I Will miss Monty Shadow a great bear-like man with a booming voice, glossy black ringlets, and glamorous…

I WillmissMonty Shadow, agreat bear-like manwith abooming voice, glossy black ringlets, and glamorous girlfriend, Audrey……… Covid has robbed theworld of watchesand thewider universe of luxury goodsof one of its moreexotic inhabitants.

Montymoved inmysterious wayssome said he had been aYugoslavian basketballstar, others described him as a Montenegrin socialite. He certainly worked as aphotographer(Shadow’s Shady Ladieswas one of his books), but by the time I met him about25years ago he was afabulously unconventional colossuson theluxury goodsscene.

Movements of Maverick

Exuberant and colourful, Monty Shadow introduced Sylvester Stallone to Panerai and helped create one of the 21^stcentury’s most successful watch brands.

By Nicholas Foulkes

Article Published on Vanity Fair On Time May 2022 – UK

The watch world of the1990’swas a more freewheeling place than it is today, but even by the standards of the timeMonty was a maverick. He worked completelyoutsidethe executive structure for which he had a scarcely concealed disdain.Emínence griseis an insufficiently colourful term to describe what he did; his friend and colleague for many yearsRichemontbossJohann Rupertprefers the term“truffle dog”. One of the biggest truffle  he ever unearthedwas Panerai, and part of that discovery was one of the most enduring movie-star/watch relationships in the  history of horology.

According toPaneraionline research authority Perezscope, it began ın1995ın characteristically flamboyant fashion when Monty “arrived at the premıses ofOfficine Panerai SpAın the outskırts ofFlorencein a whiteBentley Contınental convertibleand proposed to the management a plan to promote Panerai watches with top-tier celebrities.”

Monty had introducedSly Stalloneto thebrand; hence Panerai’s appareance in the film Daylight and the makıng of the nowfamous Sly Tech models. Subsequently the brand became something of a totem amongst1990’s Hollywood hard men, withArnold Schwarzeneggeralso wearıng one.

But more germane to the future of Panerai wereMonty’s contacts beyond the Hollywoodcommunity. One dayJohann  Rupertsaw aSly Tech on the wrist of South African entrepreneurRob Hersov and asked what it was. “Rob saıd it was a Panerai,” says Rupert. “I gave him myCartier Tank Française.I said, “Take that you wear that, I want to wear this.” I went home and the kids asked wath it was  and were all inquisitive.

Later that evening,Rupertwent for dinner atLa Famiglia. On the next  wasGianluca Vialli– a  sophisticated iItalian who was playing forChelsea.He asked to see the watch. “He took it, he went, ‘Ah  bello, bello… Can buy it?” SaysRupert. “I said no, so he asked where he could get one. And l said “I’Il let you know.”

The next dayRob Hersovwent to Rupert’s office and retumed the watch. “I said to Rob, “Here’s your watch.I want to buy it!

Rob said, “You can have it. I can get another one from Monty” .Not the watch, clarifiedRupert – he wanted to buy the company.

“So, I take it to what was in those daysVendôme [precursor to Richemont],” saysRupert. Incredible though it may seem today, the board was not interested, although eventually they saw sense. “The worst thing was that the chairman wrote me a letter to tell me my taste was unsophisticated.”

At the next board meeting,“ I asked them to formally say tlıey didn’t want it, because I could never be in Competition with a public company that mid my salary. ThenFranco Colognisaid he would go halves with me; as hewas Italian and cultured, nobody dared accuse him of having unsophisticated taste.I senta colleague to go withMontyandwe bought the company for €1 million.Monty was the onewho found it,MontygaveRobone, Rob wore it, I saw it,and the rest is the story of one of the most successful watch brands of the 21^stcentury “saysRupert. “I absolutely  loved Monty,”remembers Rupert of his late friend and colleague.“Monty was the truffle dog who found Panerai.”