Florence, the Geneva Car Show and Barcelona
March 12, 2007 -- I'm just back from a Panerai event in Florence, celebrating the brand's 10 year anniversary with the introduction of three new manufacture. I had a great time at the event. Florence is a beautiful city, the weather was incredible (I should have ridden my motorcycle, rather than flown!) and the event was very interesting. I was very impressed with Panerai's plans. Not content to stay where they are, though where they are is incredibly successful, the brand is moving towards true watchmaking.
Angelo Bonati, CEO of Officine Panerai, is the first one to acknowledge that the company cannot rely on the current status quo. "The in-house movements allow us to enter a new segment of the market," he explains. "We are doing a great business right now and we are very happy, but you cannot continue to survive in this segment because the risk is that the segment will become narrower and narrower. With our in-house movements, we can enlarge our potential and develop our brand for the future.
"We would like to keep our authenticity and to grow in our technical knowledge, otherwise we can't claim that Panerai is a technical watch brand," Bonati continues. "Why should we continue to use movements from outside companies? We needed to develop our movements and if we have problems, we will solve them ourselves."
Most companies would be very happy to be in Panerai's shoes, but it just goes to show you that the best brands never stop pushing.
I went to the Geneva Car Show with Thomas Morf from Carl F. Bucherer today, had a great time. It's getting to be an annual tradition, going to see the latest cars with him. He is a motor head and it's fun to see the cars through his eyes. The new Jaguar XF is a great car!
This weekend, we are all going to see my son Evan, who is in Barcelona for Spring Break. After Barcelona, I'm back in Geneva for a few days, then I'm heading for Miami for a Zenith event. Lots of traveling, but I'm not complaining. I love the travel and I love the watches.