On Panerai and high complications

Officine Panerai was one of the Haute Horlogerie brands that conducted workshops at the Dubai Watch Week. We caught up with Milvin George, Managing Director of the brand

Q:Why did you launch the Luminor Due? Is it to attract new clientele or to entice existing aficionados to buy another Panerai watch?

A:I would say both – priority is attracting new customers, but we also want our collectors to buy new products. Given the fact that we have new dials and a case that is very much thinner, we think that it will do very well with both sets of people.

Q:Why do you launch a high complication watch every year and do you plan to continue this?

A:We have to thank Richemont Group that acquired the Maison in 1997 for its belief in the brand. Later in 2002, we opened our Manufacture in Neuchâtel and in 2014, we moved to a bigger Manufacture, where we work on the entire process of watchmaking ourselves. This has given us the technical capability to innovate and create high complications.

Q:Why do you create high complications in the extreme high-end price range when your other watches are in the mid-range?

A:It is the brand ambition to express excellence in watchmaking and it is also because our consumers expect us to do this. It is a mix of many things and this synergy creates many beautiful movements and complications.

Q:Why is that your women’s line seems to be more of an afterthought?

A:By its very nature, the brand has a strong masculinity. If women are buying our watches, they are not buying it because it is a nice big gold watch with a good strap, but because they understand the philosophy behind the brand.