Panerai marks 100 years of its historic Florence watch boutique in piazza San Giovanni with an exhibition titled Immersion that offers a contemporary exploration of the renowned Maison’s identity, on display from 10am-7pm daily, September 11-19 at Museo Marino Marini (piazza San Pancrazio).
An experiential journey brings visitors from the family workshop to the sea, coming to understand their story through experiencing the very conditions and forces that have shaped Panerai from its origins to today. Ten years after the acclaimed Dive Into Time exhibition at the Museo Marino Marini in 2016, Panerai returns to this Florentine landmark to unveil a new look at its legendary history.
The crypt of the gallery is an intriguing location for the artwork treated as an adventure through time and ocean depths reaching even the North Pole with reliability and resistance emerging as the game-changers that define Panerai watches. The exhibition offers a pivotal introduction to the origins of the family business that would become an icon of 21st century watchmaking. Viewers discover how, here in Florence from 1860, the Panerai family developed two parallel businesses across generations: the Orologeria Svizzera boutique, a point of reference for watchmaking culture in the city, and the G.Panerai & Figlio Company, where professional instruments were created for the Italian Navy. Born from this partnership was a method defined by practical demands: unwavering visibility in darkness, dependable water resistance at depth, exceptional robustness in extreme environments and an extended power reserve.
The work moves from Florence and the Panerai family into the secret military workshop, revealing how this technical expertise took shape. We are then led into the abyss, where pressure, darkness, silence and survival reveal the essential role of a professional instrument, before rising to meet new contemporary challenges: frozen lakes, polar landscapes, jungle humidity and ocean waves, all met with the endurance and confidence of Panerai’s explorers, adventurers and exceptional athletes.
The final section enters into the intensity of sport sailing and the wider rhythm of classic navigation, conquering the open sea with nautical instruments and contemporary chronographs. Ultimately, visitors leave with a strong sense of the high-performing pieces by Panerai that are informed by heritage and innovation.
