Sylvester Stallone - Big Fan of Panerai Watches

Sylvester Stallone has long been a big fan of Panerai watches.

The story of the brand started in 1860 in Florence, when patriarch Giovanni Panerai founded the Guido Panerai & Figlio Company and soon signed a contract with the Italian Navy, having become their supplier of diving timekeepers.

In 1936, the company received its Officine Panerai name and created a prototype of a unique diving watch – the Panerai Radiomir that incorporated a special crown tube sealing device. The lever mechanism was used to press the crown into a conical cork joint to guarantee utmost water-resistance.

In the 1950s, the story of the company was highlighted by the birth of the Luminor diving watch that boasted a new supremely luminous dial provided with a special tritium-blend treatment.

The timepieces of the brand had long been a military secret before the company started the production of watches for a select circle of clientele.

The story of Panerai-Sylvester Stallone friendly cooperation started in 1995, when the famous Italian-American actor asked the brand to produce for him a highly limited special edition of watches that acquired the name ‘Slytech’ inspired by Sylvester Stallone’s nickname - ‘Sly.’

Then, specially for underwater scenes in the movie Daylight, the Hollywood star asked the brand to design a special edition timepiece named Submersible. Later, Sylvester Stallone commissioned another watch with a white dial called Daylight. Panerai also produced for the actor a personalized version of the Mare Nostrum watch.

All the Panerai for Sylvester Stallone celebrity watches feature an engraving of the actor's signature on the case-back. One can say Sylvester Stallone is partly responsible for Panerai’s popularity in Hollywood.

In the famous movie Rambo, the Hollywood star wears a Panerai PVD Luminor Marina Militare watch.

One of the latest Panerai watch sported on the wrist of Sylvester Stallone was a Panerai Luminor 1950 Regatta Rattrapante in the movie The Expendables. The special edition celebrity watch, introduced in 2009 in a limited number of 500 pieces, featured a 44mm case crafted from steel with black coating. It provided the functions of hours, minutes, small seconds, and split-seconds chronograph.

Look through a nice selection of Panerai watches: