One of my former husbands (to risk sounding like Auntie Mame) used to collect watches, but even he would have been properly impressed by the new Officine Panerai store in Mizner Park – the latest luxury watch/jewelry salon in the Les Bijoux collection there.
There I was in the coolest little chic-ified store, with all these tiny little size 2 salesgirls flitting around in their skinny black ensembles, and who drops by but Panerai CEO Angelo Bonati (the Bentley was double parked) straight from Milan for the ribbon-cutting.
This is not the world in which I live, I reminded myself. But it is the world of this magazine. Think of the Panerai brand as the ultimate in international macho elegance, originating in Florence in 1860, and becoming the supplier to Italy’s Naval battle-ready marine instruments. And later on, it just got cool (Sly Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger are big fans). This watchmaker is so cool it even has its own worldwide fan club, the “Paneristi,” one of whom were quoted in a watch magazine as saying “It’s not a watch. It’s a lifestyle. Oh so much more than a watch.”
But you can see for yourself. And it’s almost Christmas.
