The Italian job

The Italian job In just twenty years, Panerai has established itself as one of the top Swiss watch brands, loved for the uniquely Italian feel of its big, bold sport watches.

JEAN-MARC PONTROUÉ, PANERAI CEO

In Geneva earlier this year at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) watch fair, Panerai CEO (since April 2018) Jean-Marc Pontroué set off a ripple of excitement when he announced a new partnership with Luna Rossa, the Italian sailing team and Challenger of Record for the 36th America’s Cup; probably the most prestigious of all sailing competitions (the final will be raced in 2021). Panerai is never more at home than in the water, its natural element for as long as the brand has existed. Established in Florence in 1860, Officine Panerai forged a reputation supplying measuring instruments to the Italian Royal Navy. This led to a new mission to make dive watches for commando frogmen: the now iconic Radiomir, launched in the 1940s, and the equally celebrated Luminor, a decade later. Virtually unknown outside specialist circles some twenty years ago when it became part of the Richemont Group, the brand has succeeded in climbing to the top of the Swiss watchmaking tree, thanks to its distinctive and immediately

recognisable designs. So distinctive, in fact, that the watches’ sporting credentials could almost be eclipsed by their size. They are the XXL fit for the craze that has people clamouring for robust, manly, indestructible watches. Panerai has the wind in its sails, and so does Luna Rossa which has been given the honour of its own Submersible watch. Its hefty 47mm diameter is balanced by the ultralightness of the carbon used for the case (another of carbon’s qualities being its extreme resistance). As for the dial, it incorporates sailcloth from the team’s AC75 monohull yacht.

Experience required “We’ve decided to make experiences a part of Panerai,” commented Jean-Marc Pontroué, outside of SIHH. “For example, the buyers of one of the limited edition watches we presented in Geneva can spend a day training with Italian Navy commandos. Another limited edition offers the chance to accompany Mike Horn on an expedition to the Arctic. Similarly, customers who acquire one of the

limited editions associated with freediver and friend of the brand Guillaume Néry will join him on a dive in French Polynesia. You get the picture. My aim is for Panerai to be seen as a brand that provides experiences, not just new products. I’m convinced this is the beginning of a new era for luxury brands.” This doesn’t mean Panerai is forgetting where it comes from, as Jean-Marc Pontroué confirms: “A brand is only worth as much as its capacity to stand out from what everyone else is doing, and to invent modern-day stories that resonate with its customers. We can do this because of Panerai’s Italian identity, and its huge fan following. Plus, of course, its capacity to innovate with new materials and movements.” The brand invests heavily in its Laboratorio di Idee, which employs some fifty specialists to work on innovations such as Carbotech and BMG-TECH: new materials that make Panerai watches even more reliable and robust. It’s this combination of creative innovation and iconic designs that makes Panerai an anything but ordinary brand. Eric Dumatin