In an interview conducted shortly after the Watches & Wonders 2020 product launches, Jean-Marc Pontroué, CEO of Officine Panerai, spoke to WatchTime about how the company is planning to emerge from the worldwide health crisis, its continuing dedication to bringing new high-tech materials to watchmaking, and its commitment to environmental sustainability.

Panerai CEO Jean-Marc Pontrué

WT:  Obviously recent world events have changed many companies’ plans this year. How have the disruption brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic affected Panerai, both from a manufacturing and from a retail and marketing standpoint"

JMP:  Of course, it has been an earthquake for all the brands and their teams, because unlike other major crises, this has not been local but more or less affecting all the world at the same time. I?m not young anymore, and this is the first time in my life that I have experienced a crisis of this magnitude ? after living through the Gulf War, the SARS and Avian flu outbreaks, the 2008 financial crisis, and so on. And we don’t know when it will end. We think the most critical part is getting through April and May, and then we believe we will see some gradual rebound. In terms of manufacturing we closed down, according to the Swiss Regulations, in mid-March, and we have since restarted, first at about 25% of our capacity and at the beginning of each week gradually bringing more people being back, in shifts. Regarding boutiques, as of...