shop later moved to its current location in the Palazzo Arcivescovile in Piazza San Giovanni, changing its name to “Orologeria Svizzera” at the beginning of the twentieth century, making it an influential point of sale for Swiss watches. Leon Francesco joined his father in the company a few years later, when they started to work with recognized watch industry leaders from Switzerland to establish supplier ties that became the basis for the Italian firm’s sales growth and eventual watch production model. Panerai sourced movements, cases, parts, and entire watches from several Swiss companies as needed. 1916 - IN THE NAVY By the turn of the twentieth century, Giovanni’s grandson, Guido, had established “Guido Panerai & Figlio”, the then-new name of the company, as an official supplier to the the Royal Italian Navy. They had already been supplying the Navy with
high-precision instruments for a number of years, and it was because of the Navy’s unique needs that Officine Panerai created Radiomir. A radium-based powder, it would give luminosity to the dials of sighting instruments and devices. The substance’s high visibility and excellent underwater adhesive qualities immediately made the radium paste a key element in Officine Panerai’s production. The Radiomir patent was the first of many patents Panerai would file, marking the brand as a key innovator in the watch industry. It was around this time that Rolex, one of Panerai’s Swiss manufacturing partners, was making its name in the waterproof watch sector. Rolex’s 1926 development of the Oyster case became a defining moment in the history of the watch industry, making waterproof watches possible for consumer pocket and wrist models.
It would also create a new sales proposition for the Italian military, where the combination of Radiomir and the Rolex Oyster would give the Navy’s combat swimmers the first-ever waterproof timepieces. 1936 - THE BIRTH OF “3646” - RADIOMIR On the eve of the Second World War, Panerai created the first prototypes of the model now known as “Radiomir” for the frogman commandos of the First Submarine Group Command of the Royal Italian Navy. Today’s Radiomir retains many of the original prototype’s features: a large, cushion-shaped steel case (47mm), luminescent numerals and indices, wire lugs welded to the case, a hand-wound mechanical movement, and a waterresistant strap long enough to be worn over a diving suit. The Navy’s historical archives record that just ten prototypes were produced. The first production models of the Radiomir
ICONIC CONCIERGE
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