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Sly Stallone and the panerai rambos watch in stock

Panerai’s Slytech Luminor

The Panerai Watch Company has been around since the 1860s. It is an Italian brand and pitted against the commercial success of known Swiss brands. The brand catered  more to the needs of the  navy for precision timepieces. Panerai was the official supplier of watches for the Italian Navy for it was able to design and manufacture timepieces that can withstand extreme weather and underwater conditions.

In 1972, Panerai officially became Panerai Office and the brand was still closely linked to the Italian Royal Navy.  However, in 1993, Panerai’s Marina Militare timepieces were no longer feasible with the Italian navy. The model was said to be no longer cost-effective and no longer meets the requirements of the navy.  The company could not just fold as its heritage  had too much to offer so the company opened its first retail shop for the public sometime in 1993-94. The brand was of no consequence, Panerai was an obscure brand until Sylvester Stallone.

Great watches are just meant to be. It was said that Stallone spotted a Panerai watch on display at a shop in Rome. The actual watch was a Panerai Luminor Chrono and old Sly had to get one to use for his blockbuster movie “Daylight”.   Panerai must have thanked its lucky star when Stallone ordered a bunch of Panerais with his signature at the back case – “Slytech”. He gave the watches as gifts to his friends including Arnold Schwarzenegger back in the USA. The rest was history. The watch gained exposure in the movie and thus gathered a following of the rich and famous thanks to Stallone. Among celebrity Panerai  endorsers are former US President Bill Clinton, actors Brad Pitt, Pierce Brosnan, Orlando Bloom, Ben Affleck and Jason Statham.

Sylvester Stallone became Panerai’s number one celebrity endorser. He requested the watch company to make special editions to suit his needs like the personalized Mare Nostrum.  In the latest installment of the Rambo movie series, the model was a Panerai PVD Luminor Marina Militare. Its black and non-reflective surface was perfect for Rambo’s stealth operations. ( Iconic Watches has one of these in stock for any budding John rambos)

In honor of Sylvester Stallone Panerai in 2005 launched a limited edition of 500 watches of the Stopwatch 1000M Slytech.  The watch was specifically designed for underwater use of professional divers. Water resistant at 1000 meters the model has pressure and helium release valves.  The is a Luminor with a 47 mm with a 27 rubies encrusted titanium case. Powered by a Panerai Cop XII mechanism, it has COSC certification as a chronometer.  The royalties from the sale of this model goes to the heart foundation for children.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 19th, 2010 at 3:36 pm and is filed under Panerai, Watch Info and tagged with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ben Affleck, Bill Clinton, Brad Pitt, Daylight, Jason Statham, Mare Nostrum, Marina Militare, Orlando Bloom, panerai, Panerai Office, Pierce Brosnan, Rambo, Slytech, Slytech Chronograph, Sylvester Stallone. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.