Watchmaker Panerai takes Luminor fans ‘under water’ in Shanghai
Luxury brand creates mysterious deep sea setting for its Survival Instruments for Modern Heroes event in Shanghai, which featured two new timepieces
Luxury Italian watchmaker Panerai hosted a two-day event, Survival Instruments for Modern Heroes, featuring a mysterious, cavernous underwater “world” created inside Shanghai’s Minsheng Art Pier.
We arrived on May 21 to check out the venue, which offered guests a sense of adventure as well as two of the brand’s new timepieces.
Panerai is newly under the helm of Jean-Marc Pontroué, and a shift of emotions was already felt earlier this year at the annual Swiss watch fair, SIHH, which was Pontroué’s first as the watchmaker’s CEO.
The Luminor, a series dedicated to the extreme conditions of the underwater world, was granted stand-alone status and emerged as a new collection this year.
This move shows not only the brand’s confidence in the series, but also the importance of these watches’ historical naval connection.
Survival Instruments for Modern Heroes was a nod not only to the tough conditions in which Panerai watches can survive and excel, but also to the brand’s adventurous ambassadors who have taken these timepieces to extremes.
South African-born Swiss explorer Mike Horn and French free-diving champion Guillaume Néry – both long-time collaborators of Panerai – were each given their own limited edition timepieces, which are sold to customers together with an opportunity to explore the world with one of them.