Did you know Panerai have a Made to Measure service? Since they were first strapped to the wrists of intrepid torpedo riders, Panerai has been plumbing the very depths of their signature cushion case. Granted, their modern renaissance started on Sylvester Stallone’s wrist rather than an Italian Frogman, but if there’s not a film with him riding a torpedo, the 1990s weren’t as wild as I remember them.
In that time, Panerai’s gone from rugged, uncompromisingly massive tool watch maker with a die-hard following of Paneristi cultists to a watchmaker with some serious developmental chops. Their DNA’s firmly part of their core range still – the new Luminor Marinas prove that well enough – but they’ve managed to splice in more than a few haute horology genes, too.
Now granted, a perpetual calendar Panerai is aimed at a specific breed of collector, one that desperately wants that glorious Italian heritage look, but can’t spare the time to adjust for leap years. You know the type. But what if I told you that you could be much, much more specific than that? Have you ever seen a tourbillon and thought, ‘yeah, but what if it were in gold and blue?’ Now, Panerai has you covered.
Panerai Luminor Astronomo
“The product is the hero of course,” says Jérôme Cavadin, Panerai’s Chief Operating Officer, “but the customer is king. We had so many legitimate requests for this kind of thing that we just couldn’t ignore. We started to say yes to some personalisation years ago, but that was on and off and kind of made noise in the production flow. So, we thought, if we’re going to do this, let’s do it properly.”
The end result is that for the first time ever, Panerai is offering a made-to-measure service for high complications.
Most maisons of a certain gravitas have built bespoke watches at some point in their history, timepieces commissioned by a single collector to their (usually) demanding expectations. Made-to-Measure, as any Savile Row tailoring aficionado, is slightly different.
Rather than starting with a blank slate, what you’re essentially doing is choosing from a pre-prepared list of cases, dials and complications and assembling your perfect suit, car or in this case, watch. It’s a much more streamlined process with a much quicker delivery time. In an industry that’s already painfully slow like watchmaking, it makes sense.
“The bottom line is that the client doesn’t want to wait eight years for their watch,” says Jérôme. “So, we needed to structure it better, to come out with an actual programme, to start small.”
By small, he means a focus on Panerai’s high complications. At present, that means perpetual calendars, tourbillons, the Astronomo (Panerai’s celestial, equation of time movement) and minute repeaters. You’ll note that these are all intense pieces of fine watchmaking, genuine high complications, which makes sense for two reasons. Firstly, it keeps things small; there are only so many collectors buying minute repeaters. Secondly, those same collectors are going to be the most demanding, the ones who want – no, need – something that’s their own. As for numbers: “let’s say a few dozen so far.”
Possibly the big question therefore is simple: is there a desire for this kind of service? From Jérôme’s experience, yes. “I made an event in Singapore in November, presenting this programme as a kind of dry run with 20 VIPs,” explains Jérôme. “It was a full, fantastic evening in an amazing location in the city and most of them were Panerai clients already. We had a configurator on an iPad and some designers live from Milano, so when they decided on their design, we had it immediately printed and signed. What’s cool is that almost half of them then bought the watch!”
Obviously, a captive audience of specific Panerai collectors is different to the watch world in general. So, the question becomes, how much demand is there for this kind of Panerai Made to Measure service here in the UK? “Honestly, we don’t know,” concedes Jérôme. “All we can do is start slow and respect what we’re doing.
‘Respect’ here is an apt word and it seems like one of the main reasons (other than the practicalities) that Panerai has opted for Made to Measure over bespoke. In the last few years, Panerai has been very careful in what they put out. There have been no wacky colours, no strange combinations, nothing that isn’t aesthetically distinctly Panerai. Consistency is part of the brand and so consistency, as much as the customer, is king here.
Panerai Radiomir 1940 Minute Repeater
“I mean consistent colours with consistent materials,” explains Jérôme. For instance, platinum doesn’t fit that well with certain colours. Maybe the dark green, maybe a bit of blue and black. But then other colours work better with red gold. Our designers create these combinations for a reason. We would never do a flashy pink dial with a blue hand – and we do get this kind of request – but while it’s about personal taste, we’re still Panerai.”
What the Panerai Made to Measure process then boils down to is picking your complication, then picking your material (precious metal, bronze, or titanium) and dial colour from a number of available combinations. While that might sound limiting, given the rarity of Panerai high complications, it’s perhaps a bit more freedom than it seems.
“Sure, we’ve had clients work on their designs for hours, only to arrive at an existing model! But of the 10 clients that bought a watch at our Singapore event, only one ended up with an existing watch. The nine others were genuinely new.”
Still, there’s a good chance if you and a few friends went through the same process, you might end up with the same watch, off-catalogue or not. But there’s always the option of engraving, too – and perhaps most importantly, the strap.
“The strap is fully open. Here, the creativity can be infinite. Straps have a limited lifespan, so we’re happy to let the clients do whatever they want, to express themselves in the straps.”
The big question here is, what does this mean for Panerai in the main? At present, this is all part of Panerai’s haute horology department, the purview of a handful of expert watchmakers whose production is already limited by movements more than cases and dials. If they were, say, to start offering it on the Luminor Marina, Panerai’s best-selling collection, that would be a serious shift, not to mention one hell of an undertaking.
“We’re definitely starting to think about it for the future. Honestly, we’re not quite ready to answer if all our customers started wanting made-to-measure watches.”
It can be hard to wrap your head around everything included in Panerai’s Made to Measure programme without trying it for yourself. Fortunately, the watchmaker will be showcasing the programme at none other than Harrods, hosting VIP appointments from 30th June – 6th July 2025.
Learn more at Panerai.
Not that I fall into the tax bracket of being able to afford a bespoke watch, one thing is certain, Panerai wouldn’t normally come onto my radar as the massive proportions and (general) inclusion of the crown protector would preclude this brand. However, if it wasn’t for the (unknown but likely high cost) the Panerai Radiomir 1940 Minute Repeater does look attractive in red gold, (no crown protector, so looks somewhat elegant for a tool watch), my choice of dial would be a more restrained version than shown in the review, (so similar to the standard format of time reading that they normally use as opposed to the open frame detail), simplicity is key for me.
As it’s not totally bespoke, more of a “pick and mix” from an existing parts bin, it would never work for me as the physical size (generally 43mm) is just too big. I thought that 39mm was the new “sweet spot” but try finding a watch of this size isn’t easy.
I do like the cushion shape and the normal dial layout of Panerai watches, but the size, crown protectors and cost are prohibitive for the normal man in the street, – yes, I appreciate that this review is aimed at the super rich, but the above pointers would make a truly spectacular watch.