September 10, 1993, marks a significant turning point in Panerai’s brand history. On this day, a dedicated collection for civilian customers was presented for the first time in Florence — it was the transition from a specialized military supplier to a publicly operating watch manufacturer. Previously, since the 1910s, the company had exclusively produced precision instruments for the Royal Italian Navy, developed for combat divers and manufactured in an official context. More than three decades after this step into the public eye, Panerai looks back at its own origins with the exhibition »The Depths of Time«.
The exhibition’s location was deliberately chosen: Florence, as the brand’s birthplace, and the local Panerai Flagship Boutique are the starting point for a two-month show before a tour to Europe, the USA, and China follows. The focus of »The Depths of Time« is on sources that usually remain in the archive: personal correspondences between the Panerai family and naval officers, technical drawings, early catalogs, historical photographs.
Historic Sketch of the Panerai Luminor
In addition, there are original military objects such as watches, compasses, depth gauges, as well as reproductions of historical patents for luminous material, underwater legibility, and case technology. These documents and devices make it clear how precisely defined operational purposes dictate design decisions. Additionally, Panerai uses this occasion for a new edition: a jubilee watch is to be presented at the exhibition opening, which takes up the year 1993 and transfers the design status of that time into the present.
Historic 16-meter wrist depth gauge, from a series of measuring instruments produced by Panerai between the 1930s and 1980s.
The exhibition particularly illustrates very clearly how strongly Panerai’s design language emerged from the logic of its use. Oversized numerals for quick readability, robust cases, the distinctive crown protection bridge: every detail is derived from a technical necessity.
Panerai Luminor Marina Militare, 1960
In an earlier interview with Chapter, Alessandro Ficarelli, CMO of Panerai, emphasized the brand’s distinctive design signature: »…modern brands continue to value both technology and a distinctive aesthetic in watchmaking and, like Panerai, constantly strive to combine functionality with design. And in the case of Panerai, it was functionality that created a recognizable design, and that’s why we never needed famous designers.«
Caseback of the Panerai Luminor Marina Militare
Opening archives and making history, origin, and tradition comprehensible is quite common practice in brand management today. However, the fact that Panerai reveals sources and prototypes in this process is quite remarkable. As a result, »The Depths of Time« is less anniversary folklore than a controlled opening. The show documents how a special instrument can become a cultural object and implicitly asks what we want to retain in the context of a luxury watch of military origin: quality, precision, robustness, visual clarity of the display. The exhibition runs for two months in Florence starting September 10, 2025, followed by the aforementioned international tour. [TS]
Featured image above: Panerai Egyptian 1956m © Luciano Cipullo
