La bella vita: Italy has an enduring devotion with watchmakers

Anyone who watches F1 knows about the tifosi. Italian fans take devotion to entirely new levels, following Ferrari with an intense love that turns to heartbreak when things don’t go according to plan.

In the watch world, Italians show similar levels of commitment. Twice a year they hold a giant watch fair in Parma, where hundreds of thousands of immaculately dressed watch dealers and fanciers obsess over vintage Rolexes and Omegas.

In the 1990s a group of Panerai fans started chatting online to discuss what they did and didn’t like about various watches. They called themselves the Paneristi, and eventually the community grew to the point where they now hold big real-life meetings all over the world.

The brand started listening, and ended up openly collaborating with the Paneristi on new watches. What started as a bit of online chitchat made other watch companies jealous and they are now constantly looking for ways to interact with buyers, rather than just presenting new stuff and hoping it flies.

Italy is not particularly known for watches, and most of the Italian firms still make their watches in Switzerland. But while they might employ Swiss watchmakers, Italian companies want to make it very clear that in design and spirit, they are pure Italian. The tifosi wouldn’t have it any other way.

Pro tip

An Italian man will think nothing of laying out his ironed trousers and shirt on a bed together to see if the outfit works. A Brit is more likely to pick clothes off the floor and sniff them to make sure nothing stinks. We could all do with taking a more Italian approach to watch buying. You don’t need a watch for every outfit, but checking it looks good with the things you usually wear is a start.