Lately,Officine Panerai has reopened its historic boutique in Florence expanding from an area of 58 to 285 square metres and from one to four large display windows .After having commissioned the project to architect designer Patricia Urquiola to enlarge its historic boutique in which the brand was founded situated in the centre of Florence, in the Piazza San Giovanni, facing the city’s impressive Duomo, Officine Panerai’s.
The shop extends over two floors: the ground floor, facing onto the piazza, and the floor above, with a wide window providing a magnificent view of the Baptistery. Patricia Urquiola, the celebrated Spanish designer, has reinterpreted the aesthetic and technical codes of the watch house, while respecting the identity of the brand and remaining faithful to the concept of a workshop, where the history of Officine Panerai was born.
On the ground floor, in the centre of the boutique, there is a large sign reading: “Bottega d’arte e archivio storico” (“Workshop and historical archive”). The boutique will be the only one in Italy with an exhibition area for periodically displaying instruments from the Historic Museum that tell the story of the brand, as well as having an area for a watchmaker, who is available to carry out repairs and to help clients. The upper floor is devoted to special sales: here, the floor surface is “cotto Fiorentino”, the classic terracotta tiles of Florentine tradition, and here historic exhibits are displayed: these include two pendulum clocks, one long case clock and two lathes.
