Watch Dandy

For most of us, Panerai is a company we imagine (whether we realize it or not) largely in terms of what it’s become since it was acquired by the Richemont Group in 1997. Though a lot of us know the pre-Richemont history of Panerai mostly in the context of their provision of diver’s watches and other gear to Italian commandos looking to wage asymmetrical warfare against the British Home Fleet, there is actually a continuity of involvement in the maritime world going all the way back to the beginning of the 20th century (and which continued after the end of World War II as well).  It’s not often, however, that a landsman like myself gets to see how a Panerai looks and feels in the natural environment of a Panerai watch: that of the nautical world. Panerai isn’t a military supplier any longer, but 2016 marks its 12th year as a partner with yacht clubs and regattas in the Mediterranean, North America, Antigua and Britain in the sport of classic yacht racing – a great context in which to find out (again) that a watch that may seem inappropriate or even faintly ridiculous in one context seems completely natural in another.