Soft Power

We quiz Panerai CEO Jean-Marc Pontroué on why Panerai evokes strong feelings amongst collectors, and get his thoughts on new territory for the brand, and watch fairs

- ASHOK SOMAN

The CEO role in a global watch brand is often an ambassadorial one too, especially when collectors and retail partners are always seeking a piece of your time. Quite often, these folks complain when the top executive goes too long without visiting international markets. On this note, it has been far too long since we reconnected with Panerai CEO Jean-Marc Pontroué, so when the local public relations arm of the brand asked if we wanted some of Pontroué's time, we jumped at the chance. Of course, WOW goes a long way back with both Panerai and Pontroué.

In the contemporary era of this magazine, Panerai had the Summer issue cover from 2013 all the way to 2017. This is fitting because the Paneristi- the collecting clique most obsessed with the brand are particularly strong in Singapore; in 2020 and 2021, amidst the turmoil of COVID-19, we learned that the Panerai boutique in ION Orchard had become the best-performing boutique for the brand in the world (by the brand's own off-the-record estimation). Given the size of Singapore, this was amazing to learn...no doubt you, dear reader, are one of these hardcore elites since you have made it this far into the story. We probably made some hay out of this fact in the last few years, and it gave us further impetus to reconnect with the Swiss-Italian watchmaker.