Officine Panerai is a luxury Italian watch manufacturer, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A.
Officine Panerai designs, manufactures and markets watches through authorized dealers and company-owned stores worldwide. Giovanni Panerai (1825–1897) founded Officine Panerai in Florence, Italy in 1860.
The company is headquartered in Geneva and manufactures watches in Neuchâtel, Switzerland using both movements manufactured in-house and movements manufactured by ETA S.A.
Panerai watches, designed and manufactured by Rolex SA, played a role in assisting the frogmen of the Decima Flottiglia MAS in their operations during World War II. Notable products include the Luminor and Radiomir wristwatches.Giovanni Panerai (1825–1897) opened up his first watch shop in Florence, Italy in 1860. Giovanni's grandson Guido Panerai (1873–1934) expanded the watch shop "Orologeria Svizzera" and took over his wife's family business, a mechanical workshop, thus founding a new company with the name G. Panerai e Figlio. This new company became an official supplier to the Regia Marina (the Royal Italian Navy), supplying all kinds of technical equipment and precision instruments. All Panerai watches, except for the GPF 2/56 were designed and manufactured by Rolex SA using pocket watch movements made by Swiss manufacturer Cortébert. The main driving forces behind the production of the first professional diving watches were Hans Wilsdorf of Rolex and Giuseppe Panerai.