Big hit

AS the old adage goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. So why did Officine Panerai - makers of the world's most distinctive oversized luxury diving watches - decide to redesign its most successful boutique in the world, located in Hong Kong's luxury retail hub of Tsim Sha Tsui?

"It was too small and I was not satisfied with it," says Officine Panerai's CEO, Angelo Bonati, who was in the Asian shopping paradise city last Thursday to officially re-open the boutique. "People were always queuing outside and that is not acceptable to me."

That scene is unlikely to happen now that the shop space has extended upwards over five floors, with the ground floor entrance expanded to face the non-stop flow of human traffic at the junction of Canton Road and Peking Road.