High-end watchmaking brand Panerai has been announcing several initiatives that would help in conserving our oceans and the environment. “Day & Night” magazine talks to Panerai CEO Jean-Marc Pontroué about new partnerships aiming for cleaner oceans, its R&D platform that encourages other watch brands to adopt recycled materials, and new watches and partnerships
Last year, Panerai announced a partnership with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO). How did that happen and how was the feedback?
We are not expecting any feedback in terms of business; the partnership is to provide Panerai with a way to find out which are the best organisations and the best projects to support. We have no competence in this area, no knowledge of where we have to invest to help make the oceans cleaner. We needed their expertise for all of these, and we have a very good partnership with them. First, they tell us what to do and where to invest our money. Second, they have connected us with more than 100 universities across the world so that we can educate the younger generation on protecting the environment. The important question is how do we educate the younger generation to clean the beaches and conserve our oceans.
Very soon, we have our first appointment where I am addressing the students at Bocconi University in Milan; I am doing the first one but everybody at Panerai will be involved. We have 20 subsidiaries worldwide and each will be responsible for five schools.
You also have a new platform for the research and development of recycled materials, with the idea that the platform can be used by other watch brands; did you get any feedback from other watch brands?
Yes, we got many people visiting us. Some have visited our Manufacture directly; we have listed our 10 suppliers, and they have been approached directly by competitors. I do not want to reveal their secrets. As long as you do not copy our Panerai model, we are willing to encourage them. If by doing so, they can avoid losing three years in development and investment as we lost at Panerai, the better it is for the world. I cannot give you names, but after Watches & Wonders, some big brands will announce recycled steel from our suppliers.
Last year, Panerai unveiled the Luminor Due Piccolo for the ladies; why did you wait so long before bringing out a watch for the ladies?
Panerai is a relatively young brand; out of the 20 biggest watchmakers in the world, two have less than 25 years of history, and one of them is Panerai. In Panerai, it took us around two years to establish our business, develop our models. It is only three years ago that we realised ladies were interested. I was in Saudi Arabia, and there were no ladies at our dinners or among our customers. Out of the 25 guests at the dinner, we had only 3-4 ladies who were wives of customers and fans of Panerai.
Each time, I was showed them our ladies’ assortment, and every time, I have sold them ladies’ watches. Panerai is, of course, a very masculine brand, but when I was in Dubai, I was seeing ladies driving Porsche 911, which is a very masculine car; so, why not wear a Panerai? The problem as we saw it was that we never did anything to make it more attractive to women – such as easy detachable straps, mother-of-pearl and gold versions, more colourful straps. We decided to create a couple of editions that are more appealing to women. That worked very well, and we have very good feedback on our ladies’ watches. We are out of stock for them.
How was the feedback for the Submersible S Brabus Black Ops Edition that you unveiled last year; and how did that partnership come about?
Our partnership is with the Brabus company, which has a yachting division – a concept that is very technical and very mechanical. In Panerai, we have the Luminor associated with the Luna Rossa. The Barbus is a physical, masculine, daring concept associated with the Submersible. We unveiled the timepiece at the Monaco Yacht Show. We kept it secret till the last minute; even our team was not aware of it. Only 3 people at Barbus and 3 people in Panerai knew about the launch. We didn’t do any press presentations or team presentations, and on the day of the opening of the fair, around 9 am, we and the owners of Barbus made the announcement that we had entered a partnership and had created a skeleton automatic submersible edition of only 100 pieces. We sold the 100 pieces in 4 hours. The US had an allocation of 25 pieces, and they sold every piece before the end of the day. We will continue that operation; you will not find any Barbus in the stores because they are already allocated. We will have a new edition that will be announced the in the forthcoming Palma International Boat Show at Mallorca, in April.
You started an Experience programme a few years ago, whereby when people buy certain Panerai watches, they also get to participate in an Adventure Experience; do you plan to continue that?
Yes, definitely; we plan to have 5 Experiences in the next 12 months. One is associated with the North Pole with Mike Horn, another one with the Italian navy in the south of Italy, another with Eilean. That is the one we will speak about at Watches & Wonders; the Experience will be 48 hours with Eilean: you can touch the boat; you can pilot the boat on the Amalfi coast in Italy. Another one is about the Secret of Florence associated with a perpetual calendar. This is with a high-end edition of a perpetual calendar. When they travel to Florence, we will not show them the museums and sights that everybody knows. The idea is to show them the secret parts of Florence that a person would not know if they did not have any Italian friends to show them the hidden parts of Florence.
