THE HISTORY OF THE REPLICA PANERAI LUMINOR, THE LUMINESCENT DIVER
Invariably, legendary watches are distinguished by a unique design, recognizable at first glance. And in this little game, one model undoubtedly stands out more than the others: the Replica Panerai Luminor. A watch with a design that has become iconic, but which also has a very interesting history. Italian Navy, luminescent substance, and Hollywood career…let’s take a look at the history of the Panerai Luminor.
Radiomir, the big sister
To better understand the history of the Luminor, we need to go back a little further. At the very origins of the brand. Officine Panerai was founded in Italy in 1860, when Giovanni Panerai opened his first boutique in Florence, Tuscany. And from the beginning of the 20th century, Panerai became the partner of the Regia Marina, the Italian royal navy. The beginning of a collaboration which would last several decades and which would be the main driving force of the brand until the 1990s. In 1916, Panerai filed a patent for a luminescent material based on Radium, called Radiomir.
On the design side, the Radiomir lays the foundations of what Panerai watches will be for decades to come: a cushion case with titanic dimensions (47mm in 1938), attached to a water-resistant bracelet by fine handles, accompanied by a minimalist dial punctuated with oversized Arabic numerals 3-6-9-12 (from reference 6152-1 from 1940). Without forgetting the element that gave its name to the watch: Radiomir, a luminescent material allowing divers to read their watch even in the dark. This material is applied to a disc located under the dial, itself openworked with indexes and Arabic numerals: this is the famous sandwich construction, which we will later find on modern Panerai.
1949, from Radium to Tritium
Just like radium, tritium does not need a light source to charge UV, and glows all the time. The only downside is that the lifespan of tritium is only a dozen years, which means that materials covered with tritium will lose their luminescent capacity over the years (while radium has a lifespan of 1600 years). For the record, Rolex waited until the early 1960s to switch from radium to tritium, for its luminescent indexes and hands.
1950, the beginnings of the Luminor
The Luminor really came out in 1950, even if the transition with the Radiomir took place gradually. The Luminor takes its name from the luminescent material with which it is equipped, just like the Radiomir fourteen years before it. It also takes up the design of the Radiomir, in terms of the case and the dial. But it is distinguished by three characteristic elements. First of all, a gigantic bridge-shaped crown protector, which allows the crown to be protected from blows, and to be firmly pressed in before each immersion.
