Watchlords

Panerai continues marrying cutting-edge technology with traditional craftsmanship with its new, blue version of the Lo Scienziato. WatchTime India editor Neha Bajpai explores the watch and speaks to the man behind it, former Panerai CEO Angelo Bonati.

Swiss watches, for the longest time, have thrived on the romance of handcraft. Generations of watchmakers here have spent long, dreary winters holed up in workshops, hunched over primitive tools, creating the most splendid timepieces by hand. From marketing campaigns to passionate presentations, top luxury watch companies have been spinning stories for decades, around the minimal use of machines in making horological masterpieces.

However, the age of smartwatches and tech freaks is pushing traditionalists to make space for high-tech gadgets in conventional ateliers. While the magic of nimble fingers and delicate tools in high horology can’t be replaced with gizmos, a lot of brands are warming up to the idea of assisted technology to improve precision, perfection and production capacities.

Officine Panerai is one of the first few companies in Switzerland to have married classic watchmaking know-how with cutting-edge technology. From having a robot at the assembly line to swanky test gadgets, Panerai’s manufacture in Neuchâtel is the hip face of Swiss horology.

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