To Unpathed Waters And Undreamed Shores

NOBODY DOES ADVENTURES QUITE LIKE PANERAI AMBASSADOR AND EXPLORER MIKE HORN, AS I FOUND OUT IN THIS EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW.

- SUFFIAN HAKIM

MEETING MIKE HORN for the first time, I get the impression that his inner life is a harmonious dichotomy. We were seated at the Panerai booth at Watches and Wonders in Geneva, amid the bustle of the biggest event on the watch industry's calendar. He is relaxed in a T-shirt and jeans, his deeply tanned arms moving fluidly in tandem with his speech. His unique accent is a mishmash of many things—his South African upbringing, his time in Switzerland, and his extensive travels around the world.

He speaks many languages. When I attended his keynote speech later, I found he could effortlessly switch between French, Italian, and English. “French and English are two of seven languages that I speak badly,” he quips at the beginning of his speech. In his accent, all seven languages are clearly vying for dominance.

The dichotomy I describe is the charming duality of his personality: the intrepid explorer, always forging ahead into the next adventure with meticulous planning and a fearless spirit, and the media-friendly brand ambassador, showing the same ease on stage as he would abseiling down a mountain.

He's full of incredible stories—like the time he Macgyver-ed a Panerai watch into a piton as he was abseiling down a mountain. He shares, “I didn't think that I would need a piton because I usually just tie the rope around a piece of large rock. In this mountain, there was no such rock, and I couldn't find any way to attach a rope.”