In 1993 Panerai CEO Dino Zei was preparing to launch some new Panerai models and he asked Mario Paci and Fabrizio Ciampi to come to his office with some ideas for straps. The PAV series was born but not with the PAV 98 Black which came along 2 years later. Fabrizio Ciampi invented a process that could waterproof leather called “Original Kodiak”. This process was used on the PAV 90 Tan, the PAV 93 Crocodile, and PAV 99 Arancia. The PAV 98 which came along in 1995 was also made with Kodiak Leather.