Opinion
Revolution Awards 2018: Lifetime Achievement Award ― Angelo Bonati
Opinion
Revolution Awards 2018: Lifetime Achievement Award ― Angelo Bonati
Yes, Sylvester Stallone prompted Johann Rupert to purchase the brand. And yes, Franco Cologni was key to the marketing strategy for the “Watch of Heroes,” and Giampiero Bodino designed the fundamental aesthetic blueprint for Panerai. But there is only one man who is the brand’s beating heart and ineffable soul, and that is Bonati. Want just one act of legendary repute? He found a box of old Rolex movements at Panerai, put them in platinum Radiomir cases and, with the PAM 21, made back the total purchase price of Panerai. Boom!
And that was the start of a friendship that has endured for a decade and a half, and that culminated in his creation of the PAM 599, a special-edition watch for the 10th anniversary of this magazine. For all he’s done: for taking a military tool and transforming it into a luxury watch, and for the creation of a manufacture and a legacy that is extraordinary, I salute my dear friend Angelo Bonati and it is my pleasure to award him Revolution’s 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award.