Angelo Bonati was born in Milan in 1951 and studied economics there. He began in the jewellery business in the mid-1970s and in 1980 joined the Vendôme group, later Richemont, as a sales manager for several of its luxury brands in Italy, becoming director of sales and marketing for Cartier Italy in 1987. From 1993 he spent a few years outside watches and jewellery, in sales and marketing at the Ginori and Trussardi groups.
In February 1997, after the Vendôme Luxury Group bought Officine Panerai, Johann Rupert asked him to take it on, and he became its sales director. He later recalled arriving to "one office, one chair, one computer… no assistant." The brand made its debut that year at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie in Geneva. He became chief executive in 2000 and led Panerai for 21 years, building a global luxury brand around the Luminor Marina and the Radiomir.
Under him Panerai introduced its PAM reference numbers, opened its own boutiques and from 1997 issued annual limited Special Editions, deliberately making fewer than demand. It opened its manufacture in Neuchâtel in 2002 and in 2005 launched its first in-house calibre, the P.2002 with an eight-day power reserve, followed by the P.2004 chronograph, the P.2005 tourbillon and the P.4000 and P.9000 families. He was among the first brand chiefs to engage collectors directly on online forums, cultivating the Paneristi, and in 2005 Panerai signed a five-year agreement to make watches under the Ferrari name. A keen sailor, he skippered the classic yacht Eileen and backed the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge.
He retired in April 2018, handing over to Jean-Marc Pontroué, and received Revolution's lifetime achievement award that year. He died on 15 May 2025, aged 73 or 74.
Details of his early career come from a Panerai enthusiast site and press tributes. One tribute gives his age at death as 75, which does not match a 1951 birth.