OFFICINE PANERAI INAUGURATES THE SHANGHAI BOUTIQUE IN THE VIBRANT HEART OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Inside Plaza 66, the most exclusive shopping mall in Shanghai, the Panerai Boutique displays the famous models in its collection, unique creations from the Italian watchmaking art
In the Chinese metropolis known as the Pearl of the Orient, a sparkling paradise for cultural events of every kind, one of the world’s busiest ports and a city famous for its wealth of entertainments and festivals that proceed at an incessant pace, playing a leading role in recent decades in an extraordinary economic acceleration and populated by over 18 million people, Officine Panerai, the Italian fine watchmaking company founded in Florence a century and a half ago, opens its newly renovated Boutique in Plaza 66 in the area dedicated to fine watchmaking. Plaza 66 is the most renowned mall for exclusive shopping in Shanghai and the third tallest building in the city, with its 288 metres and 66 floors, constructed in the Puxi district, financial hub of the urban perimeter stretching west from the Huangpu River.
Located not far from Plaza 66 are the major landmarks of the city. The Jing’an Temple, Shanghai’s most ancient sanctuary, erected even before the city’s foundation, converted into a plastics factory at the time of the Cultural Revolution, reconstructed and reclaimed as a place of worship in 1983, today attracting large crowds of visitors and passers by. The People’s Square, which since 1994, the year of its renovation, has become the political and cultural centre of the city. Nanjing Road, the thoroughfare known as “China’s No. 1 Street”, an astonishing concentration of shops and tourist attractions.
In the most prestigious section of Plaza 66, dedicated to watch and fine jewellery brands, in a Gallery featuring some of the most exclusive brands on the international market, the Panerai Boutique of Shanghai offers its public of connoisseurs, enthusiasts and collectors the products of a long history of unique creations.
The creation of the showroom was characterized by an Italian design concept inspired by the sea, the element that has always accompanied the history of Panerai watches, originally conceived for use under water and capable of working perfectly even at great depths. The porthole shape of the shop windows makes explicit reference to the fittings found on cruise ships. The sinuous display panels flowing like ocean waves and furnishing details that echo diving suits and divers’ equipment are all part of a sober and linear design, an elegant balance between technology and tradition. The modern interpretation of a classic nautical style uses various materials among which teak and steel are predominant. These are used against back-painted walls recreating the surface of the water, wire mesh panels, and sketches and graphics stylizing the shape of the watches themselves.
The collection on display in Shanghai will include models that have made the long-established Florentine company famous, with a particular focus on the watches fitted with movements of exclusive Panerai manufacture, among which the Luminor 1950 Chrono Monopulsante and the Radiomir Tourbillon GMT, the symbol of a style recognisable by its technological excellence and the classic refinement of its aesthetics.
OFFICINE PANERAI
SHANGHAI BOUTIQUE
Unit B102, Plaza 66 1266 Nanjing Xi Road
Shanghai - China 200040
Tel. +86 21 6288 0100
Fax +86 21 6288 0105
Source: Panerai Website |
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