With ties to Swiss watchmakers, this Florentine business has been around since 1860 and became a watchmaker not just of precision instruments, but ones that no doubt saved many lives. Known for supplying ground-breaking optical and naval instruments for the Italian Ministry of Defense and then the Italian Navy, Officine Panerai moved into the civilian market in the 1930s, and today has four major series of luxury watches: Historic, Contemporary, Manifattura, and Special Editions. The house's most iconic designs are the chunky Luminor diving watch with a unique flip-over crown locking system, and the more elegant cushion-shaped Radiomir with a screw-in crown, both inspired by the original military designs. Now though, the company has entered a level of rarity by producing limited edition luxury watches - the must-have when one rarely can.
