Montre Officine Panerai Luminor GMT
1993 is a key year in the history of Panerai and its most iconic watch, the Luminor. In that year, for the first time, the brand presented the Luminor and its variation Luminor Marina to the public. Before then, Panerai watches had been available only to military forces. Directly inspired to a model of the past, the Luminor model quickly achieved an exceptional worldwide success. But let's step back to the origin of the firm and the main events that brought to the creation of this iconic watch. Founder Giovanni Panerai opened his watchmaker's shop in Florence in 1860 soon becoming the authorized dealer of some of the most important Swiss brands, including Rolex, Vacheron Constantin and Patek Philippe. At the beginning of the 20th century, Panerai became an official supplier to the Royal Italian Navy (Regia Marina in Italian) supplying high precision instruments. The invention of Radiomir, a radium-based powder giving luminosity to the dials of sighting instruments and devices, was a remarkable turnaround for Panerai. A patent - the first of a long series - was filed in France on 23 March 1916. At the time, the effects of radiation exposure were not yet understood and radium was used in several products including food, toothpaste and cosmetics (!). In 1935 the Royal Italian Navy approached Panerai and other watch manufacturers with the request of designing a watch resistant to extreme conditions while at the same time keeping exact time for the frogman commandos of the First Submarine Group Command and offering excellent readability even under water. The prototype submitted by Panerai in 1936 was called Radiomir, from the name of the luminescent substance used for hands and indices, and passed all tests successfully.

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