renowned for the production of precision instruments and exquisite watches. Panerai has contributed numerous notable timepieces that are highly admired in the world. One of its iconic collections is the Panerai Radiomir. The invention of this Panerai diving watch is a significant achievement that paved the success of Panerai. 

First introduced in 1936, Panerai Radiomir has already been through drastic modifications with the advanced technology and latest trends for over 80 years. In the beginning, Panerai Radiomir was designed and created exclusively for the Italian Navy. Until 1993 this Panerai diver watch was released to the public. It instantly gained worldwide popularity and is loved by prominent celebrities and personalities. 

The renowned luxury watch brand, Panerai was founded in 1860 in the Italian city of Florence by the talented watchmaker Giovanni Panerai. The original Panerai was the first watchmaking school workshop set up on Ponte alle Grazie in Florence. With its motto of “Where ideas come to life”, Panerai has been surprising the industry with its innovative inventions consistently for over 160 years. Holding such a legacy of long years, Panerai has reached an unbreakable status in the world of horology. 

Panerai has made glorious contributions to the world’s history in its watchmaking journey. As the demands by the navy increased during the war period, Panerai started to provide its products to the military. Before 1993, the company had been manufacturing precision instruments for the Italian Navy. Many of the watch models manufactured by Panerai were only exclusively created for professional use by the navy divers, including the Panerai Radiomir.

In 1916, The company unveiled the Panerai Radiomir as a new invention of luminosity that far surpassed all other similar products on the market. This innovation was patented in France on March 23, 1916, as the first of all Panerai patents filed in its history. This high self-luminescent compound with radium paste immediately became a key element in the production of Panerai watches. The Radiomir incorporated the radium-based powder to illuminate the dials. The high visibility of this radium-based paint underwater had brought a great use for the military. 

In 1936, when the war was looming ahead, Panerai developed a prototype of Radiomir for the Italian Navy that needed to be highly fluminous, easy to read and water-resistant. This first Panerai military marine watch featured luminescent indexes, a screw-down crown and water-resistant caseback for military use. 

Soon after the completion of this prototype, in 1938, the prototype was brought into production. It featured the famous Panerai sandwich dial with overlapping plates which is more similar to the Radiomir watch we know today. Due to the coating of a luminous zinc sulphate and radium bromide mesothorium, the watch performed optimal legibility under extreme conditions. The launch immediately grabbed the attention of watch enthusiasts.

One noticeable point is that the early Panerai Radiomir was toxic. The luminous chemical substances were found to be toxic as being radioactive in nature. Fortunately, the new Panerai Radiomir watches have undergone important updates and the current models are now completely safe while being made by the Superluminova material. 

With the war over, the brand returned to the dedicated production of diving instruments and supplied to the military. It was until 1993 when the brand shifted to produce watches for civilian use.

After the founder’s grandson Guido Panerai passed away, engineer Dino Zei started to lead the company and officially renamed the company to Officine Panerai. The company also started to explore a new business strategy. In 1993,  Panerai made its public debut and released its first luxury watch models to the mass market in that year, such as the Panerai Luminor and Panerai Mare Nostrum. 

In 1997, Panerai launched a new generation of Radiomir watches. Tribute to its original models from the 1930s, the new Panerai Radiomir PAM 210 featured a case of 47mm. Initially, these were produced in a very limited number of just 60 pieces for the platinum option available. Following the first model, Panerai continued to introduce new updated versions for the Panerai Radiomir collection in subsequent years. The newer Radiomir with smaller case sizes were launched to meet the needs of small wrists. The distinctive shape and its iconic designs have become a signature of a Panerai watch. 

The current Panerai Radiomir collection offers a variety of options with different dials, colors and sizes. These Radiomir watches are now equipped with the Panerai in-house manufactured movements. Some of the most popular models from the collection include the older Panerai PAM 210, the simple Panerai Radiomir 8 Days PAM 346 as well as the Panerai Radiomir Black Seal.

The Panerai Black Seal watches are one of the most famous models from the Panerai Radiomir collection. It was designed from the inspiration of the early Panerai models in the 1930s. This model was named after the manned torpedoes which were used by the Royal Italian Navy. The first prototype of this Black Seal model, the Panerai PAM 183, was released in 2004. This highly functional watch with an elegant design has been well received by watch lovers. Due to the first success, at present, there are already a handful of versions under this model in the Panerai, including the Panerai PAM 388, the Panerai PAM 287, and the Panerai PAM 292.

The Panerai Radiomir watch has been holding up to its name ever since its first launch. The brand has continued to add new elements and attributes to the Panerai Radiomir collection. In 2012, the Radiomir 1940 lineup made its debut independent from the Radiomir collection. In a very short span of time, it has reached a top-notch position as one of the best luxury dive watches. These iconic Panerai watches can be paired with your outfit perfectly every day as well as any special occasions.

The Panerai Radiomir is no doubt an icon amongst luxury sports watches. The Panerai watch perfectly blends the Italian styling sense with reliable Swiss craftsmanship. The Panerai Radiomir is highly favoured by prominent celebrities and watch admirers as well.