The following information applies to Vendome Panerai watches only. Shown above is a graphic of the back of a Panerai Luminor Daylight Chrono, with each of the types of numbers shown. Not all casebacks are the same, such as display backs, so the numbers will be in different locations. The photo is shown as a guide only. Interestingly, the actual Panerai reference number (ie. PAM 00250) does not appear anywhere on the case.
Case Number
This number varies from watch to watch and is often duplicated but seems to indicate a particular style of case. Paneristi.com states that this may have to do with the location of manufacture as well.
Serial Number
This is the serial number of the watch, and increments with production. The newer the watch, the higher the number.
Year Designator
Panerai watches are dated by a letter that appears before the production number. The watch shown in the example above is an ‘I’ production year, which is approximately 2006. The following are the approximate years of production that the letter indicates:
No Letter – 1997
A – 1998
B – 1999
C – 2000
D – 2001
E – 2002
F – 2003
G – 2004
H – 2005
I – 2006
J – 2007
K – 2008
L – 2009
M – 2010
N – 2011
O – 2012
P – 2013
Q – 2014
R – 2015
S – 2016
Production Number
If the watch is from F series or later, this indicates the production number of this particular watch for a designated year. The above example is 354 of 1000, which means that 1000 Black dialed PAM250 Daylight Chronos were produced in that year and this is number 354.
If the watch is from A to E series, then this indicates the production number of all dial and case variations of a particular watch. So if the example was 354 of 1000 for an E series base Luminor, it would mean that all base Luminors (White dial, Black dial, PVD, Brushed, Polished, etc) had a total production of 1000.
Credits to paneraisource.com
