THE BRIGHTLY GLOWING HISTORY OF THE PANERAI LUMINOR

Paneristi, those doughty devotees of Italy’s most famous military timepieces, can rattle off a number of reasons why they love the brand. Not least is that Panerais are among the most distinctive, and therefore recognisable watches on the market, their macho forms having inspired numerous wannabes. The brand’s story, especially during WWII, is worthy of the Hollywood treatment, but the actual forms and functionality are what make the fans fanatical.

Any one of the qualities they could cite would render Panerai unique. They can praise the patented clamping system that locks down the crown. They can talk about sandwich-construction dials. They can even boast that the Florentine maison has managed to issue a few hundred variants based on only two models: not counting that left-field cul-de-sac that is the Mare Nostrum, all Panerais are derived from either the cushion-shaped, onion-crowned