Officine Panerai

A visit at the new Panerai Boutique in Paris

 

Great news for Panerai lovers, the brand has just opened a few days ago its second boutique in Paris located 5 rue du Faubourg St Honoré, just in front of the Loro Piana boutique.

You may ask why Panerai took the decision to open a new boutique not so far at the end from the 1st one located rue de la Paix. Actually, and it is something you have to understand in Paris, the type of clients may differ a lot even with a small distance of 500 meters. The clients of the rue du Faubourg St Honoré are not the same than of the rue de la Paix. The rue de la Paix mainly gathers flagship boutiques of watch brands. So you know what you look for there. Rue du Faubourg St Honoré is a high concentration of fashion shops with the most prestigious names like Hermes, Loro Piana, Moncler and so on...

It is the reason why I think that the location of this second boutique is interesting for Panerai because it may attract people more interested in lifestyle and fashion. And obviously, each boutique will have the ability to send a client to the other one if a piece is not available in one of them.

The new boutique was decorated by the Spanish designer Patricia Urquiloa and embodies the new architectural style of Panerai.

First of all, you will notice that Officine is not written on the front door: the message is clear and easily understandable!

The shop window is not very large since the boutique is long and narrow. Is it a problem? No at the end thanks to a clever lay-out.

The boutique is made of 3 parts.

The first one, just after the entrance, is dedicated to the fast appointments with clients, if they just need an advice or a change of strap. On the background, the displays explain the evolution of the different cases to put the brand in a historical perspective.


The strap display is a new feature of the recent boutiques:

A wide range of straps is available... at Panerai more than with any other brand, they know that "new strap, new watch" proverb is true...

The clock:

The second part of the boutique after the first section is dedicated to the selling points, to welcome the visitors with comfort:


The last part is the waiting-room if all the seats are occupied. A library was set up to make the guests' wait as short as possible.

Next time, I will browse the book about Tuscany... it looks nice!

As you can feel it, despite a relatively small surface, the organization of the boutique makes it very nice for a visit with all the comfort a client of the brand may expect.

Obviously, I couldn't miss the opportunity of this appointment with the staff to have a closer look on some of the watches from the collection.

Let's start with one of my fav ones, the Luminor Marina 8 days Titanio (PAM00564).

I like the combo between the dial and the specific colour of the brushed titanium case:

The small second at 9 o'clock nicely animates the dial:

The main characteristic of this watch is the use of the in-house P5000 movement which provides a power reserve of 8 days. I can't say it is a beautiful movement since it hides almost everything but we know that for commercial reasons, it is important to have a see-through caseback. On the other hand, it is a reliable movement:

Do we really need 8 days of power reserve for this type of watch? One of the pleasures with the Luminor is to open the crown protector and to wind it. Anyway, such power reserve gives flexibility to the owner, no risk to see the watch stop if he forgets to wind it and he can leave it for a few days and get it back and still running... after all, why not?

The 44mm Luminor case remains an eye-catcher:

The Radiomir 1940 Chronograph Oro Rosso (PAM00519) is a large watch (45mm) but with a lot of elegance. Unveiled at the latest SIHH, I was seduced by its beauty which is a mix between a powerful design and a touch of retro style.

Of course, the combo chocolate dial - pink gold case works perfectly!

The shape of the plexiglass also contributes to the beauty of this watch limited to 100 pieces:

The superb handwind movement comes from Minerva. It is a low frequency caliber (2,5hz) with a power reserve of 55 hours:

Frankly speaking, it was very difficult for me to give back this watch! Even the California dial, despite its originality, seems to be perfectly in harmony with the timeless atmosphere of this chronograph:

We stay with a Radiomir 1940 chronograph with the Chrono Monopulsante 8 days GMT (PAM00502). If I'm not wrong, this watch was not introduced at the SIHH but at Watches&Wonders.

It gathers several complications but the legibility of the data remains good. The dial is balanced and the second timezone display is a nice mirror effect of the minutes counter of the chronograph. The chronograph pusher is located at 8 o'clock:

The most seducing feature of this watch is its widely opened P2004/10 movement. It is one of the nicest movements found in a Panerai if I forget some Minerva or other movements coming from external providers. It really highlights the key moving parts including the column wheel:

The case diameter is 45mm. Even if I prefer the PAM00519, this chronograph is a very valuable contemporary Radiomir 1940:

Honestly, I didn't find the actual interest for Panerai to propose pocket watches like this 3 days Oro Bianco (PAM00529)...

... except that this coverback can be engraved and so personalized...

... and that the movement is a stunning version of the P3000 (it gets the P3001/10 reference in this context):

At the end, in my point of view, the objective for Panerai is to demonstrate its capability to propose more refined decorations of the movements what can lead to a positive impact on the full collection.


The Luminor 1950 Left-Handed 3 days Acciaio (PAM00557) belongs to the "Destro" family.

Powered by the P3000 movement, I find again with pleasure the nice hands and the 47mm Luminor 1950 case. There is something magic with this case. Of course, it is very large but when put on the wrist, it doesn't look huge. The trick is the key role played by the lugs. Short and curved, they contribute to reduce the feeling of size while well positioning the watch on the wrist.

Do you see the difference between the original version of the P3000 here and the skeletonized version used for the pocket watch?

The Pocket Watch Tourbillon GMT Ceramica 59mm (PAM00446) is clearly a kind of demonstration of know-how by Panerai. I'm not a fan of this watch but I have to confess that it is a true mesmerizing piece.

Why?

Because there is a contrast between the powerful and dark design from one side and the fragile behaviour of the Tourbillon visible on both sides of the watch:

It is actually a quite strange watch. Maybe it is due to the black ceramic, the feeling to be in front of a very contemporary design in a retro context... but it has a very special atmosphere.

I would like to finish the report with the Radiomir California 3 days Acciaio (PAM00424). I was a great fan of the PAM00249 and to be honest with you, I prefer this PAM00249 (and its charming blue hands!) to this version.

But, in my point of view, it remains a very nice California Panerai even if I would have preferred it without the logo on the dial.

The watch is powered by the P3000 movement:

And on my wrist... I didn't speak a lot about the straps but this specific one works perfectly with this watch...

I spent more than one hour at the boutique and I could see that the activity was already high for a newly opened boutique. So I think that it is on good tracks and that the strategic location will be fruitful for the brand. I would like to thank a lot the staff of the boutique for the warm welcome and of course, I wish them the best for the future.

Fr.Xavier



This message has been edited by foversta on 2014-09-01 14:22:39

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