Swiss manufacturing and Italian design. This is the calling card of the high-end watchmaking firm Panerai, which has opened its first boutique in the Catalan capital. It has done so precisely on the most expensive and prime street in the city, Paseo de Gràcia, and hand in hand with Rabat, the brand's official distributor for years.
The establishment, with a surface area of 48 square meters of commercial space and announced last year, wants to reflect Panerai's desire to combine historical past with technological advancement. The facade, with large floor-to-ceiling windows, gives way to an interior that seeks a sporty elegance, and which includes the characteristic large light wall clock present in the firm's boutiques, which aims to showcase Panerai's precision, also in luminescent innovation.
The design of the store was carried out by Studio Panerai, which developed the creative concept of the boutique "capturing the spirit of innovation and tradition," according to the firm's creative director, Álvaro Maggini. "Every aspect is designed to enhance the customer experience in an environment with a marked Italian design," said Maggini, who guaranteed that the store "represents the embodiment of Panerai's DNA."
Panerai's opening in the city coincides with the celebration of the America's Cup, and not by chance. The new store is part of the objective to give visibility to Panerai's collaboration with the Italian sailing team, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, of which it is a co-sponsor, as recalled by Panerai's CEO, Jean-Marc Pontroué.
"We are delighted to open the doors of our new boutique in Barcelona, a city that exudes style and evolution at the same pace that we at Panerai transmit tradition and innovation," added the firm's CEO, born in Florence in 1860 as a workshop, store, and watchmaking school, which for decades supplied the Italian Navy and its diving corps for the precision of its instruments.
After its designs were even covered by the Military Secrets Act in Italy for many years, they were launched onto the international market after the brand was acquired by the Richemont group in 1997. Panerai, which now manufactures in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, has since grown to become an internationally recognized luxury brand, selling through an exclusive network of distributors and its boutiques, to which the Barcelona one is now added.