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Panerai is changing the game by appealing to more women and with innovation. Find out how CruCycle's Valerie, Beatrice and Calvin Ding emulate the Italian luxury watchmaker to bring their indoor cycling studio more success
While the fitness industry tends to be male-dominated, Valerie Ding stands out among the crowd. After all, together with her siblings, Calvin and Beatrice, she co-founded indoor cycling specialist CruCycle in 2014. Back then, female fitness entrepreneurs are few and far between. What CruCycle did was to create a conducive environment for everyone—both men and women—to exercise and maintain their fitness levels. The situation has improved today as we see more female instructors and fitness influencers in the industry, making it a much more balanced scene.
In the same way, Panerai, a traditionally male-skewed brand, is gradually changing the direction it is charting. There are more women these days, who appreciate fine watchmaking like their male counterparts. Oversized watches do not scare them and some, like Valerie, even openly say that they like their watches with presence. That is why the Italian luxury watchmaker is crafting timepieces such as the Panerai Submersible Goldtech OroCarbo - 44mm that appeal to both men and women. The combination of gold with high-tech carbon softens the originally masculine watch design significantly and with it fitting the wrist snugly, the piece can complement any outfit, making it suitable for both work and play.
(Related: What’s In CruBox CEO And Co-Founder Valerie Ding’s Closet?)
By playing with material innovation, it has opened new doors to watchmaking for Panerai. Unorthodox materials can improve strength, performance or aesthetics, allowing the watchmaker more room to mix and match to create different aesthetics. Case in point: the Panerai Luminor Marina DMLS, which employs a futuristic 3D printing process called Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) technology. Typically used in the medical and dentistry fields, the process uses titanium powder, sintered by a high power fibre optic laser, to produce strong, functional metal components. DMLS titanium is combined with Carbotech, a carbon composite developed by the Panerai Laboratorio di Idee—the brand's R&D facility—for the watch. This allows Panerai to construct a watch that is sturdy, highly technical and aesthetically unconventional at the same time.
Similarly, the Dings had to think out of the box when CruCycle had to shut its studios—"our core business", as Valerie calls them—during the circuit breaker period last April due to Singapore's fight against Covid-19.
"Our customers generally value the studio atmosphere and the energy drawn from the community when they come to a class at the studios. Typically after class, there is camaraderie exchanged and experienced in the common areas. But all these had to come to a halt when Covid-19 happened," says the 32-year-old, adding that they had to deliver their workout content online. Valerie shares more about fitness, business and Panerai with Tatler Singapore.