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FHH | The Quirky Backstory Of The Panerai Radiomir
The Quirky Backstory Of The Panerai Radiomir_1

Quirky Backstory. Quirky Backstory. Quirky Backstory. Quirky Backstory. Quirky Backstory

Panerai Radiomir. Panerai Radiomir. Panerai Radiomir. Panerai Radiomir

25 December 2025

The Quirky Backstory Of The Panerai Radiomir

education

by @watches_and_culture

Back in 1935, G. Panerai e Figlio was a watch retailer based in Florence, Italy. For many years, the company supplied the Marina Militare (Royal Italian Navy) with various military instruments. That same year, however, military officials asked Giuseppe Panerai to work on a secret device — which would become the very first Panerai watch. It was designed for a special unit of frogmen engaged in a new form of underwater warfare: sabotage missions carried out using manned torpedoes.


 

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To develop this highly specific timepiece, Giuseppe Panerai began searching for suitable suppliers. Rolex, already a pioneer in waterproof watches, was the logical choice to provide both cases and movements. Panerai then modified the watches before delivering them to the Navy’s frogman units, which conducted covert operations throughout the Mediterranean Sea.


 

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These early Panerai watches were instantly recognizable thanks to their large size, cushion-shaped case, sandwich dial, and, above all, their highly legible luminous indexes and hands made from a patented radium-based compound known as Radiomir.


 

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Over the years, the Radiomir evolved and saw several improvements. One notable example is the Radiomir “Egiziano”, a special order for the Egyptian Navy. This model featured a massive 66 mm case, a rotating bezel, and introduced a new functional element that would later become a Panerai signature: the crown-protecting device.


 

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Today, the Panerai Radiomir has retained its essential design codes and remains faithful to the original concept, while being powered by modern-day watchmaking technology.

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FUN FACT:
Panerai watches were supplied exclusively to military personnel until the 1990s.