Panerai was founded in 1860 by Giovanni Panerai in Florence, Italy. In addition to establishing a watch shop and workshop, the Italian watch manufacturer also served as the city’s first watchmaking school. Panerai would go on to supply watches and other precision instruments to the Royal Italian Navy, most of which contained Rolex movements during that time. Today, Panerai is owned by the Richemont Group which also owns A. Lange & Söhne, Cartier, IWC Schaffhausen, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Roger Dubuis, and Vacheron Constantin.
Partnership with Ferrari
After the expiration of Ferrari‘s contract with Girard-Perregaux and fresh off the back of five consecutive Formula One Constructors’s and Drivers’ Championships with Michael Schumacher, the Italian team and Panerai entered a five-year contract from 2005 to 2010 that could perhaps be best described as unorthodox. Rather than producing limited editions of existing products, Panerai aimed to create a new collection from the ground up with the aim of producing “a Panerai Ferrari watch, not a Panerai for Ferrari.”
A total of 27 references were made with the new “Ferrari engineered by Panerai” designation which boasted prominent Ferrari branding on the dial, reference numbers beginning with “FER”, and with Panerai branding only on the case back. While not all had direct tie-ins with Grand Prix racing, others were Formula One-specific such as 2007’s Panerai Scuderia Chronograph (ref. FER00038) and 2009’s Panerai Chronograph Abu Dhabi F1 GP (ref. FER00040).
As it turns out, the watch dial wasn’t the only place without Panerai branding. With no sponsorship involved, the Panerai name was also absent from Ferrari F1 cars. On top of that, the Ferrari F1 drivers during that era all had their own personal watch sponsorships with other brands, further obscuring the Panerai name within the Grand Prix paddock. Ferrari partnered with Cabestan after the conclusion of the Panerai contract.
References
https://www.panerai.com/en/world-of-panerai/history.html
https://www.phillips.com/article/66483373/a-historically-important-collection-of-vintage-panerai-watches
https://quillandpad.com/2021/05/08/history-of-ferrari-watches-engineered-by-officine-panerai/
https://www.watchpaper.com/2021/02/11/a-ferrari-for-the-wrist/
https://oracleoftime.com/panerai-x-ferrari-the-forgotten-collaboration/
https://onlineonly.christies.com/s/watches-online-collectors-edition/panerai-ferrari-pvd-steel-chronograph-ref-fer-00038-limited-edition-149/92987
https://panerai.watchlounge.com/watches/fer00040-chronograph-abu-dhabi-f1-gp/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJlkfuSgJ4c