PCYC CHRONOGRAPHS

PANERAI AND THE SEA. A STORY OF INFINITE PASSION

Nothing enables men to contemplate the infinite more than the sea. With its perpetual motion and its capacity to be always equal to itself and yet different, the sea empowers human beings to enter a mythical dimension, almost beyond space and time. Officine Panerai has a truly unique and longlasting bond with the sea, as shown by its range of chronograph and regatta watches recalling classic sailing yachts in terms of design and functions. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, the Italian brand has supplied high precision instruments to the Royal Italian Navy for the needs of its special underwater commandos. In honour to this historic bond, Officine Panerai has for many years promoted the culture of the sea with the sponsorship of the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge, one of the most important international circuits of regattas reserved for classic yachts.

This is not simply the sponsorship of a series of regattas, but an authentic link of values and traditions that can also be found in the craftsmanship of Officine Panerai. The yachts which take part in the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge are very diverse in terms of size and sails and they are a fantastic spectacle when they race together. In the course of the year a series of regattas takes place along the coasts of the most renowned places in the Mediterranean, such as Antibes, Argentario, Port Mahon and Cannes. The yachts also move to the Isle of Wight and across the Atlantic Ocean, along the American coast of Rhode Island. It is precisely in Antigua that Officine Panerai realised another extraordinary dream: it rescued Eilean (which in Gaelic means ‘little island’), a Bermudian ketch constructed at the legendary Fife shipyard in Scotland by William Fife III, one of the greatest naval architects of all time. Three whole years were needed to bring Eilean back to the sea and to her original splendour. This splendour has fascinated everyone who has had the fortune to encounter Eilean since the year she was launched: 1936, the same year when the prototype of the first Panerai watch came to light, in Florence.