Headline Date MediaTitle Section Journalist Frequency Circ / Read
Dream of a watch 27 Jun 2010 Sunday Star StarMag N/A Weekly 320,964 / 1,072,000
Language Page No Article Size Color ADValue PRValue
English SM13 2 599 cm Full Color 22,416 67,247
Dream of a watch to
of to
By TAN GIM EAN starmag@thestar com my
market requires a major investment in terms of time and emotion You need to go out to other markets train distributors give support to retailers and get feedback from customers he says That takes time for now he is happy to grow step by step for example having a bigger and nicer booth at Basel this year Bartsch reckons there are about 250
Swiss made watch brands today both niche
JR jyHEN the folks behind Swiss watch
lljp
Cimier meet and talk about
il W their product time hardly figures in
the conversation
and mass and we re among the top 100 We started with just a brand name and had no collection Now I feel happy to see the Cimier crown when 1 travel
Instead like clockwork they repeat words Cimier opened its first flagship store in like history design craftsmanship quality Zurich Switzerland last October The brand branding value synergy and passion One of entered Japan three and a half years ago them even brings psychology into the narra and is now looking at possible outlets in tive Hong Kong Singapore Bangkok or Kuala People don t buy a watch to tell the time Lumpur Asian clients are very demanding For most it s a kind of accessory says when it comes to product quality and aes Richard E Zinkiewicz director of finance and
administration of 01 Ltd an arm of 01 Group which owns Cimier
Selling watches has to do with emotion adds master watchmaker Martin Eugster Basically a watch has to take a person somewhere
Before that journey can even begin thousands of steps have to be taken from the conception of the watch to its design production marketing and sale The Cimier team had gathered at BASELWORLD in Switzerland in March
where the brand was among about 2 000 exhibitors at the annual World Watch and
Jewellery Show Like the springs of his mechanical pieces Cimier managing director Martin Bartsch was all wound up during the eight day event Understandably so seeing that orders this year are 20 more than in 2009 Russian interest in the brand has grown markedly in the last three years he reveals Cimier which he bought over in 2003 and which was then acquired by Hong Kong based Malaysian owned Qj Group in 2006 see Brand history has 85 outlets in Russia compared with 12 in Switzerland and eight in Germany Bartsch who worked for many years in the watch industry said he took on the brand because the entrepreneur in him saw a challenge in relaunching Cimier with its own designs There are lots to a watch
fashion tech
nology mechanical parts and consumer mindset As head of the brand I have to set
its strategy and price and look at fashion trends I also have to find the right people who share my commitment Gaining a bigger share of an established
thetics Bartsch notes Senior advisor and board member Nico
Stein describes Cimier prices range from 600 to 3 000 Swiss francs RM1 760 to RM8 700 as not an entry level but a first quality watch It s something you can wear proudly and enjoy looking at But building a brand name is not just about sales figures Bartsch stresses To do it right one has to have a good team and a passion for watches and details Finding the right candidate is a boon two years ago he approached Eugster to hop on board as head of production and after sales service
Like the watches he meticulously produc es at Cimier s atelier in Baar Central
Switzerland Eugster s passion for the busi ness ticks quietly but unceasingly Patience and a steady hand are also prerequisites for a master watchmaker
It s delicate manual work says Eugster who is entrusted with putting all the minute parts of a watch together and ensuring that it works Precisely that involves about 120
parts for a simple mechanical watch Or when fixing a dial 150 chronological steps Creating a new design with movement entails five years of painstaking work Eugster made the prototype for the first batch of Cimier watches shown at Basel in
2004 He joined the company in 2008 after three decades of running his own retail store selling and repairing watches Developing a watch is one thing the most difficult part is selling it he says You have to excite people go to places where they are looking for watches Marketing is a hard job but someone has to do it
Psychology can lend a hand here Eugster
Headline Date MediaTitle Section Journalist Frequency Circ / Read
Dream of a watch 27 Jun 2010 Sunday Star StarMag N/A Weekly 320,964 / 1,072,000
believes that when you talk about watches you always talk about a dream The value of a handcrafted piece is propor tionate to the work that goes into it thus you have to add value to a watch like
Language Page No Article Size Color ADValue PRValue
English SM13 2 599 cm Full Color 22,416 67,247
something you have to know how they function People don t buy time I can tell the time with out a watch there s our body clock But I like watches and 1 like
it when things fit together adding a name or an individual script on the It would not be amiss to link back of the case and give people some thing to talk about this dream component to owning a watch brand Watch trends was a common talking point at Baselworld Eugster says from personal Datuk Vijay Eswaran executive chairman of QI Group looked at observation they go in cycles much like fashion with old trends making a comeback various labels before deciding on Cimier he says at an interview in every 25 to 30 years Currently the look harks back to classics his Petalingjaya office It has always had a good history from the 1970s with three hand designs I visited the plant and met the peo popular once again Quality hand made watches will continue ple 1 like the brand s simple lines but I to benchmark classic choices What will wasn t moved by the product per se The deal was sealed as a result of meeting Martin change is the use of new materials Eugster he is so passionate says With silicium technology watchmakers Bartsch A personal commitment to a medium can produce new metals and construct new forms where craftsmanship speaks for itself proba bly had a hand in the pact too The philosophy of watch I want to convey the message that we can making is never about the tech produce world class watches Being a nique It s about the dream he adds
To be able to sell people
Malaysian company does not exclude us from this Vijay says
Headline Date MediaTitle Section Journalist Frequency Circ / Read
Dream of a watch 27 Jun 2010 Sunday Star StarMag N/A Weekly 320,964 / 1,072,000
Language Page No Article Size Color ADValue PRValue
English SM13 2 599 cm Full Color 22,416 67,247