Panerai "Masters of the Sea" Yachting Book

The partnership between the Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d'Arte and Officine Panerai gave birth to "Masters of the Sea. Italian Yacht Building, a Story of Excellence ": a fascinating book that documents how Italian leadership in yacht building, today worldwide acknowledged, is certainly based on design and style but also on skilled craftsmanship, technology and the traditional know-how of certain regions as well as on the values of a deeply-rooted culture of the sea.

"MASTERS OF THE SEA.

ITALIAN YACHT BUILDING , A STORY OF EXCELLENCE"

The fascinating tale of an Italian excellence in a new book produced by the Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d'Arte (Cologni Foundation for the Métiers d'Art) in partnership with Officine Panerai.

Built on extraordinary first-hand accounts of the protagonists of many leading Italian success stories (entrepreneurs, master shipwrights, craftsmen, designers, yacht owners and skippers, including some legendary names that have made nautical history), the book guides the reader through an intricate and fascinating maze of activities and actors. The author aims at helping the reader to understand what the hallmark Italian elements of excellence are, what is the meaning of "Métiers d'Art " in the nautical world of today, as well as how to protect and pass on the culture of the sea, an enormous wealth of knowledge and values.

"Masters of the Sea. Italian Yacht Building, a Story of Excellence" , written by Professor Luana Carcano of the Bocconi University in Milan (Italy), is the latest in the Fondazione Cologni's collection devoted to the "Métiers d'Art ". The alliance with Officine Panerai is the natural outcome of the encounter between the Foundation's work and the Italian high-end watchmaking brand that has for many years, considering its historical associations with the Italian Navy, protected and promoted classic yachting culture worldwide. One chapter of the book is entirely devoted to the story of the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge, the international regatta circuit reserved for classic and vintage yachts, and to the restoration of Eilean, the 1936 Bermudan ketch rescued from degradation and returned to the sea thanks to Officine Panerai and to the skill of master shipwrights who are still working today throughout Italy.

The book is enriched with original drawings by Victor Togliani , one of Italy's most famous illustrators: his iconography poetically and powerfully evokes the magic of the nautical world.

Luana Carcano Maestri del mare. La nautica italiana, una storia di eccellenza Venezia, Marsilio Editori November 2011 pp. 244, illustrated Retail price: 29 Euro. Sold in Italy in all RCS bookshops and on www.marsilioeditori.it International distribution by Rizzoli International Publications.

Officine Panerai , founded in 1860 in Florence, supplied the Italian Navy's special underwater corps with precision instruments for many years. The designs developed during that time – including the Luminor and Radiomir watches – were protected by military secret for years and their launch on the international market followed the acquisition of the brand by the Richemont group in 1997. Today Officine Panerai develops and produces its own movements and watches in-house in Neuchâtel, perfectly combining design, Italian history and fine Swiss craftsmanship. In honour of its historical associations with the sea, it is a longstanding promoter of classic yachting culture: As well as sponsoring the regatta circuit Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge, Officine Panerai has purchased and restored Eilean, a 1936 Bermudan ketch built in the legendary Fife shipyards.

The Cologni Foundation for the Métiers d'Art (Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d'Arte) is a private non-profit institution established in Milan in 1995 by Franco Cologni, who is its Chairman. The Foundation's initiatives, which are geared towards generating a "new Renaissance" of the Métiers d'Art (or Artistic Craft Professions), are mainly aimed at young people. Training new generations of artisans and saving outstanding craftsman activities from the risk of oblivion which threatens them has always been one of the Foundation's main aims. The Cologni Foundation also works on the identification of the new Métiers d'Art of our times, mapping them out and highlighting their defining characteristics and new features. To this end, it promotes, supports and finances a series of cultural, scientific and informative initiatives such as publishing books, organising conferences and exhibitions, and financing scientific research through the "Arti e mestieri" (Arts and professions) Research Centre, which Cologni Foundation has established in partnership with the Cattolica University of Milan.

Luana Carcano, following a degree in Business Management from the Luigi Bocconi University in Milan (Italy) and a Master in International management, joined the faculty of SDA Bocconi School of Management as a lecturer. Her field of research is mainly Strategy and Management in the luxury sector. She coordinates the SDA Bocconi School of Management elective MBAs and executive MBAs in luxury management. She is the author of numerous publications on watchmaking, jewellery, sailing and Italian business districts of excellence.

Victor Togliani is one of Italy's leading illustrators. An artist of visionary talent, sculptor, set designer, costume artist, pattern maker, specialised in science fiction and fantasy, he works for advertising, publishing, cinema, television and music publishing. A graduate of the Brera Academy, he lives and works in Milan. He has created set designs, costumes and props for cinema and animation films.

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