Panerai was founded in 1860 by Giovanni Panerai in Florence, Italy. In addition to establishing a watch shop and workshop, the Italian watch manufacturer also served as the city’s first watchmaking school. Panerai would go on to supply watches and other precision instruments to the Royal Italian Navy, most of which contained Rolex movements during that time.
The brand is currently owned by the Richemont Group which also owns A. Lange & Söhne, Baume & Mercier, Cartier, IWC Schaffhausen, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Roger Dubuis, and Vacheron Constantin. Fellow Italian brand Montegrappa was also owned by the holding company from 2001 until 2005. Some Panerai watchmakers who opted against moving to Switzerland would go on to help form the foundations of Anonimo.
Partnership with Ferrari
After the expiration of Ferrari‘s contract with Girard-Perregaux and fresh off the back of five consecutive Formula 1 Constructors’s and Drivers’ Championships with Michael Schumacher, the Italian team and Panerai entered a five-year contract from 2005 to 2010 that could perhaps be best described as unorthodox. Rather than producing limited editions of existing products, Panerai aimed to create a new collection from the ground up with the aim of producing “a Panerai Ferrari watch, not a Panerai for Ferrari.”
A total of 27 references were made with the new “Ferrari engineered by Panerai” designation which boasted prominent Ferrari branding on the dial, reference numbers beginning with “FER”, and with Panerai branding only on the case back. While not all had direct tie-ins with Grand Prix racing, others were F1-specific such as 2007’s Panerai Scuderia Chronograph (ref. FER00038) and 2009’s Panerai Chronograph Abu Dhabi F1 GP (ref. FER00040).
Another release of note was the ana-digi Ferrari Lap-Time Chronograph, which was first launched online on August 1, 2009. Dial colors had included black, red, and yellow. All versions featured the Ferrari shield logo, Scuderia Ferrari embossing, and the ability to track three time zones. A limited edition was also released with a total of 399 pieces, which came in a carbon fiber box and an original engine valve from Michael Schumacher‘s title winning Ferrari F2003-GA.
A big thank you to Lawrence Wacek for bringing this to our attention.
With no team sponsorship involved, the Panerai name was also absent from Ferrari F1 cars. Scuderia Ferrari drivers during that era also had their own personal watch sponsorships with other brands, such as Michael Schumacher with Omega and Felipe Massa with Richard Mille. This served to further obscure the Panerai name within the F1 paddock.
Ferrari partnered with Cabestan after the conclusion of the Panerai contract.
Related Pages
References
https://www.panerai.com/en/world-of-panerai/history.html
https://www.phillips.com/article/66483373/a-historically-important-collection-of-vintage-panerai-watches
https://quillandpad.com/2021/05/08/history-of-ferrari-watches-engineered-by-officine-panerai/
https://www.watchpaper.com/2021/02/11/a-ferrari-for-the-wrist/
https://oracleoftime.com/panerai-x-ferrari-the-forgotten-collaboration/
https://onlineonly.christies.com/s/watches-online-collectors-edition/panerai-ferrari-pvd-steel-chronograph-ref-fer-00038-limited-edition-149/92987
https://panerai.watchlounge.com/watches/fer00040-chronograph-abu-dhabi-f1-gp/
https://www.autoevolution.com/news/ferrari-and-panerai-present-new-lap-time-chronograph-9245.html
https://www.autoevolution.com/news/ferrari-lap-time-chronograph-sold-out-in-24h-11382.html
https://www.topspeed.com/cars/car-news/box-ferrari-lap-time-chronograph-limited-edition/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJlkfuSgJ4c