Newswire

Ron Luino is Citizen Watch Company of America's new vice president of operations and administration and is also a member of its executive committee. He formerly was executive vice president and chief financial officer for Seiko Corp. of America.

Gianni Pieraccioni in March was named global chief executive officer of the 33-year-old Sector Group, a leading Italian fashion and sports watch manufacturer. Previously, he was managing director of Johnson & Johnson Italy. Sebastiano Di Bari, previously executive vice president of finance and operations since 2004, is the new managing director of Sector Group USA, in New York City, in charge of U.S. operations.

Two top Swiss brands owned by luxury-goods conglomerate Richemont—IWC and Baume & Mercier—are supporting Laureus, an organization composed of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, Laureus World Sports Awards (the only awards in which all sports are represented), and Laureus World Sports Academy. The Academy has 40 great athletes who are ambassadors of the Foundation, which supports underprivileged young people worldwide in a network of some 30 sports-related projects. IWC has signed on as a main sponsor of Laureus, while Baume & Mercier has produced a limited-edition CapeLand Laureus watch, with proceeds of sales going to Laureus's U.S. community projects. (Cartier, another Richemont company, makes the statues for the Laureus awards).

Italian luxury watchmaker Panerai in May opened its first U.S. store in its 67-year history. Located on Brighton Way in Beverly Hills, Calif., the 600 sq. ft. boutique, modeled on Panerai's store in Florence, Italy, its hometown, offers a full array of its special-edition watches. Panerai also has stores in Portofino, Italy, and Hong Kong and Shanghai, China (also new this year). Panerai is known for high-end sports watches designed to withstand rigorous underwater use.

Elini Designs Corp. created a limited-edition watch collection called Elini Force for the New York City premiere in May of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith and to raise money for The Children's Health Fund, the beneficiary of the premiere's fund-raising events. Those included an online auction of rare Star Wars collectibles, including two Elini Force watches. Only 10 of each watch model (approved by Lucasfilm Ltd.) were made. None are for retail sale, but the film's stars each got one as a gift from Elini.

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