The eighty-fifth Panerai boutique has officially opened and is based in Italy. After the openings of Florence, Milan and Venice, the boutique that unlocked its doors at Via del Babuino 130, in Rome, covers a gap that, in the words of Jean–Marc Pontroué, had to be filled sooner than ever before considering that Panerai is the only Italian brand to belong to the luxury watch segment. The event we took part to was split into two parts: the first one was a private lunch reserved to media representatives held on the Eden Hotel‘s rooftop, from which you can enjoy a privileged view over the eternal city, the latter was open to a broader audience, invited to attend the official opening of the new boutique, marked by the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Jean–Marc Pontroué, CEO of Panerai, and Gregorio Paltrinieri, 1500 freestyle swimming Olympic champion and brand ambassador cut the ribbon around 7 pm. Gregorio is not the ordinary watch brand ambassador; he is crazy about watches, and Panerai has always held a special place among his favourite brands.
The choice of signing with Paltrinieri, who’s training himself for the 2020 Olympics, is a perfect match for the brand and he is an ideal sponsor in terms of product and image. Although Gregorio is not allowed to wear any watch while swimming, he will shift from a Luminor to a Submersible, and back, once he has stepped outside of the swimming pool. Aesthetically, the new boutique’s design and feel is in line with the other ones: compared to its sibling located in Via Montenapoleone, Milan, it offers a single floor layout, instead of two, and allows you to explore all the current Panerai collections, at a glance.
The boutique debuts exclusive color variations too: the Radiomir SLC (Radiomir California‘s cousin) comes with a brand new dark military green dial. It was displayed on the left-hand side, as soon as you were stepping inside; Alvaro Maggini, who recently joined Panerai as Creative Director (he worked with Jean–Marc on developing Roger Dubuis), is in charge of the Brand and Communication strategy and the new direction the brand has embarked so far is perceivable. The Interior design has been curated by Patricia Urquiola, as usual.
Carlo Ceppi, Director of Panerai Italy, took the chance to launch a special edition Luminor, exclusively crafted to mark this event: the Panerai Luminor Marina 44mm Special Edition Rome is a 130–piece limited edition Panerai produced for and solely available at, the boutique in Rome. The watch is in steel and comes standard with a canvas strap, with red and yellow stitching, the flagship colors of Rome, on a tang buckle.
The case back is finely engraved with a miniature portrait of Piazza di Spagna which, for those not familiar with Rome, is a few steps away from Via del Babbuino. The celebrations continued at Fuksas‘ “La Lanterna“, where Panerai entertained fans and collectors, coming from around the globe, with unique aperitifs like the “Blue Submersible” to name one and the DJ set by DJ Saturnino, who also performed with his bass towards the end of the evening.
The guests, coming from Europe, Far East, and the US were also allowed to wear the new product collections, included, to name a special one, the latest version of the Panerai Lo Scienziato Tourbillon.
(Photo credit: Panerai)
Gaetano C @Horbiter®
