Those interested in the history of watchmaking are wellaware that the names Radiomir and Luminor, which todayidentify the cases, originally referred to the two luminousmaterials created to achieve the legendary visibility at nightor underwater which have always been a feature of thedials of Panerai watches. It began with the invention ofRadiomir: this was a powder based on radium, patentedby Guido Panerai in 1916, to make luminous gun sightsand other optical devices exceptionably visible in the dark. It was Radiomir which was used on the dial of the firsteverPanerai watch in 1936, and for several years this remarkable luminous substance was one of the closelyguarded military secrets which enabled the commandos of the Royal Italian Navy to carry out their extraordinary missions in the depths of the sea at night, equipped with instruments specially created by the Florentine watchmaker.
In the 1940s people were concerned about the radioactivity of radium powder and therefore in 1949 Panerai patented Luminor, a new luminous substance based on tritium, some 20 times less radioactive. The replacement happened gradually, because some of OrologeriaPanerai’s clients preferred the unrivalled visibility of Radiomir even after the invention of Luminor, and this explains why some watches were produced using this substance even in the 1950s.
At a distance of several decades, it is the colour of the dial which tells this story about Panerai’s exceptional luminosity. The effect of the radium-based powder – and also to a lesser extent that based on tritium – has been to bring about a change in the colour of the dials of some vintage watches, transforming the original black into a characteristic brown, which helps to make each of these models unique and different from all the others. Two new Special Editions, made in 1,000 examples each, draw inspiration from this detail to appeal to lovers of the history of watchmaking: the Radiomir 1940 3 Days (PAM00662) and the Luminor 1950 3 Days (PAM00663).
