Wolfgang Puck’s culinary empire includes 12 fine dining restaurants across six countries, as well as fast casual airport options and partnerships with Gelson’s grocery stores throughout America. 

Despite his global reach, the Austrian-born, Monaco-trained chef opts to be in his kitchen, preferably Spago, the Beverly Hills institution that’s gained and lost two Michelin Stars and helped define California Cuisine since the late 1990s. 
Although it wasn’t his first watch, Puck’s Luminor Submersible Ref. PAM 00024 is by far his favorite.  

“I don't like to show off. So to me, it's understated. Nobody knows.”

While the Paneristi may disagree, how Puck came to acquire the watch is nothing short of deliciously entertaining. 

“I got it from the CEO of the company, Angelo Bonati, 20 years ago, and I’ve worn it everyday ever since. I wear it cooking and when I have a black tie. I have a nicer Panerai too, of this one, but I never wear it. And he gave it to me with my name engraved on the back.”

According to Puck, he received an invite from Bonati: “come over to the Grand Havana Room, he said, and we're going to show you some of the watches. He gave me this watch (which was first introduced that same year) and I said, ‘Oh, it's nice, it's probably $600.’” 

“So I have been wrapped up. The sales people, they gave me the helicopter sign. I said, is it $560 or $5,600? They looked at me and said, what do you mean five hundred dollars? It’s $5,600 and I said no, keep it. But here it is,” he said holding up his wrist just steps away from his beloved kitchen at Spago. 

For those in the know, this model marked one of Panerai’s earliest forays into the Submersible dive-watch line, important considering Puck’s first watch was a Cartier Tank. 

“You know, the Cartier wasn’t waterproof. And I dunked my hand into a lobster tank and when I pulled it out I went, ‘uh oh.’ I took the watch to Cartier and they were like “um, no we cannot fix this. What did you do?’ And I told them about the lobsters.”