The Swiss watchmaker Panerai will open a store on Paseo de Gràcia

Barcelona prepares to host a new boutique of an international luxury watch brand. Panerai plans to open a flagship on Paseo de Gràcia in the spring of 2024, thus joining the celebration of the America's Cup, of which it is an official sponsor of the Italian team, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli.

According to Panerai CEO, Jean-Marc Pontroué, the store will open between April and June with the help of the Barcelona jewelry group Rabat. "We have already found the right location for the opening," says Pontroué, who is excited to be able to land in the Catalan capital coinciding with the America's Cup. The Panerai CEO made this announcement this week after receiving a delegation of FemCat businessmen who visited the canton of Neuchâtel with the aim of better understanding its powerful innovative ecosystem. Sources from Rabat have not wanted to give more details of this agreement as it is not yet closed. "We don't have anything signed yet, we are in the process of negotiation with Panerai," they explained.

Rabat has already increased its presence on Paseo de Gràcia this year by opening a watch shop for another international prestige brand, Hublot, in the premises previously occupied by the Torres wine bar. In 2022, the family business also reached an agreement with Hublot, Breitling and Vacheron Constantin to open franchised stores on Serrano Street in Madrid. Last year, Rabat managed to increase its sales by 25%, with a turnover of 132 million euros.

Owned by the Richemont luxury group, Panerai is a watchmaking firm that was born in 1860 in Florence. Although the brand's design remains Italian-inspired, the company manufactures 100% of its watches in the Swiss town of Neuchâtel, where in 2014 it opened modern facilities of 10,000 square meters where 225 people work ---45% women---, although the brand's team reaches 850 employees if the corporate centers located in Geneva and Milan are added. In the Neuchâtel factory, equipped with state-of-the-art technology, the average age of employees ---who develop up to 50 different trades and specialties--- is 41 years, with an average seniority of ten years.

Panerai currently has an ambitious international expansion plan underway based on the opening of new boutiques in the main cities of the world. Currently, it has a network of 200 stores and its goal is to close the current fiscal year with a record of 45 new points of sale. The brand already has a presence in Madrid, with a store on Ortega y Gasset street. Last June, the firm opened its largest store on Madison Avenue, New York, with an area of 2,000 square meters. The United States, where it arrived 45 years ago, was the brand's first international destination.

The company currently exports 95% of its production and obtains a third of its sales in the US market, a third in Europe, and another third in the Asian countries where it is present. Without taking into account special editions, Panerai watches cost between 5,000 and 85,000 euros.