How does the Italian yachting and jewelry industry work? Immersion for students
Italy is one of the few countries in the world where luxury and industry meet at the same address. The companies that lead the global high-end yacht and jewelry market are not in Asia or the United States: they are in northern Italy, where craftsmanship, engineering, and brand positioning operate as a single discipline.
For high school students with an interest in management, marketing, or entrepreneurship, understanding how these industries work goes far beyond admiring expensive products. It means understanding positioning decisions, global distribution strategy, building brand heritage, and the model of excellence that made “Made in Italy” become a reference in practically every high-value market in the world.
What is the Italian yachting industry and why does it matter for businesses?
Italian yachting is not a small industry. The country is the world's largest exporter of luxury yachts, with brands such as Ferretti, Azimut Benetti, Sanlorenzo and, among the most iconic, Riva Yachts, which has been producing boats since 1842.
What sets this sector apart is not only the quality of the materials or the precision of the engineering. It's how these companies manage to charge absurd prizes for products that any competitor could technically build. That answer lies in brand management, customer experience, historical narrative, and consistency of positioning over generations.
To study this model is to learn about perceived value, competitive differentiation, and product strategy in an environment that does not allow error. A Riva boat costs the equivalent of an apartment in Milan, and the customer pays for it without hesitation. Understanding why is a business class that no textbook can reproduce.
If you want to better understand how the Italian educational environment works as a context for this learning, the article What is high school like in Italy? provides a clear vision of the country's academic system and culture.
How does the luxury jewelry market work in Italy?
High-end Italian jewelry operates in its own universe. Brands like Bulgari, Damiani, Vhernier and Roberto Coin don't just sell pieces: they sell identity, heritage, and symbolic access to a specific lifestyle. That's the same principle that drives the yachting industry, but in another product format.
What unites the two sectors is the logic of luxury as a strategy: high prices are not a consequence of the cost of production. It's a positioning decision. And that decision involves extremely controlled distribution choices, communication campaigns that value scarcity, and partnerships with other prestigious universes, such as fashion, motorsport, and high-level hospitality.
For a student studying management or marketing, following how a global jewelry store defines where it will open a store, who will represent the brand, what event it will appear at and what story it will tell is to study business strategy in its purest form.
Why is a technical visit worth more than a class on these sectors?
There is a fundamental difference between studying about an industry and entering it. When a student visits the Riva Yachts production line, they're not just seeing boats being built. He is observing how craftsmanship and scale coexist, how engineering and aesthetics are negotiated, and how each product detail carries a brand decision.
When he sits at the same table as a former President of Bulgari for North America and hears about the brand's expansion process in the United States, he's learning about internationalization from whoever made it happen. This type of access does not exist in the classroom. It requires a program that has built the right relationships.
It is exactly this model that the Italian Business Excellence Management (IBEM), based in Milan, offers for students aged 15 to 18 during the summer of 2026. Technical visits to Riva Yachts and Panerai are part of the program's practical course, called Practice & Industry Deep Dive, which complements 30 hours of theory with another 30 hours of laboratories and immersions in real companies.
What do students do while visiting Riva Yachts?
The visit to Riva Yachts goes beyond a tour of the manufacturing space. Students have direct contact with ultra-luxury manufacturing processes, exploring how the company balances manual craftsmanship with productive efficiency to deliver vessels that cost millions of euros.
The topics covered during this immersion include:
- Product positioning in the premium and ultra premium segments
- The relationship between material quality and brand perception
- Pricing strategy in markets with high demand and controlled supply
- How an Italian company competes globally without losing its original identity
Riva is not just a yacht manufacturer. It is a case study about how inheritance and innovation coexist in a physical product. This is brand management applied in its most concrete form.
What do students learn from visiting Panerai?
Panerai is one of the most respected brands in global luxury watchmaking. With its origins in Florence and a heritage linked to the Italian Navy, the company combines technical precision with a very well constructed historical narrative.
During immersion at IBEM, students explore:
- How a Niche Firm Builds Global Recognition
- The logic behind developing limited collections
- Distribution strategies that preserve exclusivity
- The role of storytelling in valuing a luxury product
To understand Panerai is to understand that the most expensive product is not necessarily the best technically, but the one that best tells its own story. For any student who wants to work with marketing, branding, or product management, this visit is an irreplaceable practical reference.
Who are the teachers who conduct this content at IBEM?
The teacher responsible for the yachting module is Corrado Del Fanti, adjunct professor at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore and LUISS University, as well as a professor at Il Sole 24 Ore Business School. He has a history of experience in luxury marketing in the automotive, naval and fashion industries, with stints at brands such as Ferretti Yachts and Azimut Benetti.
The jewelry and watchmaking module includes the vision of Alberto Festa, Commercial Director of Watches and Jewelry at Dolce & Gabbana and adjunct professor at LUISS University since 2008. His career includes the Presidency of Bulgari for North America and the General Management of Loro Piana for EMEA, both under the LVMH group.
Having access to these professionals in a program aimed at high school students is, in and of itself, a differential that few programs in the world are able to offer.
Does this type of program make sense for those who still don't know what they want to do?
Yes, and maybe that's where it's most useful. Career doubts are common at this stage, and direct contact with different industries in a real environment works as a very efficient filter. You may find that you want to work in luxury and discover that you prefer technology. You can enter yachting without interest and be fascinated by the sector's business model.
What IBEM guarantees is that this discovery will take place with quality, within a structured environment, with real mentors and companies that represent the best of what Italy has to offer.
For young people who are still evaluating between different formats of international experience, the article Exchange for teens: Is High School always the best option? helps you understand which path makes the most sense for each profile and objective.
Another interesting reference is the Youth Career Program: Future Female Leaders, which shows how career-focused international programs work on leadership development with high school students.
Milan as a laboratory: what does the city teach besides the classroom?
Milan isn't just the headquarters of the program. It's part of the content. The city is home to the Italian Stock Exchange, multinationals from all sectors, the largest design hub in the world and a density of luxury brands that no other urban center can match.
Walking around Milan with your eyes open for management is understanding window decisions, store location choices, urban brand presence strategies. Northern Italy, which the program also explores on excursions, is the country's industrial epicenter, with manufacturing districts that manufacture everything from haute couture fabrics to aeronautical components.
To better understand the cultural and historical context of the Italian destinations that form the background of this immersion, the article 3 fascinating destinations to study Italian in Italy provides a complementary perspective on the country.
How does IBEM connect to a long-term career in luxury management?
Luxury management is one of the most contested areas in the global market. Specialized undergraduate and graduate courses exist at the best European universities, with selection processes that seek candidates with market vision, practical experience and networking portfolio.
Participating in a program like the IBEM while still in high school creates a concrete differential in this process: the student comes to the university admission interview with real experience in one of the industries they want to study. That's not theory. It's a credential.
To understand how this career building works in practice, the article How to boost your business career? provides objective guidelines on how students can position themselves for the market at an early age.
FAQ: immersion in the Italian yachting and jewelry industries for students
1. Is it necessary to have a specific interest in luxury to take advantage of the IBEM program? No. Luxury is the context, but the content is management, strategy, and leadership. Students with an interest in marketing, management, entrepreneurship, or finance have as much to gain as those who already have an affinity with the luxury sector.
2. Are visits to Riva Yachts and Panerai open to any public? No. They are part of the exclusive structure of the IBEM, which negotiates corporate access for its participants. This type of entry is not available to tourists or the general public.
3. What level of English is required to participate in the program? The IBEM requires level B1. Classes and technical visits are conducted in English, which also contributes to language development during immersion.
4. What do students produce at the end of the program? At the end of the IBEM, each group presents a project based on a real business challenge. This delivery is part of the assessment and puts into practice everything that was absorbed during the two weeks.
5. Does the IBEM program have a discount for early registrations? Yes. There is a 10% discount for registrations made by February 28, 2026. The benefit is exclusive to the business program and does not apply to other Sportech Academy courses.
Be Easy
Be Easy guides students from all over the world in choosing international programs aligned with their profile, academic objectives and career moment, taking care of every detail of the enrollment process with full support before, during and after the experience. If the IBEM in Milan awakens your interest or if you want to explore other options for high school abroad, contact us and our team will help you find the right program.
