Ferrari Chronograph Red Dial 45mmOfficine Panerai watches are normally a sight to behold, but their recent partnership with Ferrari makes them even more of a collector’s item. Billed as Ferrari Engineered by Officine Panerai, the watch collection displays the engineering, technology, design, style, tradition, sportiness and passion synonymous with the two brands.
The two collections--Scuderia and Granturismo--are designed for those who have a fondness for “Made In Italy” exclusive creations that can also boast of outstanding functions. And for those that still want more from the Panerai-Ferrari partnership, five new iterations stand out.
The first is the Ferrari Chronograph Red Dial 45 mm, featuring a polished steel case with brushed steel edges, two screw down chronograph push pieces and a crown with rims worked in a square grid pattern. The red dial (with three counters) is a deliberate reference to the dashboard gauge cluster of a current Ferrari, and the tachymeter scale allows for calculating average speeds. The red dial is complemented by the red underside of the straps and the prancing horse logo on the caseback and the winding crown. The 
Ferrari Chronograph Yellow Dial 45mmFerrari Chronograph Yellow Dial 45 mm has similar features to the Chronograph Red Dial 45 mm, but with “Modena Yellow” replacing the signature Maranello House Red in the various colored elements of the dial and strap.
Then there’s the Ferrari Chronograph 45 mm DLC (Diamond Like Carbon). This limited edition (only 100 units are to be made) timepiece pays homage to the DLC treatment used in the construction of certain details on a Ferrari vehicle, achieved via carbon evaporation and making the case exceptionally shock and scratch proof. The twin counter chronograph has a total black visual impact through a steel case with black DLC coating, black dial and natural black rubber strap (with Ferrari inscription). This makes the color elements of the watch come alive – the classic Modena Yellow shield and prancing horse logo at 12 o’clock, two counters in red (like its Arabic numerals and seconds hand), and a silhouette of a Ferrari race car at six o’clock.
The Ferrari Rattrapante 45 mm line has two variants – the Ferrari Rattrapante Yellow Counter 45 mm steel and the Ferrari Rattrapante Red Counter 45 mm DLC. The two are characterized by Panerai’s exclusive automatic movement (Panerai calls this Caliber Panerai OP XVIII), a 42-hour power reserve, and a twin column wheel for the chronograph function and split-seconds hand. However, they differ in looks and outer features. The Yellow Counter has a polished steel case and bezel with brushed steel edges, yellow counters and split-seconds hand, baton-shaped 
Ferrari Chronograph 45mm DLC(and luminous) hour and minute hands. Its screw-down caseback has a viewing window in sapphire crystal, decorated with a metallic grid that evokes Ferrari motoring, and its strap comes in black curved and stitched leather. Reminiscent of car upholstery, the strap’s underside is in colored caiman for an elegant finish.
The Red Counter DLC’s steel case and bezel also comes in black DLC coating similar to its Ferrari Chronograph 45 mm DLC brethren, and helps highlight the prancing horse logo, Ferrari shield, red counters and split-seconds hand, and the Rattrapante inscription below the aforementioned Ferrari logo and shield. Its screw-down caseback is in black-coated steel, bearing an engraved prancing horse and a geometric motif, while the watch’s straps are in natural rubber.
The fusion between Panerai and Ferrari is illustrated by the parallels in the appearance of a chronograph with its buttons and the rear view of a Ferrari – the distinctive cavallino rampante (Italian for prancing horse) Ferrari logo which stands out at the centre, the buttons which resemble the tail lights of a Ferrari, the profile of the case, the black rubber straps (furrowed like tire treads), and the convex crystal similar to the rear windshield on a Ferrari. And in a burst of creativity, Panerai came up with yet 
Ferrari Rattrapante Yellow Counter 45mmanother tribute to the Maranello-based automaker – the watches’ crowns can only be closed when the prancing horse logo engraved on it is standing vertically to the case.
Engraved on the cases and bracelets of the models is an inscription which expresses and illustrates the working practice of the watch engineers. It reads: “Engineered by Officine Panerai. It has been a matter of meticulous, precise research, carried out by observing in a precise and painstaking manner all of the models created by Ferrari in its 60 years of history.” This has been the font of inspiration in achieving the production of a range of watches in which the best materials as well as a manic attention to detail merge into perfection.
The watches come in two significant color backgrounds – red/black and canary yellow/black. The three colors are also the Ferrari official colors (save for green), and have distinct histories. The yellow is one of the colors of Modena (the hometown of Enzo Ferrari, the founder of Ferrari), and red is the official color that identified Italian car racing on the international circuit. The black color which adorns the prancing horse is Enzo Ferrari’s tribute to Francesco Baracca, a reknowned World War I (WWI) fighter pilot. When Baracca’s plane was shot down in WWI, his parents invited Ferrari to use the black prancing horse emblem – a homage to his days spent at the Royal Cavalry or (according to 
Ferrari Rattrapante Red Counter 45mm DLCsome) a homage to his black stallion Nibbio - that he often painted on the side of his aircraft.
To the casual timepiece observer the collaboration between Officine Panerai and Ferrari may be a novelty item, but to followers of both Italian brands this is not just horseplay.