Description
Founded in Florence in 1860 by Giovanni Panerai, the eponymous watch brand made history in the first half of the last century when it began producing watches for the Italian Royal Navy. The first real collection intended for the civilian public saw the light in 1993, when Officine Panerai presented a line consisting of a series of three watches, inspired by historic military models.
One of them is this Luminor Logo Ref. 5218-201/A from 1995. It features a 44 mm polished steel case, the lugs of which are machined from the case while the bezel is forcibly mounted on the case middle. The oversize dimensions of this watch make it a giant for an era in which smaller diameters were preferred, making it become a cult timepiece for collectors and enthusiasts since its introduction on the market. The case back is made of steel, screwed down with a special 12-sided key, and is engraved with the inscription OFFICINE PANERAI FIRENZE, the reference, the serial number, and a 30-bar water-resistance indication. Powered by a Unitas 6497 hand-wound movement in 16 ½ lignes with 17 jewels and côtes de Genève decoration, the watch has a brass dial with Arabic numerals and bar hour markers, milled and filled with a tritium-based mixture, as are the baton hands. Apparently, only 677 pieces of this Luminor Logo Pre-Vendome were produced by Panerai – a rather small number that makes it a rare piece appreciated by all Paneristas and beyond.