At the 57th edition of the Milan Design Week, Officine Panerai is exhibiting for the first time in Italy, Candela, the work created by three multi-disciplined British talents working together: the designer Felix de Pass, the graphic designer Michael Montgomery and the ceramicist Ian McIntyre.
Previously presented at the world-famous Victoria & Albert Museum on the occasion of the London Design Festival, Candela is being exhibited from 17 to 22 April at la Triennale di Milano within ‘Light in the Darkness’, the installation which offers a new view of the concept of time and light, summarising all the values intrinsic to Panerai: design as both a vocation and as an element of research and innovation, time and its continuous flow, and the luminescence which has been a feature Panerai watches since the beginning, responding to the demands of the commandos of the Royal Italian Navy.
It is an immersion into the darkest depths which articulates the imaginary journey towards the shimmering of Candela, the name is that of scientific unit measuring luminous intensity.
The installation consists of a slowly rotating circular framework suspended above the gallery floor. With the passage of time, the disc passes through a concentrated discharge of light which causes it to emit aglow which fades little by little, until it disappears altogether. All this is possible through the marriage of analogue and digital technologies using materials with light-creating properties.
Forming part of the installation are Submersible watches with their uniquely distinctive technical characteristics and design. Solid, strong and with unequalled visibility even at great depths, every Panerai diver’s watch is inspired by the past of a brand whose roots are in the world of the sea while it also looks to the future, with excellent new technical solutions and remarkable innovations. Exam plesare the Luminor Submersible 1950 CarbotechTM 3 Days Automatic with its case made of carbo tech, a composite material based on carbon fibre, and the Luminor Submersible 1950 A magnetic 3 Days Automatic Titanio whose innovative case prevents magnetic fields reaching the interior of the watch.
In the field of high quality watch making, Panerai timepieces stand out for the undisputed incisiveness of their design. Designed in the 1930s and 1940s as military diver’s watches, they are incredibly solid and robust, and every detail is perfectly formed to carry out the task for which it was designed. The functionality and pure lines which distinguish Panerai models have enabled the House to establish its watches as icons of inter national high quality watchmaking.
As a tribute to this tradition of excellence, Panerai has for many years sponsored a series of initiativesaimed at promoting the culture of design.
In this way many international collaborative projects have come into being, such as the partnership with the Triennale Design Museum in Milan on the occasion of the exhibition “O’Clock”, the retail concept of the Panerai boutiques created by Patricia Urquiola, and the sponsorship of initiatives such as DesignMiami (US), the London Design Festival and the prestigious Wallpaper Design Award (United Kingdom).
This is a commitment which is growing year by year, confirming the part played by Panerai in the world of international design. To reinforce its long standing relationship with the world of design, Panerai has donated the the work Candela to the Triennale which will thus become part of its permanent exhibition.
