None of this was lost on the Richemont Group, a luxury-goods conglomerate that bought the brand in 1997. By the time it ceased being a military secret, the Panerai - big, handsome and unmistakably macho - had provenance, obvious utility and exclusivity. Only 300 diving watches were produced between 19, when the company began selling to the public. Officine Panerai was founded in 1860 in Florence, Italy, and its only customer for most of the 20th century was the Italian navy, for which it made precision instruments and underwater watches. The Panerai’s rapid rise is a triumph of classic design, marketing strategy and serendipity.
If you have one, you have five or six.” The round-faced, oversized Panerai has supplanted, in spirit, if not in numbers, the Rolex, Cartier, Piaget and every other pricey timepiece that seeks to claim status-conscious buyers. Manager Jeff Wald, who has four models and has his eye on two more, says, “I don’t know anyone who has just one. In the last three or four years, a growing legion of successful American men who had previously restricted their discretionary purchases to hot cars and electronic toys have become collectors of Panerai watches. Late into the evening, they will compare notes on their shared obsession with a particular brand of wristwatch.Ĭontrary to cliche, a Y chromosome and the shopping gene are not entirely incompatible. After dinner, they will not attend a sporting event together, or drop in at a strip club. An actor, an agent, two managers and a pair of European businessmen, they have gathered for an unusual sort of boys’ night out. The diners at a round table in the epicenter of Spago’s roofless front courtyard emit a power buzz that surrounds them like a force field.
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