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In the 1940s, watchmakers faced significant challenges with night-time and underwater visibility of watch dials. Officine Panerai tackled these issues head-on, revolutionising the field in 1949 with the introduction of the Panerai Luminor collection. Panerai identified a groundbreaking luminescent substance, which they named "Luminor," that transformed watchmaking for generations. It was developed due to the limitations of radium, previously used in Radiomir. This innovation set a new benchmark for visibility in challenging conditions, solidifying the Panerai Luminor collection as a pivotal advancement in horological history. From the mid to late 90s, Panerai became more mainstream when two of the biggest action stars of the time in Hollywood — Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger — were seen wearing Luminor models on-screen without any official endorsement. The current line-up has infamous models like Base, Marina, 8 Giorni, left-handed versions, and more.
Features
The Panerai Luminor collection brought forth a brilliant solution to further enhance the robustness and reliability of a watch, the lever protecting the crown. It helped make the crown more water-tight while shielding it more effectively. In 1956, this distinctive crown protection bridge of the Luminor watches was patented by Panerai. Additionally, the watches came with integrated lugs to provide better protection and comfort. Apart from an in-house movement, the crown protector, and the cushion-shaped case, the Luminor collection also features simple complications like a GMT to more complex ones like a perpetual calendar, tourbillon, and chronograph with pushers on the left.
Mechanism
Panerai are famous for utilising in-house movements in their watches. The Luminor collection features a decent mix of hand-wound and self-winding movements. The manual calibre P.6000 holds down the fort in their Base logo iterations, while the best-selling Marina is run by the automatic P.9010 calibre.