OFFICINE PANERAI 2010 ANNOUNCES SPONSORSHIP OF THE BRITISH CLASSIC YACHT CLUB COWES REGATTA

The ninth British Classic Yacht Club (BCYC) Cowes Regatta (Isle of Wight, UK) will join the prestigious Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge Circuit (PCYC) from 2010 as part of a three-year sponsorship deal signed this month.

The BCYC Cowes Regatta whichwill take place from Sunday 18th to Saturday 24th July 2010 will be the first UK event to join the Panerai Circuit. 2010 will be the sixth edition of the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge and marks the largest and most renowned classic yacht race in the world. Each year the Challenge draws yachting enthusiasts from around the globe and the most highly regarded Classic Yachts sailing today, in 2009 over 350 yachts and 1,500 crews competed overall in the Circuit.

The event will now be known as The British Classic Yacht Club Panerai Cowes Regatta - The BCYC Panerai Cowes Regatta is held in the tidal waters of the Solent, a stretch of sea separating the Isle of Wight from the mainland of England. The highlight of the week’s racing is the Classic Round the Island Race, starting on the Royal Yacht Squadron line before racing the 60 mile course either East or West around the Isle of Wight. The 2010 Round the Island race will be held on Tuesday 20th July.
The BCYC and Officine Panerai envisage that the 2010 event will be the largest Classic Yacht Regatta in the UK since the Americas Cup Jubilee Regatta in 2001, and are predicting that over 65 yachts will compete.








Source:

[ Officine Panerai Official Web Site ]



Possible Related Links:

[ British Classic Yacht Club ]


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Panerai Watches at Interwatches!

The importance of Divers' watches precision.

The quality of the equipment while diving turns to be more than an important issue before descending into deep ocean. Diver’s watches are specially designed for deep depths and equipped with its special case, as protecting the case is the main goal.
In order to be considered a diving one, a watch must be qualified as suitable for up to 150 metres / 450 feet, even though most of the watches considered to be suitable for diving are appropriate for more than 200 meters.
The “O” rings, usually made of nylon, are a very important part of submersible watches as it works as a protection sealing for the case and also for the crown. In order to avoid case deformations caused by the pressured of depth, most of the cases are produced with extra thick walls.
Even though, because of the potential risks, divers do not usually reach such deep profundities, watches show such depth capabilities because of the way their hermetecism is tested. This procedure is done in a static way and pressure in real life is much more, as the watch is being moved attached to a diver’s arm. As a direct consequence of this fact, a watch that is just used to swim must be at least submersible up to 50 meters at least.
The unidirectional bezel is what gives divers’ watches their most popular characteristic, as each immersion has a limit of elapsed time. That’s why it is more than important to have precise elements as divers life is in constant risk.
Just by rotating the bezel till the minute hand at the moment in which the immersion starts, the diver will perfectly know for how long he has remain in depth. The reason of featuring a unidirectional rotating bezel is that if by accident it moves on its own, it would only short time remaining instead of extending it, keeping the diver’s life safe.
Another important part of the watch related to keeping diver’s life safe is the seconds hand which when ascending it marks how fast the diver is ascending as one feet per second is recommended.
Some of the well-known diver’s watches are:

Omega the first wristwatch brand to produce a diver’s watch, the Marine. (1932)

Officine Panerai (1938)

From LIP and Blancpain, the Fifty Fathoms (1953)

Rolex Submariner (1956) revolution.

Rolex Dweller (1967)

Omega Seamaster Professional 600m, known as Omega PloProf between the circle of collectors.












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What is an anti-shock device and how does it work?

The anti-shock device is a flexible comportment intended to soften shocks so that the pivots inside of the case do not brake by receiving violent movements.

In 1933 Hans Marti, an engineer, patented a system called “Incabloc ®”. This system was based in a conical setting placed in a solid truncated cone located in the watch’s frame. The whole unit was supported by a cautiously calibrated mechanism.

In presence of a shock episode, the setting would slide into the cone allowing the pivots to transfer the shock to the frame. Then, wheels would be pulled back till being placed in the center again by the spring. This would allow the setting apart into its constituent pieces without having to remove the balance.

Some of the most prestigious watchmaking companies that have incorporated this mechanism are:

Between many others watchmaking companies like Rolex, in which in its Sea Dweller DEEPSEA watch features a Parachrom hairspring with high resistance to shocks and magnetic fields, most of the wristwatches' comapanies have incorporated such mechanism.

Similar systems are ETA's Etachoc, Rolex's Kif', Seiko's Diashock, and Citizen's Parashock.

Panerai Models and Reference Information

'Radiomir' and'Luminor' originally referred to the patented luminescent substances used in each model; today the titles refer only to the watch case. While the Panerai Radiomir features an exposed crown and patented wire loop strap attachments the Panerai Luminor is distinguished by a trademarked bridge that protects and locks its crown in place. Panerai Radiomirs have been produced in 40, 42, and 45mm variations. Panerai Luminors have been produced in 40, 44, and 47mm variations. Panerai's current production palette includes Steel, Titanium, Yellow Gold, White Gold, and Rose Gold.

The following photograph displays the three reference codes that are printed on the watch case of each Panerai: *OP xxxx: The reference number of the case. Each model may be associated with more than one reference number; Panerai has been known to assign multiple reference numbers to the same model within the same production year. *BBxxxxxx (or PBxxxxxx): The serial number. The current system was introduced in 1997 after Panerai was acquired by the Richemont group and be *B1851/3000: The third reference code conveys three pieces of information: the year of production (each letter is associated with a specific production year) and the unique number of the piece within its total production run (1851/3000). Modern and elegant, are known by a non conventional and sober design that gives the first role to the useful functions. The Master Control line has a golden rule: the most complicated are their calibres, more simple, comfortable and ludic must be their utilization. Their appearance is a render to the performances in 1950, their reliability must reply to superior demands. *The first letter of the third reference code corresponds to one of the following production years: A: 1998 D: 2001 G: 2004 B: 1999 E: 2002 H: 2005 C: 2000 F: 2003 I: 2006 In addition to the reference codes each watch case also displays the case's material and depth limit.

The History of Panerai

Officine Panerai, a storied Italian watchmaker that in recent years has emerged as one of the most sought-after brands in the industry (and is characterized by its fiercely loyal following of collectors and aficionados), derives much of its legacy from its historical role as the official supplier of the Royal Italian Navy. Its marquee model lineages - the Panerai Radiomir and the Panerai Luminor - were developed expressly in response to the stringent demand requirements of the Italian divers, submariners, and commandos who would be employing them on critical underwater assignments. The brand's military pedigree is reflected in the understated elegance of its austere black faces and luminous Arabic numerals and sticks that make Panerai one of the most iconic brands on the luxury market today.

Founded on the famed Ponte alle Grazie in Florence by Giovanni Panerai in 1860, the predecessor of what would become Officine Panerai was the first watchmaking shop established in the city and from its inception maintained close professional ties with its prestigious counterparts in Switzerland. Under the stewardship of Guido Panerai, the founder's grandson, the enterprise specialized in building precision instruments and by the turn of the century it had been chosen as the Navy's official supplier and moved to a new location on the Piazza San Giovanni (where the flagship Panerai boutique can be found today)

In the first decades of the 20th century Panerai began experimenting intensively with luminous materials in an effort to make instrument dials, sights, and telescopic devices that could be employed reliably in the dark. They settled on a patented combination of zinc sulphide and radium bromide that was later given the name Radiomir. Perfected by Giuseppe Panerai in the 1930s, a prototype Panerai Radiomir wristwatch was submitted to the First Submarine Group of the Royal Italian Navy in 1936 for approval. The watch was hailed for its performance and by 1938 the prestigious Panerai Radiomir was being employed by elite teams of Italian naval commandos in the field.

The Panerai Radiomir first gained the attention of watch enthusiasts during the Second World War as a result of its association with the audacious operations being carried out by Italian divers in the Mediterranean. The most famous of these attacks took place in December of 1941 when a group of six Italian commandos successfully crippled two British battleships, a tanker, and a destroyer in the port of Alexandria, Egypt. The leader of the squad, Lieutenant Luigi Durand De La Penne, was captured during the operation while attempting to save one his men and was subsequently interrogated aboard one of the targeted battleships. Though he refused to disclose the location of the charges he warned the British captain that he would need to evacuate his ship immediately if he wanted to save his crew. De La Penne and his partner were left in the hold while the ship was abandoned and miraculously survived the explosion that crippled the vessel. The British were so impressed by his conduct that he was later recommended for the gold medal of honour; one British admiral went so far as to describe him as 'the deliverer of the greatest blow that a single man has ever inflicted on a fleet.' By the end of the conflict the limited number of Panerai Radiomirs in circulation had become highly sought after collectors items.

In the early 1950s the venerable Panerai Radiomir was accompanied and later replaced by the Panerai Luminor. Although the Luminor preserved the Radiomir's emblematic watch case and dial it also incorporated several design advances including a distinctive bridge with a unique mechanism for locking the crown (the feature is so unique that it is now trademarked by Panerai) and an 8 day power reserve that greatly reduced the frequency with which the crown would need to be wound.

Panerai's wrist watches were reserved exclusively for military clients until the end of the 1980s. Although Panerai began selling directly to the public in the early 1990s, it was only after its 1997 acquisition by the Richemont Group - the same entity that manages the Cartier and IWC brands - that the brand began to garner wide international attention. Seizing upon the enormous potential of the Panerai legacy, Richemount re-introduced the historical Panerai Radiomir and Panerai Luminor models in their manual form and launched its own contemporary collection of automatic watches inspired by the classic lineages. Today Panerai is one of the most coveted and respected brands in the contemporary watchmaking industry. With its distinctive aesthetic identity, compelling historical legacy, and reputation as a brand favored by sophisticated aficionados it is little wonder that the ranks of Paneristi have grown so dramatically around the world.