Panerai Luminor
The Panerai Luminor is widely regarded as one of the most iconic dive watches in the world. From its military beginnings in World War II to its modern interpretations, the Luminor is a beloved watch with a rich history.
Panerai Luminor History and Cultural Significance
The instantly recognizable design of the Panerai Luminor is backed by a long watchmaking history. Panerai began in 1860 (the year before Italy became a nation-state), when Giovanni Panerai opened his first workshop in Florence on Ponte alle Grazie. More than just a retail storefront, the Panerai workshop was also the first watchmaking school in the city. Officine Panerai still exists in Florence, located in the Palazzo Arcivescovile in the picturesque Piazza San Giovanni, very close to the world-famous Duomo di Firenze. This prominent location has turned into an important tourist destination for watch enthusiasts from around the world.
While the Panerai Luminor was originally designed as a robust watch for divers, it is worn today by a wide variety of people. The brand received a huge boost in popularity in 1996, when Sylvester Stallone wore a Panerai watch in the film, Daylight. The story goes that Stallone was in Italy preparing to begin filming, when he stumbled across Officine Panerai in Florence. He immediately became enamored with the brand and purchased a watch to wear in his upcoming film. This affiliation led to the creation of the Luminor Panerai Daylight Chrono watch.
The Luminor is a large watch with a commanding wrist presence that works well for an action movie star such as Stallone. Arnold Schwarzenegger has also worn Panerai watches in his movies, including the 1996 film Eraser. Other action movie stars that have worn Panerai watches include Dwayne Johnson, in Fast Five (2011), The Expendables 2 (2012) and San Andreas (2015), and Jason Statham in The Transporter (2010) and The Expendables 3 (2014). The Luminor's distinctive design is instantly recognizable, especially on the wrist of action movie stars.
Fun Fact: The Luminor's Radioactive, Wartime Origin
In 1916, Panerai filed a patent for a luminous powder it called Radiomir, made from the radioactive element radium. The powder was first used for gun sights, but eventually made its way to wristwatches. Just before the start of World War II, Panerai was asked by the Royal Italian Navy to produce specialized diving watches. The luminescent dials helped the frogman commandos to read the time while submerged with low light conditions. Radiomir dials consisted of two layers, giving them a three-dimensional appearance. The lower layer held the luminescent material, while the top layer masked out everything except the numerals and hour markers.
In 1949, when the dangerous radioactive properties of radium were more well understood, Panerai introduced a new, safer luminescent powder, called Luminor. Finally, in 1950, this new and improved luminescent powder was used in an updated case design, hence the name Panerai Luminor.
Luminor Features & Design
The Panerai Luminor crown guard is very distinctive, but it also serves a real purpose. Water is the enemy for any dive watch, and the crown is the most likely way water could enter the watch. The Panerai Luminor’s crown guard applies extra pressure to the crown with a small lever, effectively sealing it against any possible water intrusion. It also protects the protruding crown from being knocked.
The round shape of the crown guard deflects any accidental blows to the watch. An accidental knock on the crown could bend it, if it wasn’t protected. Other dive watches use screw-down crowns for the same reason, but the Panerai Luminor crown-guard has the advantage of being very visible. It would be hard for any diver to miss locking down the crown guard, as opposed to a screw-down crown that could be overlooked. Today, the Panerai Luminor crown guard is one of the most identifiable and admired features of the iconic Luminor case.
Luminor Value and Collectability
Early versions of the Panerai Luminor were made exclusively for military use. Very few of these early Luminor watches still exist, and they are highly prized by collectors. It is not uncommon for early examples to sell for six-figure sums at watch auctions. At a Sotheby's auction in 2014, a vintage Panerai Luminor owned by Admiral Gino Birindelli (1911-2008) sold for 425,000 Swiss Francs ($446,000). The Luminor was a stainless-steel 1955 model, in good condition. It featured a removable bezel, which was speculated to be a prototype Luminor feature that never made its way into full production
Fun Fact: The Luminor's Rolex Connection
Early Panerai Luminor models were manufactured by Rolex (with the exception of the dial) and utilized Rolex movements. In 1997 Panerai was acquired by watch industry conglomerate Richemont after falling upon hard times. As part of the acquisition, a number of new old stock movements were transferred, including sixty Rolex caliber 618 movements. To mark the occasion of the acquisition, Panerai then released 60 special edition watches to mark the occasion, which used the newly found Rolex movements. The special edition watches sold for 20,000 euros each and were sold out within two weeks.
Watchmaker's Perspective
There is more to a watch than an iconic case design or beautifully designed dial. The movement of a watch is its engine, responsible for keeping the watch precise and for keeping the wearer on time. The Panerai Luminor has used a variety of different movements over the years, showing the brand's dedication to constant improvement.
The original Panerai Luminor was made exclusively for military use, and featured Rolex movements. Next, Panerai made the switch to Angelus movements. When Panerai eventually began selling the Luminor to the public, they used a modified ETA 6497 movement. ETA is a subsidiary of the Swatch Group conglomerate, and one of the largest manufacturers of mechanical watch movements in the world. The ETA 6497 Panerai Luminor movement had custom bridges for the barrel and gear train, and a custom balance cock featuring a swan neck regulator. The movement was nicely finished with Geneva stripes and blue tempered screws.
Finally, Panerai debuted its own in-house movement in 2005. The P.2002 was a hand-wound movement with an eight-day power reserve, named after the year Panerai's new production facility opened. Panerai debuted even more in-house movements in 2007, with the release of their P.2003, P.2004 and P.2005 calibers.
