Panerai unveils its experiential booth at Watches & Wonders 2024, a space where its watchmaking savoir-faire blends with the nautical prowess of the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team.
Occupying an expansive 560 square meters, the booth’s design draws inspiration from the industrial elements of the Luna Rossa hangar, integrated and elevated by the refined aesthetics of the Maison.
A major highlight of the exhibit is the actual Luna Rossa prototype, dramatically suspended from the ceiling, symbolizing the heart of the Luna Rossa team’s engineering endeavours.
Transported from Cagliari to Geneva, this piece not only adds an element of dynamic reality to the event but also highlights Panerai’s dedication to precision and innovation.
Beneath this eye-catching showpiece, the new Luna Rossa watch collection takes center stage, showcased on an open display reminiscent of a high-tech lab’s sleek and functional setting.
Incorporating the concept of the Laboratorio di Idee, the booth represents a coming together of a hangar and the Manufacture, embodying human imagination and technicity, and at the same time, a reflection of the shared synergies between Panerai and the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team.
Since the opening of the Maison’s Manufacture in Neuchâtel in 2014, Panerai has been at the forefront of caliber development, merging traditional design with advanced manufacturing techniques to create a diverse and complex range of movements.
This innovation journey is showcased through its Laboratorio di Idee, where the boundaries of watchmaking excellence are pushed. “The booth design, conceived and executed completely by Studio Panerai, highlights the critical role of precision and reliability in racing, celebrating our partnership with Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli.
In a race where time is of the essence, precision, and reliability are paramount. This booth celebrates the notion that everything can change in an instant, underscoring the critical role of timekeeping in service to the team,” says Alvaro Maggini, Creative Director of Panerai.
Visitors will be able to explore the new Submersible Luna Rossa collection and experience first-hand the cutting-edge technology behind them through a setup that features the actual machinery used in Panerai’s Manufacture to test the watches made for the harshest conditions.
Among these, the time-setting test with 10,000 hours of time adjustments to simulate tenyears of frequent time setting to ensure the watch’s longevity under continuous use; theGMT functionality is tested through 10,000 hours of rapid time zone corrections, equivalentto 20 changes per week, to guarantee global travel adaptability; the manual winding mechanism of the automatic watches is subjected to 520 cycles of winding and unwinding,ensuring its reliability for a decade of daily use.
For chronograph functions, they are tested through 15,000 cycles of starts, stops, and resets, mimicking the actions of the most active wearers, while the water resistance test, critical for the DNA of the Maison, demonstrates the watches’ capability to exceed their rated capacity by 25%.
For a watch that looks asgood as it functions, the leather straps are tested for traction and torsion resistance through24,000 cycles, ensuring their elegance and durability through all conditions, whether dry
or wet.
By simulating extreme wear scenarios, Panerai aims to give visitors a behind-the-scenes look at its commitment to the longevity and reliability of the timepieces.
The culture of innovation and manufacturing expertise is evidently reflected in the continuous launches of new materials, including the new Ti-CeramitechTM, whose impressive properties from of lightness to resistance are showcased across the booth with high-impact visuals to create an immersive, realistic narrative of performance and sports.
“Our partnership with Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli is a central theme, reflected in a collection of watches designed for competition.
They are designed to conquer, drawing inspiration from the very materials that grace the hulls and sails of Luna Rossa. This partnership echoes our shared ethos of striving for excellence and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.
Each watch was developed with the team’s input and rigorously tested by them, to ensure they meet the demands of competition at the highest level.
It’s a mix of advanced technology and a relentless competitive spirit that rings at the heart of our commitment to innovation and excellence,” says Panerai’s CEO Jean-Marc Pontroué.
Echoing the boutiques’ design, the booth transitions from industrial elements to luxurious features, including the Bar Italiano, which embodies Italian hospitality.
This space invites attendees to experience the Italian tradition of coffee and aperitivo, further enhancing the boat’s welcoming atmosphere.
Founded in Florence in 1860 as a workshop, shop and subsequently school of watch-making, for many decades Panerai supplied the Italian Navy and its specialist diving corps in particular with precision instruments.
The designs developed by Panerai at that time, including the Luminor and Radiomir, were covered by the Military Secrets Act for many years and were launched on the international market only after the brand was acquired by the Richemont Group in 1997.
Today Panerai develops and crafts its movements and watches at its Neuchâtel manufacture. The latter is a seamless melding of Italian design flair and history with Swiss horological expertise.
Panerai watches are sold across the world through an exclusive network of distributors and Panerai boutiques.
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