Monday Morning Find: A Very Early Panerai Powered by a Rolex Movement
We're talking early prototype
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Before it was an internationally known brand sported by the likes of Sly Stallone, Panerai was a small watch shop in Florence that made some oversized watches for the Italian Navy. This is one of those watches.
Although Giovanni Panerai opened his watch shop in 1860, the Panerai we know today started around 1916, when the watchmaker started providing watches to the Royal Italian Navy. The watches were oversized, could be easily strapped over a wetsuit, and had brightly glowing numerals to make them easier to read underwater. The company made compasses and depth gauges to match. In the pre-digital days, divers couldn't do their jobs without watches like this.