Panerai is opening its largest-ever global store in New York City on Friday.

The 2,250-square-foot space at 711 Madison Avenue marks the debut of what the brand is calling its Casa Panerai — a flagship of more than 2,150 square feet that showcases the watchmaker’s full offering and the breadth of its history.

According to chief executive officer Jean-Marc Pontroue, Panerai is on something of a “retail offensive.” In the last five years, it has opened around 100 stores worldwide.

In New York City, the Compagnie Financière Richemont-owned, Italian-born company had long held a space at 703 Madison Avenue, but that store — at 400 square feet — was too small for the level of interest and foot traffic.

Panerai, according to Pontroue, spent five years looking for a suitable, larger space.

“We wanted to get an angle [corner] on Madison that many brands want. We wanted it facing south so it’s visible on the way up with traffic. A lot of stores were too high or too low. In the watch industry, Madison Avenue has the traffic of affluence and connoisseurs of high-end watches. Not just watches but also high fashion, so it makes it one of the few potential addresses for our type of product,” he said.

The U.S. is Panerai’s biggest global market — accounting for some 20 percent of sales. In recent years, it has seen strong performance — according to Pontroue — in states including Florida, California and Texas.

But New York, he said, “should be the one driving the rest of the business in America.” Panerai currently has some 24 freestanding boutiques in the U.S., some operated by partners.

“Our Italian origin plays well in the U.S., given the fact that we are the only brand to have Swiss making with Italian flavor,” Pontroue said.

The brand will soon open locations in Boston, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia.

In addition to the U.S., Pontroue cited China, Japan and Italy as strong markets.

The luxury industry over the last few weeks has reported that rampant growth in the U.S. is beginning to slow.

Pontroue said that he is looking at the reports with a more macro approach. “Well, you know you have to see it on the long-term performance of the business. All major brands saw significant increases in America in the last five years. You cannot keep going like that for long, so now we are on more of a plateau. I can tell you we are still significantly higher today than we were pre-COVID[-19],” he said.

“Of course, when you have a country with 20 percent of your business, you are looking very carefully, but at the same time we are very optimistic or we wouldn’t have invested this much in Madison,” Pontroue added.

While Panerai maintains high, heritage-type cachet, the brand’s average watch is around $10,000 — lower than other brands with a similar positioning.

Pontroue said that price is not the full picture of the brand’s success: “It is all linked to the desirability of your brand. On the high end there are very successful brands and ones with lower prices are not always as successful. It’s more how much you are desired, your product, storytelling and history.”

On that note, the brand is continuing its push into experiential designs — in which a client purchases a package from Panerai that includes a trip and a watch.

One experience, which mimics a Navy Seal training facility, includes door-to-door airport transportation, flights, a three-day training experience plus the limited watch designed for the event.

“It’s a new way to approach watch aficionados,” Pontroue said.