Panerai Luminor Due 38mm
The Panerai Luminor Due 38mm is now available, for the first time, with pastel-coloured dials. Would-be wearers are presented with a choice of three shades, including ‘pastel light blue’ (PAM01309), ‘pastel green’ (PAM01311) and ‘powdery pink’ (PAM01309). Angus Davies, a self-confessed Paneristi, looks at these latest references and reflects on the company’s journey over recent years.To get more news about www.paneraireplica.co, you can visit paneraireplica.co official website.
A niche marketing strategy
Back in the late 80s, I studied marketing at college and recall a lecturer recommending companies have a ‘niche marketing strategy’. He placed much importance on targeting a specific audience. At the moment, I did not question the wisdom he imparted.
However, over time I have reflected on the word ‘niche’ and considered its meaning. It all sounds a tad ‘esoteric’, describing a product that appeals to a small number of people, often with a specialist knowledge or unique interest. In my opinion, in being a niche player, a company restricts its potential market and, by default, its opportunities for growth.

If we look at Panerai for example, for most of its life it has been a niche player. However, in recent years, the company has engaged with a much wider audience with some impressive results. Allow me to elaborate.

Panerai’s history
Panerai was founded in 1860 and began life as a watch retailer in Florence. However, in the early 1900s, the firm began supplying the Royal Italian Navy with high-precision instruments. In 1916, Panerai registered ‘Radiomir’, a luminescent material designed to improve the readability of instruments in dim light conditions. Thereafter, the company became synonymous with nocturnal luminescence.
Paneristi
My own relationship with Panerai began about 20 years ago and I have since remained an avowed ‘Paneristi’. Back in the day, we were an ‘esoteric’ bunch, accustomed to conversing about model numbers, each pre-fixed with the letters ‘PAM’. Reading the brand’s catalogue, a tomb of a book, was a bedtime pleasure, best enjoyed with a cup of tea and a chocolate Hobnob. Despite other watches regularly piquing my interest, my love for Luminors and Radiomirs has never waned.

Jean-Marc Pontroue
In 2018, Jean-Marc Pontroue assumed the role of CEO. Since then, Panerai has become a maker of luxury timepieces for men and women. The brand is no longer a niche producer of high-precision instruments or military-issue watches. Today, it has a much broader reach. Indeed, in the last few years, the company has released watches housed in an array of cutting-edge materials, sometimes with a variety of complications and presented in a range of different case sizes.

However, the company’s repositioning was not just a matter of releasing new variants, the brand had to ensure it did not disenfranchise its loyal fan base. The process of repositioning a brand is fraught with danger. One strategic blunder and the essence of a marque may be lost forever. Speaking as a brand devotee, I think Panerai’s management team have navigated this potentially tricky course very successfully.

PAM01309, PAM01311 and PAM01319
Take the new Panerai Luminor Due 38mm, available in ‘all-new pastel colourways’. Twenty years ago, when the Italian-Swiss brand brimmed with testosterone, it would have been inconceivable to have the words ‘Panerai’ and ‘pastel’ in the same sentence. However, today we wouldn’t question the idea of a Panerai dressed in once effete hues. Quite simply, the luxury watch firm has come a long way in the last few years.