A spectacular line-up of new Radiomir watches hits the market just ahead of Panerai opening its largest boutique in the world this summer in Manhattan. Rob Corder reports.
These are exciting times for Panerai’s American operation, which will be opening the brand’s largest boutique in the world on Madison Avenue later this year.
Panerai unveiled a completely new style of flagship store in 2022 that will be a template for boutiques around the world, including the New York flagship.
The concept has been given the description of Modularità Espressiva (modular expression) as it blends Italian design with physical and digital features.
It is first being used in Panerai’s Geneva showroom on the famous Rue du Rhône.
Branded boutiques, either run directly by Panerai or with its retail partners, are where the company’s CEO wants its watches to be sold so that customers can get the full immersive experience.
Speaking to WatchPro last year, Jean-Marc Pontroué said there was already a network of 170 stores worldwide, having opened one, on average, every three weeks.
“I do not say that we will always open our own stores. Two thirds of the boutiques we have opened in the past five years have been with partners. Panerai does not have a plan to be everywhere with our own boutiques. Very often a local partner has great relationships with customers that are far stronger than we have, even if we are present in that city. So, we rely a great deal on the professionalism of our partners and their expertise in Panerai.” Mr Pontroué explained.
New York’s flagship will be run directly by the brand, and the team is excited that it will set a new benchmark in terms of size and customer experience.
It will feature an immersive 30-feet wide timeline over an exposed brick wall that will take customers on a journey of key historical moments for Panerai and provide an introduction to the Florentine lifestyle that has inspired it from its inception to today.
Like the Geneva boutique, Panerai’s Manhattan showroom will have an experiential retail floor at street level and an upper storey for entertaining with an open bar and a versatile, modular lounge adaptable to rapid transformation for press and special client events.
June 1 has been pencilled in for the ribbon cutting, subject to change as with any project on this scale, but it has been confirmed that there will be a special limited edition watch launched to celebrate the opening.
The showroom will also, of course, stock all the latest watches launched at Watches and Wonders, including WatchPro’s cover star this month, the Radiomir Quaranta in a polished Goldtech case, a trademarked gold alloy created by Panerai that includes a combination of platinum and copper that gives it an intense red appearance.
The use of innovative materials, particularly for watch cases, is a signature of Panerai.
So, while the design of its core collections evolves slowly over decades, the watchmaker is at the forefront of modern watchmaking by using materials — often optimized with unique in house compositions — such as platinum, bronze, Carbotech, ceramic, titanium, and the trademarked eSteel, a next-generation metal made from up to 95% pre-consumer recycled steel scraps that are sourced from different industries, preferably the Swiss watchmaking industry, which significantly reduces CO2 emissions.
Panerai’s history and modern manufacturing come together in the Radiomir Quaranta, a contemporary interpretation of the maison’s first-ever watch that brings the look of the legendary navy divers of the 1940s to today’s discerning watch lovers.
The name Quaranta, forty in Italian, refers to the 40mm width of the case, which is 10.15mm thick, making it one of the smaller references, and certainly the slimmest, in the Panerai catalogue and well-suited to the recent trend for subtler styles that look equally at home on the wrists of men or women.
Watches have been getting smaller in recent years in part because of a fashion for vintage styles from the early to mid-19th century.
Interestingly, Panerai’s original Radiomir from the 1940s was actually much larger than the 2023 edition at 47mm across, because it was designed for use by the Italian Navy, which valued legibility above all else.
The modern Radiomir Quaranta Goldtech uses the modern P.900 calibre driving hours, minutes, small seconds and date. The movement has a 3 day power reserve, and sits in a case water resistant to 30 meters.
It is retailing for $18,200.
Also unveiled at Watches and Wonders was a first 45mm piece from Panerai with a California dial where the hour markers for 10, 11, 1, and 2 are Roman numerals, while those for 4, 5, 7, and 8 are Arabic numerals.
California dials have previously featured on 47mm pieces.
The Radiomir California PAM01349 has a deep green dial set into a case made from Brunito eSteel™ — a brand-new finishing for Panerai, achieved by hand, that gives the watch an aged, weathered, look right out of the box.
It is equipped with a hand-wound P.5000 calibre with eight-day power reserve thanks to two barrels.
The Radiomir California Dial is exclusively available in Panerai boutiques for $12,300.
This year’s novelties at Watches and Wonders were all in the Radiomir family, and joining the Quaranta and California Dial pieces are two stunning annual calendars in vivid colors and a new Radiomir Otto Giorni; translating from Italian into eight days, a reference to the power reserve of its hand-wound P.5000 movement.
While the Quaranta is arguably the watch that advances Panerai towards the sweet spot of the current market, it is the Radiomir Annual Calendars that were the showstoppers in their two formats: one with a blue sun-brushed dial in a 45mm polished Panerai Goldtech™ case, the other with a Burgundy dial and polished Panerai Platinumtech™ case.
Both use Panerai’s automatic P.9010/AC movement, protected by an Incabloc anti-shock system, and capable of working for three days without winding.
The sandwich dials show the day and date at 3 o’clock and small seconds at 9 o’clock. Months are shown on the outer edge, framed by highly polished bezels.
They are worn on classic alligator straps held in place by wire lugs. Panerai has the annual calendars priced at $39,200.
The final novelty is the Radiomir Otto Giorni, a simple two-hander with a seconds subdial at 9 o’clock.
The watch picks up a trend seen several times at Watches and Wonders, which is a brown dial; in this instance fading from light in the center to dark at the edge. Cream luminous markers peak through the sandwich dial.
The cushion-shaped case is the same size, at 45mm across, and scuffed Brunito eSteel™ finish as Panerai used in the California PAM01349 watch, and works well with an aged calf leather dark brown strap secured with wire lugs.
It is on sale now for $9,700.