PROFILES
NICOLA ANDREATTA, ROGER DUBUIS CEO on Creating Excitement for a Hyper-Watch Brand
| BY ANTHONY DEMARCO
Watchmaking is literally in the blood of Nicola Andreatta. Born in Italy to an Italian father and Swiss mother, Andreatta (an Italian-Swiss national fluent in Italian, French, English, Spanish, and Cantonese) grew up in a family immersed in watchmaking for three generations. Andreatta has had a long and varied career in watchmaking and managing watch-related businesses in Hong Kong and Switzerland. In 2003, he founded his own watch brand, N.O.A. (None of the Above), resulting in an international reputation as a visionary entrepreneur in the world of luxury watches. He sold the business ten years later and turned his attention to working on a relaunched watch category for Tiffany & Co. in Switzerland. This change led him to his current position as CEO of Roger Dubuis, one of the world’s most innovative and creative watch brands. Roger Dubuis is arguably the most specialized watchmaker among the brands owned by the luxury holdings company Richemont. Roger Dubuis produces limited edition or unique timepieces that typically sell in the six-figure range to a relatively small group of international watch collectors who have both the wealth and the appreciation of its high-tech aesthetics. These features include movement and case finishes that meet the Poinçon de Genève (Geneva Seal) finishes, the highest standard in the Swiss watch industry, and its uniquely designed skeletonized dials. For more than four years, Andreatta has led this specialist Swiss watch brand in expanding its boutique network while maintaining its unique brand qualities, going against the trend of reducing prices, and limiting its crafted integrity to appeal to the mass market. The company produces watches in five categories: Excalibur, which could be defined as its artistic line, focusing on contemporary design, color, and luminescence; the hyper sportscar-themed Excalibur Spider, “hyper watches,” with high complications and innovative mechanical mechanisms; “Knights of the Round Table,” featuring its own elevated horological take on the literary story; and a women’s collection, Velvet. It has long partnerships with sportscar manufacturer Lamborghini and the tire company Pirelli. More recently, watchmakers at Roger Dubuis 28 | UPSCALE LIVING MAGAZINE | APRIL 2023
