Officine Panerai opens the doors to its historical headquarters and hosts an event to allow the press to share the milestones accomplished in the first ten years of the brand’s life.

The exhibition, entitled simply L’Orologio Panerai, is an exhilarating journey taking the visitor from the first Panerai watch made for the Italian Navy in 1938 and gradually turning the pages of the story over these ten past, intense years of work, a decade which has seen the creation of a fine watch-making brand destined to make history!

The past and the present would not be complete without also adding the future.
Visitors can meet expert watchmakers and discover Panerai’s latest creations - four new calibres as well as the watches that house them.

The building known as Le Pagliere, kindly granted use of by Florence City Council, is the exhibition venue hosting the exhibition.
An original and unique setting making up part of the architectural complex which was formerly the royal stables is located in the Garden of Peace, close to the Boboli Gardens and Palazzo Pitti.
Construction of the Stables and Le Pagliere began in 1865, five years after the opening of Giovanni Panerai’s workshop on the Lungarno.

The most striking features of the building are the colonnade at the front looking onto Viale Machiavelli, the wooden beam ceiling on the first floor and the grand windows with terracotta sunshades which, by eliminating intermittence in the illumination, create an ambient particularly suited to exhibiting.

Following the visit to the exhibition, the magnificent Gipsoteca will host the press for dinner.
An event within the event since the Gipsoteca is home to over 5,000 plaster casts of the most prestigious masterpieces that adorn Florence and its museums.
The Gipsoteca is the museum found in the Institute of Art, in the middle of a park bordering the Boboli Gardens.

In March of ten years ago, the then Vendôme Group, now Richemont, acquired the branch of Officine Panerai concerned with Watches, Compasses, Depth Gauges and Precision Optical Instruments.
Also acquired along with the branch was the brand Officine Panerai, while the previous organization was called Panerai Sistemi.

In the 1930s Officine Panerai was official supplier to the Italian Navy of sophisticated, high precision devices. Amongst the multitude of ideas and instruments realized, a special range of watches was created specifically designed for use in extreme and highly risky conditions.

Since 1993 these special and secret military watches have been made available to the general public in limited editions under the original brands Luminor and Mare Nostrum.
The true confirmation came, however, exactly ten years ago with the international launch and success of the Officine Panerai brand.

A long voyage then, and one full of ideas, reflecting the values that Panerai has held since its origins. Values of ideas, values of men and women, values of a city, Florence, international home and point of reference of craftsmanship, creativity and a taste for beautiful things.

Ten years ago an idea emerged – to put together a watch with an unusual and yet authentic shape, with an extraordinary testimonial, Sylvester Stallone - but no brand existed. What has been accomplished in these ten years is recent history:

• a research and development centre called Officine Panerai Marketing & Comunicazione, with the aim of promoting the original, all-Italian project, thus giving the brand a long-term international opening that reflects Panerai’s original identity and authenticity;
  
  
• a distribution network that is highly selective and professional;
  
  
• the opening of five boutiques situated in the most important international venues:
     • Florence
     • Portofino
     • Hong Kong
     • Los Angeles
     • Shanghai;
  
  
• the Manifattura in Neuchâtel, which today boasts qualified craftsman and specialist watchmakers capable of operating at the highest levels. The Manifattura has the most highly advanced and technological systems to ensure the utmost quality;
  
  
• a technical research centre for materials and movements which uses the most advanced technologies;
  
  
• the creation and production of a range of fine watch movements which already boasts more than 10 exclusive patents. This range of movements means the presentation of at least one new and innovative calibre each year.