Panerai, time measurement and longitude

Since 1860, Guido Panerai & Figlio in Florence has been producing precision instruments with a high level of technical content, becoming a supplier to the Italian Royal Navy. These instruments have indissolubly associated the name Panerai with marine exploration, time measurement and the development of a particular standard of quality and safety, a fundamental requirement for supplying the armed forces.
Officine Panerai began to produce watches in March 1938 with the Radiomir, whose dial was treated with a highly fluorescent substance providing exceptional luminescence. The Panerai Luminor, made from the 1950s, has been recognised as a historically important watch by virtue of the robustness and originality of its design.
Since 1993, Officine Panerai has offered updated Luminor and Radiomir models – highly reliable, technologically avant-garde watches, made to the criteria of craftsmanship inherited from tradition.