Officine Panerai and its footprints in Florence
Hanging above the central door of the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore – known simply as the Il Duomo – is a colossal clock that shows the time based on Italic Hours (also known as Julian Time and Ave Maria time). There are only a few in existence today. Its mechanism is set in a cavity, between the interior and exterior façade of the Duomo, hidden from view. Unlike modern dials, this ancient time measurement system has a single hand that sweeps anti-clockwise and completes one round in 24 hours, starting from the time of sunset.
The clock was built in 1443 by the Florentine clockmaker Angelo di Niccolò, and had its 21-feet dial painted by Renaissance master painter and mathematician Paolo Uccello. The latter decorated the corners with frescoes of four evangelists.
The Uccello treasure had been repaired and rebuilt many times in the ensuing centuries, including its mid-18th-century conversion to a 12-hour timekeeping system and a 1973 renovation that restored both the original Uccello artwork and the 24-hour mechanism. In May 2014, with the financial chops of Officine Panerai, the mechanism was once again put back in working order for the first time in many years.
The remarkable story of Officine Panerai spans over a century and a half. Its origins are rooted in a single shop in Florence in 1860, before it became the official supplier of precision instruments for the Italian Navy from the ’30s to the ’50s. In the present day, Panerai continues to honour its Florentine heritage by providing resources and supporting local institutions for artistic and mechanical endeavors.
The original Bottega Panerai – the city’s first watch shop – was located on the Ponte alle Grazie. After the bridge was ravaged during WWII, the company moved its flagship and renamed it to “Orologeria Svizzera” at the turn of the last century to the Archbishop’s Palace in the Piazza San Giovanni, just a few steps from the Il Duomo.
While there are currently 67 boutiques in the world, the Florence store remains as the spiritual and historical home to the luxury watchmaking company. Its façade retains several markings of its early life, but has since expanded from one to four large display windows. On the inside, the 285 square metres (from 58) space has also been reimagined by celebrated Spanish designer and architect, Patricia Urquiola. Her liberal use of walnut wood and brass, a metal that recalls the world of the sea and ships, keeps to the brand’s marine codes.
Also on display are vintage timepieces and instruments, demonstrating that through its years of formative nautical adventures, Panerai has kept stride with all manner of technical advances as it evolved from a maker of purely military tools to a brand watch enthusiasts now covet and collect. One such timepiece to desire: the Radiomir Firenze 3 Days Acciaio (PAM00604), a Florence boutique exclusive.
Each of the 99 pieces is entirely hand-engraved by expert Italian craftsmen, who carved the surface of the 47mm case – the same diameter as the very first watch created by Officine Panerai in 1936 – with decorative motifs inspired by Florentine iconography. The lines engraved on the elegantly brushed case, form geometric figures and famous Florentine symbols, such as the Florentine lily, the emblem of Tuscany’s famous city.
And due to the rigidity of the brushed stainless steel, it takes one engraver more than a week to produce each case. The motifs are first drawn as a provisional sketch, using powdered chalk or magnesium powder. The lines are then engraved with a burin. As a typical feature of vintage Officine Panerai watches, the case is paired with a black dial that bears a “Firenze” inscription.
Not far from the Piazza San Giovanni boutique is Officine Panerai’s second home, housed within the 15th-century Palazzo della Gherardesca, which is now the Four Seasons Hotel Firenze. The original frescoes, bas-reliefs, stuccowork, and walls of delicate oriental silk paper festoon the hotel, in celebration of Florence’s historical excellence in art and craftsmanship. Officine Panerai has essentially left the cosy space untouched; only accentuating the room with furnishings and materials of clean lines. And fittingly, the frescoes within the boutique depict ancient sailboats, a reminder of the brand’s longstanding relationship with the Royal Italian Navy.
In honouring its own Florentine origins, Officine Panerai has, for many years, been promoting the genius of Galileo Galilee as a tribute to the great Tuscan scientist. Galilee represented the astronomer to use the telescope to study the heavens systematically and, by formulating the law of isochronism, revolutionised the history of time measurement. Thanks to the sponsorship of Officine Panerai, the Museo Galileo in Florence has created a section where period exhibits and interactive multimedia devices illustrate Galileo’s decisive contribution to the history of time measurement.
Among ancient clocks and artifacts on display are the two surviving telescopes which Galileo built, three of his fingers and a tooth encased in a glass vase. Pride of place goes to the Jupiterium, a planetarium-clock with a perpetual calendar that shows the positions of the Sun, Moon and Jupiter with the latter’s satellites, namely the Medicean planets, as observed for the first time by Galileo in 1610. Enclosed in a 75cm wide by 86cm tall glass box, the Jupiterium has the Earth at the centre of the blue sphere. Powered by a movement that is regulated by that of the clock, all the heavenly bodies – apart from the Earth – complete their orbits in real time.
It was on the strength of this tribute to the memory and fundamental legacy of the great physicist, philosopher, mathematician and astronomer that Officine Panerai has created a range of timepieces named Lo Scenziato (the Scientist in Italian). The latest in the series is the Lo Scenziato Radiomir 1940 Tourbillon GMT (PAM00559), produced in a limited edition of 30 pieces.
Presented for the first time in a 48mm Radiomir 1940 case of 5NPT red gold, the main attraction is undoubtedly the rotation of the tourbillon cage. The mechanism developed by the “Laboratorio di Idee” at the brand’s manufacture in Neuchatel, is unusual in that a single rotation is completed in 30 seconds (instead of the traditional 60) and it rotates on a perpendicular axis, instead of parallel to that of the balance wheel. This special construction compensates the force of gravity, ensuring accurate timekeeping.
The skeletonising of the P. 2005/S movement also brings this timepiece to life. The arrangement, finish and action of every essential component can be admired both through the black skeletonized dial and the case back. It is through such mechanical distinctions that Officine Panerai, with its past firmly rooted in the city of Florence, is also leading the way into the future.
