With a case inspired by the Italian company's military past, this is the first family of watches with movements that have been made entirely in-house
The luxury Italian watch brand Officine Panerai certainly has strong star appeal - its products have appeared in a number of movies, adorning the wrists of Hollywood big names such as Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Pierce Brosnan, Hugh Grant and Orlando Bloom.
Officine Panerai is also a member of the exclusive club of watch companies that make their own movements in-house.
The company is famous for its Radiomir and Luminor watches. Panerai was taken over by the Swiss luxury goods group Richemont in 1997.
The company's story goes back to the 1860s, when one Guido Panerai set up a workshop in Florence to make precision mechanical instruments. Entering the 20th century, the workshops came to be called Officine Panerai. By the 1930s, the workshops were making a range of instruments to be worn on the wrists of frogmen; these included compasses, depth gauges and the like.
In 1935, Officine Panerai was commissioned by the Italian navy to construct watches for use underwater. These were intended for a special, secret navy unit then being formed in Italy. After some prototypes, the company delivered its first product - diving watches - in 1938. They were fitted with Rolex movements and Rolex crowns and casebacks.