The Rise and Fall of Panerai

Most people have never heard of Panerai. But in 1941, six Italian frogmen strapped on Panerai watches, climbed onto manned torpedoes, and snuck into the most heavily guarded British harbor in the Mediterranean to cripple two Royal Navy battleships. The watches were so secret they were classified by the Italian government for decades. After the war, Panerai disappeared. The brand made roughly 1,600 watches total between 1935 and 1970, then faded into complete obscurity. It should have stayed that way. But in 1995, Sylvester Stallone walked into a watch shop in Rome and accidentally launched one of the strangest comeback stories in luxury history. Within a decade, Panerai went from making 2,000 watches a year to 70,000. And that is exactly where things started to fall apart. This is the story of a watch born in secrecy, forged in war, resurrected by a movie star, and ultimately undermined by its own success. #watches #panerai #watchhistory #luxurywatches #wwii #horology