The Panerai Boutique of Madrid
[ via Panerai ]
The leading Italian fine watchmaking company presents the complete collection of its exclusive models in the heart of the Salamanca district, the must-see destination for luxury shopping in Madrid
For its latest global move, Officine Panerai is now focusing on the Spanish capital. Third largest city in the European Union by population with over three million inhabitants, a figure that rises to more than five million when considering the entire province, Madrid is a cosmopolitan city and a political and financial hub in continuous growth. Of irresistible appeal to visitors to this metropolis situated on the Meseta plateau are its countless cultural attractions, Madrid's celebrated nightlife or movida and the architectural gems that fanned out into a wide range of styles over the centuries.
The Panerai Boutique of Madrid is opening its doors in Calle Ortega y Gasset, the central thoroughfare in the famous Salamanca residential quarter, in the area known as La Milla del Oro or 'Golden Mile', due to the high concentration of elegant boutiques and fashion and design showrooms offering the most renowned international brands. The grid of streets stretching along the Serrano, Goya, Velàsquez, Jorge Juan, Castellò, Principe de Vergara and Ortega y Gasset calle reflects the refined atmosphere of the crème de la crème of Madrid high society for whom the district was designed in the mid-nineteenth century thanks to the efforts of the very wealthy Marquis of Salamanca.
In this elegant setting, the Madrid Panerai Boutique offers its complete collection of watches, combining exceptional technical features with a design of sober aesthetic impact. Since its origins, around the mid-nineteenth century, when the company began life in a watchmaking workshop on the Ponte alle Grazie bridge in Florence, Panerai's creative research has focused its attention on continuous scientific innovation, creating watches that today are much sought after both by men undertaking audacious sporting feats and by those who simply love their classic beauty.
The fame of the Panerai brand, spread at the highest level throughout the major world markets, has transformed its remarkable wrist-worn gems into precious cult objects for a growing number of collectors who covet the rarest models. The design of the interiors at the Boutique in Calle Ortega y Gasset was entrusted to an Italian architect and is inspired by the sea, the element that has always accompanied the history of Panerai watches. Among the materials employed, teak and steel are predominant. These are used against wire mesh panel, back-painted walls recreating the surface of the water, sketches and graphic inventions stylizing the shape of the watches themselves. Sinuous display units taking on the shape of ocean waves, furnishing details echoing diving suits and divers' equipment, and porthole windows recalling yacht fittings all form part of a clean and linear nautical style. The collection on display in the Madrid Boutique will focus especially on the models fitted with movements of exclusive Panerai manufacture, such as the Radiomir Tourbillon GMT and the Luminor 1950 Chrono Monopulsante.
