Celebrity Life

It’s in our nature to be scared of things we don’t understand, and to question our own abilities when faced with the unknown. Most of us like staying in our own comfort zones. But there are some who thrive in uncharted territory and derive joy in pushing the limits in everything they do.

Watchmakers, I’ve always believed, fall into the second category. It takes a certain combination of perfectionist and mad genius to make miniature mechanical marvels, powered by nothing but springs and gears, which can withstand some of the world’s – and even the universe’s – most hostile environments. Watches have even made it to the moon.

Panerai is one such watchmaker. The Italian watch brand has an incredible heritage as the supplier of timepieces and high precision instruments to the Italian Navy. It created Radiomir, a radium-based powder that gave luminosity to the dials of sighting instruments and other devices, which then gave birth to the Radiomir watches that were created specifically for the frogman commandos during the Second World War. Today, Panerai continues to work with skilled divers and explorers to create watches that can go to the ends of the earth and survive.

These divers and explorers that Panerai has the honour of calling Friends of the Brand are, unsurprisingly, also mad geniuses. I remember the first time I watched Guillaume Néry perform one of his world-record breaking deep dives in a YouTube video. I watched with bated breath as the constant-weight freediving champion dived deeper and deeper into the abyss, guided by nothing more than flippers and a rope. But as I continued watching, I was engulfed not by a sense of anxiety, but of tranquility. There’s something extremely ethereal about the journey into the waters, something Néry poetically calls “a journey undertaken between two breaths”.

In a video call, Néry tells me he can fit 10 litres of air into his lungs through a method called carp, where he takes short gulps to compress air into his lungs. The human body is an incredible machine and we all have an innate ability to conserve energy the moment we’re submerged in water.

“As soon as I leave the surface, my body enters a kind of economy mode,” describes Néry. “This is called the diving reflex. So my heartbeat is slowing down, there’s a change in blood circulation in order to save oxygen. There’s pressure squeezing the body, in the legs and I have to be completely relaxed. And the deeper I reach, the colder the water gets, and my body slows down. So, I’m really saving a lot of energy when I’m going down.”

It’s the coming back up that’s the harder part of the journey. Says Néry: “I’ve used up most of my oxygen, so I need to stay very calm and focused to come back to the surface.”

With a bit of guidance, even amateurs such as ourselves can learn to hold our breath for more than a minute. Néry confidently tells me, “Beginners think that they can hold their breath only for 30 seconds and within 20 minutes, I can take them between two to three minutes.” His own record is seven minutes and 42 seconds.

Growing up in Nice, Néry discovered his almost superhuman capabilities by accident, while playing a game with his friends on the school bus at the age of 14. He discovered he could hold his breath longer than most, and continued practising at home, before taking the plunge at sea. He’s never looked back since.

He became the youngest free-dive record holder in 2002 when he reached a depth of 87 metres using fins only. He’s beaten the world record three times and today is able to dive as deep as 126 metres.

An accident in 2015 caused Néry to retire. During the dive attempt, the judges and organisers made a mistake when setting the dive line, meaning that Néry dived too low, passing out metres from the surface and suffering a lung barotrauma. But he says he’s back and thriving, with many challenges ahead he’s excited for. “After the accident I had a break. But now I’m back in the deep end, and I’m training a lot. I still have some challenges ahead of me but it’s not an obsession like it was before and I was just training to break records.”

He’d like to dive deep again in 2022, to mark his 40th birthday. But for now, he’s focused on his diving school and writing a book on the connections between man and water. Time is always at the back of Néry’s mind when he’s diving. “I can feel every second on the way down because it’s kind of a meditation state,” he says. “I don’t think about anything else. I’m so connected with time that I can even tell time during the dive from when I left the surface. I could say it’s been one minute 20 seconds.” Time is never far from Néry as well, as he never dives without a watch. Panerai began working with Néry in 2018, a mutual partnership in which the watch brand supports the French diver’s career and projects, and Néry test runs the watches.

“When we first met in 2018, we discovered that we share the same passion and philosophy for exploration,” he says. He’s worn Panerai watches on all his dives since. “My watch is the special link between the land and the underwater. The watch follows me in all conditions – that’s kind of my role, to bring the watch everywhere to show that it’s able to adapt to any place, even the most extreme places.”

Panerai Luminor Marina 44mm Guillaume Néry Edition PAM01122

Celebrating their partnership together, Panerai has presented a new performance watch inspired by Néry, the Luminor Marina 44mm Guillaume Néry Edition PAM01122. This is the third Néry special edition and looks more stylish than your usual Panerai. At 44mm, the diving watch is a substantial one, but because it’s made of sandblasted DMLS titanium, it’s still comfortably light on the wrist. DMLS stands for direct metal laser sintering, a technology that shapes titanium using a 3D printing process and is 40 percent lighter than traditional titanium.

The watch comes with a rubberised coating applied to the bezel, crown and bridge lever. The accentuated convex glass and the black dial, given a dégradé effect that’s lighter in the centre and darker around the edges, emulates the shades produced as sunlight filters through the water, giving the wearer a taste of what the deep sea looks like on a dive.

“I’m not a watch designer, so I’m only giving ideas and advice and feedback about the previous experiences,” says Néry. “On this edition, the idea was to make a diving watch but not based on the Submersible. We decided to go with the Luminor, which is a classic Panerai watch. But it’s still a watch that can dive, a little bit smaller but with the same elegance.”

Long-time enthusiasts will remember the first Néry special edition, the Submersible Chronograph Guillaume Néry PAM0983 watch. The watch made a literal splash, as the 15 lucky clients were invited on a special diving trip to Moorea in French Polynesia, where Néry lives. But this year, Panerai is celebrating the 70th anniversary of the birth of Luminor, the patented tritium-based substance with luminescent properties that gave the collection its name. Naturally, the Luminor seemed like the perfect base to work from. The PAM01122 model is limited to 70 pieces and comes with a 70-year warranty, an incredible guarantee.

Inside the watch beats the self-winding calibre P.9010, which is equipped with double barrels for a three-day power reserve and a quick time-adjustment function that allows you to adjust the time, forwards and backwards, in increments of one hour.

Water-resistant to 300 metres, the watch has a screwed-down caseback that features an engraving depicting the silhouette of Néry and his signature. The strap of the special edition is made from black recycled PET material with white stitching, highlighting another issue that is close to Néry heart.
“We’ve had some discussion in the past and I shared with them my real concerns about the future of our planet,” says Néry. “We get to the same conclusion that there’s a lot of things that can be done, including in the watch industry. Panerai made this first step and we really wish to keep going in that direction.”

The post In Conversation with Freediver Guillaume Néry appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Panerai's first and only Watch Accessories Room is where visitors can renew their timepieces with the expansive collection of watches, bracelets, buckles and more. 

When it was first founded in Florence back in 1860, Panerai was originally a workshop, shop, and school of watchmaking — one known for supplying the Italian Navy with precision instruments. Generations later, the luxury watchmaker has garnered a high repute for timepieces that blend Italian design flair with Swiss horological expertise. Amidst its current success, Panerai looks back to its roots with the unveil of its first worldwide Watch Accessories Room, located above its Canton Road flagship boutique in Hong Kong.

The Concept of a Watch Accessories Room

Panerai’s first worldwide Watch Accessories Room aims to create a wholly one-of-a-kind shopping experience for watch aficionados. Inside a contemporary yet welcoming space, customers and collectors are invited to discover the Panerai universe first-hand. Designed for the viewer to visualise their custom design, sliding panels allow for easy comparison between different leather straps. 

The Decor of the Space

Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Panerai’s Canton Road flagship is known to be the watchmaker’s largest boutique. The impressive interior facade is made of undulating aluminium panels accentuated with an iconic wall clock in the form of an oversized Panerai dial. Above the boutique is a private space dedicated to Panerai's Watch Accessories Room. The room is decorated in oak and burnished brass fixtures with a distinctive, decorative Torpedo display sat in the centre of the room to nod to the Italian Navy heritage of the brand.

The Largest Assortment of Panerai Accessories 

Guests can expect an incredibly wide range of accessories available — including up to 670 different straps and bracelets, and a full range of buckles. The highlight of the space is definitely the interactive strap display, where visitors are encouraged feel for the accessories available, exploring the full aesthetic and functional potential behind the brand. Guests can mix and match their personal watch collections with the accessories in store, to see firsthand how the different colours and materials fit with their timepiece, for a truly one-of-a-kind piece. 

The post Panerai’s First Watch Accessories Room is a Personalisation Workshop appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

While watch fairs are affected by COVID-19, watchmakers are still moving ahead with new launches through digital platforms and augmented reality.

It’s no secret that the watchmaking world has had to make a few changes since COVID-19 began making its rounds globally.

Annual trade shows like Baselworld and Watches & Wonders had to be cancelled — the former with plenty of drama, no less — and brands scrambled to be innovative about their storytelling experience. After all, watchmaking and collecting can be quite an emotional business.

Watches & Wonders (previously known as SIHH) might have forgone its physical show but that didn’t stop a digital reincarnation from taking its place. The new platform will not only allow manufacturers to showcase their new timepieces, but also offer anyone a glimpse of what happens beyond press releases and online reviews. At IWC, visitors will be able to take a virtual walk around the booth and experience augmented reality with the watches, while Panerai is working on Zooming their most loyal customers.

Still, the watches on offer this year are nothing short of remarkable, more so during these unprecedented times. Here are the pieces that stood out to us the most.

The post 7 Highlights from Watches & Wonders 2020 appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Although most of the brands in the watchmaking industry are defined by their heritage, it doesn’t mean that modern technology can’t help create a better watch.

The post How modern technology is creating watches like nothing we’ve ever seen before appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

Although most of the brands in the watchmaking industry are defined by their heritage, it doesn’t mean that modern technology can’t help create a better watch.

For more stories like this, visit www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg.

For good omen or good looks, these artistic Year of the Dog watches make the perfect statement.

The post Raise the Woof with these handsome dog watches appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

The Luminor Submersible 1950 3 Days Automatic Bronzo will be auctioned for a cause.

The post One-of-a-kind bronze Panerai to be auctioned appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

He’s spent an inordinate amount of time on epic solo expeditions, but at heart, the professional explorer and adventurer is simply dad.

The post Explorer Mike Horn talks best practices…of parenting appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

... And how the 51-year-old's latest adventure has him going from pole to pole.

The post How an Officine Panerai watch saved explorer Mike Horn’s life appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

... And how the 51-year-old's latest adventure has him going from pole to pole.

For more stories like this, visit www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg.