Pierce Brosnan is one of the great action/adventure actors of his generation. Brosnan not only starred as James Bond for several movies, but has been in some other great movies, including The Thomas Crown Affair, as well as After The Sunset. In After The Sunset, Pierce wore a Stainless Steel Luminor [Reference PAM 00091] as seen below. The PAM 00091 could easily be mistaken for the later PAM00297, and they are similar, but not the same reference.
After The Sunset is an action/adventure/comedy move which debuted in 2004, and had an all-star cast including; Pierce Brosnan, Salma Kayek, Woody Harrelson and Don Cheadle. On could argue that the After The Sunset plot was based loosely on Cary Grant's original To Catch A Thief movie.
The photo below shows the Panerai Luminor Marina Reference PAM00091 model that Pierce Brosnan wore in After The Sunset.
The photo below shows Pierce Brosnan just hanging out in real life, wearing his Panrerai, which he wore in After The Sunset.
Robin Williams is considered to be one of the greatest comedic minds that ever lived. His early passing completely stunned the world, and many people dearly miss him.
In the photo above we see Robin Williams pictured with fellow comedians, Jeff Goldblum and Billy Crystal. Robin Williams is wearing his Panerai Luminor Daylight Chronograph in the photo below.
Brad Pitt is one of the most successful actors in history, and in the photos below we see him wearing two different Panerai models. This first photo shows him wearing a Luminor Panerai Reference PAM220.
Brad Pitt is married to one of the most beautiful women in the world, Angelina Jolie, and in the photo below we see them together, and Brad is wearing a Radiomir Paneria Black Seal Reference PAM292.
I am working on a big update to my Jon Ham Panerai story, and I thought I would share this cool photo of Jon Hamm sporting his Luminor Panerai back in 2009, with his girlfriend.
Fellow Paneristi and American actor, Paul Walker died today Los Angeles in a car accident. Paul Walker was most famous for his role he played in the Fast & Forious movie franchise. Many of Paul Walker's fans and fellow actors are extremely grief-stricken over his passing.
Panerai only made 1000 units of this 2009 Limited Edition, which features an automatic SOPROD 9040 caliber movement, which was the same as the one that was features in the Panerai PAM28A-Series model. The Original 28-A Series Panerai model was made in 1998, and in 1999 Panerai made the B-Series.
Back in May of 2011, after 4559 episodes, Oprah Winfrey celebrated the end of her Oprah Winfrey Show, and said farewell to her viewers with a cavalcade of famous stars including Tom Cruise. As you can see in the photo below, Tom Cruise is wearing his 44MM Panerai PAM 299.
Dylan McDermott is pictured below, yesterday at the 2013 Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, with his girlfriend, Shasi Wells. This is the first time I have actually seen somebody wearing a PAM 514, and it looks stunningly cool.
Don't get me wrong, I am madly in love with my PAM372, with its trademark Panerai half-cresent crown guard, but I also really, really, really love the simplicity of the Historic Radiomir 1940s case.
Usher Raymond IV is an Eight Time Grammy Award winning artist that has sold over 65 million records to date, making him one of the best selling musical artists in history.
Usher pictured below, several years ago, with his newborn son, and you can see hie is wearing different Panerai models.
Usher is pictured below with fellow recording artist, Justin Bieber, and we in this photo we see Usher wearing, yet a third Panerai, this time a ceramic Luminor Panerai model. Ironically, Usher discovered Justin Bieber, and helped make him famous.
Usher is pictured below in 2008 sporting a Luminor Panerai on a stainless steel bracelet.
In the photo below we see Usher wearing a Ceramic Radiomir Panerai on the set of The Voice, on which he is a judge.
My name is Jake Ehrlich, and I am the editor and publisher of Jake's Panerai World, as well as Jake's Rolex World and Jake's Patek Philippe World. You can explore and visit all of my blogs by scrolling to the bottom of this page.
I really like Panerai watches, and in particular, I love the original Panerai vintage watches which were made by Rolex. Rolex actually made all vintage Panerai watches, from 1936 through 1956.
The original vintage Panerai watches made by Rolex were the very first Tool Watches, and Diving Watches ever made. In other words, 18 years before the advent of the Rolex Submariner diving watch in 1953, the very first Rolex diving watch ever made, was a Panerai.
I am particularly fascinated with exploring the design nexus between the iconic Rolex Submariner and the original Rolex made Panerai models. It is very subtle, but if dig deep enough you discover a great deal of similarity, hidden in design language.
The original Panerai watches are all worth a fortune today since they are so rare. There are likely less than 1000 vintage Panerai watches in existence. They were originally made exclusively by Rolex for the Italian Royal Navy, and were never available for purchase by the public.
As a designer, I really appreciate the timeless Art Deco design and simplicity of the original Panerai watches.
All the original Panerai watches made by Rolex from the 1930s through the 1950s were 47mm, and at the time they were considered to be enormous. Since then, humans beings have grown considerably in scale, and it is profoundly ironic to consider that our generation and the next are becoming comfortable with the larger size watches. This makes wearing an original 47mm Panerai today, a super cool looking experience. In other words, Panerai watches have transcended time more than any other brand, in a back-to-the future kind of way.
Panerai watches remained dormant from the mid 1950s until they were resurrected in Italy in 1993. In 1996-1997 the Panerai watch brand was purchased by the Vendôme Group, thus making all watches made between 1993 and 1996-1997 "Pre-Vendôme."
The "Pre-Vendôme" watches ranged in size between 42mm and 44mm and primarily featured the classic trademark design "Luminor" case which is distinguished by the half-crescent shaped crown guard. These "Pre-Vendôme" watches were scaled-down versions of the original Rolex made Panerai watches, and paid homage to the earlier Panerai models.
Academy Award winning actor, Sylvester Stallone had typically worn sport Rolex watches, and while shooting a movie named Daylight in Italy in 1995, happened to walk into the Panerai boutique in Florence and discovered the recently resurrected Panerai watch brand. He instantly fell in love with the brand and developed a relationship whereby Panerai made special edition Panerai watches for Stallone to give to his friends, like Arnold Schwarzenegger, and these limited edition watches carried the "Slytech" moniker designation. Stallone also wore Panerai watches in the Daylight movie.
All the "Pre-Vendôme" Panerai watches were considered to be very masculine and macho, and they all came with the similar designed "bottle opener" buckle which most of the original Rolex made Panerai watches came with.
After the Vendôme group took over in 1997, they started making all kinds of fascinating new variants based upon the original Rolex cushion case design language, and added all kinds of options like chronographs.
Today Panerai is owned by the Richmont Group which owns and controls The Vendôme Luxury Group. The Richmont Group, known formally as Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A., is a Swiss luxury goods holding company which was founded in 1986-1988 by Johann Rupert, who is a South African businessman.
The Richmont Group owns many luxury goods brands including, A. Lange & Söhne, Baume & Mercier, Cartier, Jaeger-LeCoultre, James Purdey and Sons, Montblanc, Vacheron Constantin, and Van Cleef & Arpels. The Richmont Group also makes Ralph Lauren watches as part of a joint venture with the Polo Ralph Lauren Company.
Since The Richmont Group acquired Panerai, Panerai watches have grown tremendously in popularity. Since then, Panerai has experimented like crazy, and even made special Ferrari models.
The reason I created Jake's Panerai World is to share all the knowledge and insight I have gained over my years as the world's leading Rolex historian. As a designer, I am absolutely fascinated with the original design language of Panerai watches, and invite you to explore the entire fascinating history of Panerai with me.