Panerai and Anonimo---Watch Cases

[jimyritz]

Taken from WUS---Pretty interesting...Especially link between Anonimo and Panerai
Mike
--------------

Interview with Alessandro Lari Head of Anonimo's Case Manufacturing Translated by Diter De Vrieze with some comments by U.S. Distributor Scott Moskovitz

Interview took place March 19th, 2010 in Baselworld Switzerland
Rob: What year did you start working in the watch business?

Alessandro: In 1965 I started working for a family owned case manufacturing company started by Antonio Bucci and his father. Antonio now works for Anonimo and is the head of design. Since I started, our main focus was working on the design of watch cases and submarine equipment. In the 1960s, watches with the high levels of water resistance (1000m) didn't exist, so we were trying to develop watches that would be used in all military applications when the Italian military told us what they needed. The building which we worked out of became the central Anonimo building and we currently house our case production and offices there. It is right outside Florence in Lastra a Signa.



Rob: What years did you work on Panerai cases?

Alessandro: From the 1980s until Panerai left Florence in 1997.



Rob: What was the annual production of Panerai during the mid to late 1990s when Panerai made watches for the civilian market (1992-1997)?

Alessandro: Panerai made about 1,500 cases during this entire period, and our company worked on about 1,000 cases.



Rob: Of the 1,000 or so Panerai cases that your company worked on, how many did you personally work on?

Alessandro: They all passed my hands. Most notably, I would like to point out that I did the finish on all the Slytech models which Sylvester Stallone ordered and had his signature on the back.



Rob: How would you compare the quality of the Panerai cases you worked on to the current Anonimo cases?

Alessandro: The watches we make today have a better finish and performance than the watches that we made for Panerai. It should have been 20ATM back then, but Panerai was unwilling to modify them to the depth that we recommended. Today Anonimo watches have much more labor intensive finishes, and greater depth ratings.
(as a side note, Swiss Panerai of course increased its water resistance in subsequent years)



Rob: How do you make a sandblasted finish in steel?

Alessandro: The watches have three steel components: the caseback, bezel, and the case. In order to get that sandblasted look on the case where it looks like a rough surface, you have to achieve a shiny and perfect finish first. After this is accomplished, we have equipment that blasts the watch with a treatment. While we have machines to help us get it even, all the machine's are semi automatic and the actual applications are all done by hand.



Rob: Why do you think that other companies aren't able to replicate this sandblasted look?

Alessandro: I think it's the experience? I don't really know how other companies work.

Scott: It's the history of it and the know-how. From what I've learned it's the evolution. Achieving this type of finish is so difficult and requires so much experience, other companies do not attempt it.



Rob: Anonimo has only made one high polish watch in the last 12 years. Did it break your heart a little bit to make the Mark II Chronoscopio Shiny?

Alessandro: Not at all! The Chronscopio Mark II is a very hard case to work with, and making the final product shiny caused me to have to work on different aspects and it took more time. Making the final product shiny caused me to do a lot of work, but it didn't take nearly as long as it takes to do drass finish. drass finish takes the longest. I thought trying this different finish was interesting.

Scott: I asked him to make it because we wanted to do something different. We wanted to make one watch one time for the Panerai collector who wanted a shiny finish like their current Panerais.
Rob: How do you make the Drass Finish?


Alessandro: first I have to make all three components shiny. Then I need to sandblast it to make a rough finish at a lower pressure. This rough finish is much courser than the finish that we would use for sandblasted steel. Then we apply a treatment. Over the years we've used different treatments, but this treatment is much more resistant to change than the original ox-pro or the ox-pro B that we did on the Dino Zei San Marco. After the treatment we use a special polish to cancel certain effects of the treatment. Then we sandblast it a few more times repeating the same process. The advantage of this Drass solution is that you get a much more consistent result. If we did 100 cases in Ox-Pro or Ox Pro B, we would get varying results and the finish is not as resistant to scratches and wear. If we do 100 cases in Drass, then you can control it to get the same result each time. With Drass I can make the color match each time by controlling the length of treatment and by altering the pressure.





Rob: Is Bronze a treatment or is it solid?

Alessandro: It's not a treatment. It's a solid block.

Scott: It's like saying how far does the steel go in a steel case. It goes all the way.




Rob: Some collectors love Patina from Bronze and others do not like it. What is the consequence of polishing a bronze case with some patina with furniture polish (like Brasso)?


Alessandro: Our bronze watches have received a special pre-treatment when they leave the factory. Because of this, they arrive in stores a particularly dark shade of bronze. This treatment slows down the patina process. While you can restore and remove tarnish by using cleaners, you will also remove the treatment that we added that slows patina down and it will come back faster the second time. Ultimately it is up to the customer, but I like the idea of the watch growing old with the customer. It will be yellow in parts, and dark in parts, depending on which parts are against his skin and which parts are against material. Every one's unique PH is different, and the pattern you create will be unique. However, if a customer wants to polish that is his choice but may find himself having to do a lot of polishing!




Rob: Does working on Bronze call for a different process?

Alessandro: We use a lower pressure because of the softer material, but we are still able to achieve all the different finishes that we can with steel. If you look at some of our bronze cases you can see that we can achieve all of the subtle finishes that we do with steel cases.




Rob: Anything to say to Anonimo Collectors?

Alessandro: Please, notice the little details when you look at our cases. We know people like our overall finish, but we put a lot of special touches where you have to really study the watch to appreciate. The cases are very labor intensive and take about two hours to do the finish on each case. Even our simplest watches have about 20 different steps. I love making these cases, thank you for supporting the brand.

[Ryan]

One more question.



HOW DO YOU GET THE F-ING BEZEL OFF!!!!

[ezcheese]

Cool info about the bronze & Drass.

[aikiman44]

Yes, definitely appreciate it.

[Pasquale]

One more question.



HOW DO YOU GET THE F-ING BEZEL OFF!!!!

Send it to A

[Rick-Holland]

nice to read thank you .... owned two anonimo's a millemetri and a militare crono very cool watches!!!
sold them to buy a panerai ;-(

[Jamie]

I would like to see one of those bronze cases at some stage.

[jycegrcia]

Good information about the watches and the materials being used. I am a big fan of Panerai and Anonimo Millemetri, these watches are really simple and pretty cool. It was great to read the whole stuff and I came to know many things regarding to Panerai and Anonimo which I was not knowing.

[aikiman44]

I would like to see one of those bronze cases at some stage.

[jimyritz]

Anonimo cases are sweet...Not sure if I would go Bronze or Drass...

I thought it was interesting how he referred to Panerai as "Swiss Panerai"..
Anonimo's are made in Firenze--where Panerai used to be made..

-------------
The new Anonimos will have hex screws on the cases and will come with
a hex screw driver in order to make changing straps easier...

Right now changing straps is a bear....

[aikiman44]

I've resorted to spring bars. No more scratches.

[bloozy]

One more question.



HOW DO YOU GET THE F-ING BEZEL OFF!!!!

I think I just read the answer to this today. I just went looking for it so that I could add a link here in the thread, but I could not find it again.

The case is made in three parts, the case back, the case, and the bezel. These three parts are "screw locked". I understood this to mean that the bezel is screwed into the case similarly to the case back. I would have to assume that there is a way to apply a tool inside the case to unscrew the bezel.