Panerai（沛納海）

In 1860, Giovanni Panerai (1825-1897), founder of the family business, opens the first watchmaker's shop in Florence on the Ponte alle Grazie and establishes contact with the most prestigious and longest established Swiss watch manufacturers.Giovanni is succeeded by his son, Leon Francesco.
Guido Panerai (1873-1934), grandson of the founder, expands his grandfather's business and gives it new impetus, specializing in high precision mechanisms and becoming official supplier to the Royal Italian Navy.

At the turn of the century, the shop moves to the Piazza San Giovanni site in Florence, where the Panerai boutique can be found today, and the Orologeria Svizzera name, still visible today, appears on the shop door to underline the close link between the watches and their Swiss origin.
In this period, the first deliveries of precision optical and mechanical instruments are made to the Ministry of Defence.
Following disappointing tests carried out on the watches available at that time, the Royal Italian Navy asks Panerai to develop a watch able to withstand the extreme conditions it will be subjected to. A Radiomir prototype is submitted to the Command of the First Submarine Group and the watch passed all the tests with flying colours.

　　Officine Panerai presents the prototype of the first Panerai chronograph, the Mare Nostrum, designed for deck officers. Due to events in the war, the Mare Nostrum never went into production but remained at the prototype stage.
In the early 40s the device protecting the winding crown was fitted to the Radiomir watch to keep the crown in position. This device will enable the watches to descend to a depth of 200 metres, a remarkable achievement for the time.

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