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THE WORLD’S MOST INFLUENTIAL WATCH MAGAZINE EUROPE

BASELWORLD’S INSIDER REPORTS

LOUIS MOINET

In less than ten years, Jean-Marie Schaller, Louis Moinet’s CEO, put this great historical name back on stage EUROPE N°331 3/15 JUNE / JULY

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WATCH BUSINESS MAGAZINE EUROPEAN EDITION N°331 3/15 JUNE/JULY | CHF12 / €10 / US$12

BASELWORLD’S INSIDER REPORTS

EXCLUSIVE: Swiss exports real figures

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www.chanel.com

Unique, the finely hand embroidered dials by the Maison Lesage offer an invitation to voyage through the intimate world of Gabrielle Chanel. Fine pearls, gold paillons and gold coated silk threads combine Métiers d’Art excellence and the refinement of Haute Couture.

18K yellow gold set with 60 diamonds (~1 carat).

THE CHANEL MOMENT

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EDITORIAL

THE DECK

The players would have been quite happy to continue their friendly game of poker, playing according to the usual rules. But outside their circle events are escalating, threatening to overturn the table, tear up the rule book, and break up the party. Around the table, the players are casting sidelong glances at one other, poker-faced. Well, it was nice while it lasted. It was an exclusive and rarefied world: big international luxury groups, venerable historic maisons, successful industrialists and, as window dressing, the odd tame artist to add some spice.

But now the madding crowd is clamouring at the door. Our Chinese clients are turning away from our products, which are suddenly too extravagant and ostentatious for their leaders’ tastes. Our Russian and Ukrainian friends have come to blows, and their passion for our timepieces will have to wait for calmer times.

The Middle East is a bloodbath, and the situation is becoming tragically more desperate every day.

And as if all this bad news wasn’t enough, other giants are trying to muscle in on the action. ‘Giant’ is a euphemism. In fact they are monsters with unparalleled fire power. Just think: Apple alone has a market capitalisation equivalent to 30 years of Swiss watchmaking! And let us not forget Google and Samsung and the rest, all hungrily eyeing our wrists, desperate to smarten them up with some of their connected wizardry.

Paul Cézanne, Les Joueurs de cartes (1894–95)

by Pierre Maillard Editor-in-Chief

Well, let them have at it. We’ll see how it turns out. Some producers are trembling in fear of being swept away by a tsunami; others can hardly contain their scorn, convinced that nothing will knock them off their pedestals; and some are secretly marshalling their arms, rationalising that a bit of connectivity never did anyone any harm. But deep down, they are all a little afraid: the future has become impossible to read. And as always in such troubled times, we take refuge in the fundamentals, we reassure ourselves with memories of our glory days, take comfort in rose-tinted nostalgia for our past. Have we been pushing our luck in recent years? Did we go too far? Might it not be time for a little moderation? Given the general downsizing apparent at the latest Baselworld (39 mm is once again the benchmark for good taste), seeing the

proliferation of minimally reworked vintage models, and noting a return to purity of line, it could be said that the deck is indeed being reshuffled, albeit amid considerable disarray. Will the future of mechanical watchmaking really be assured by enshrining it in its past? Or should we give in to the lure of connectivity? When will the Chinese once more be allowed to display their wealth?

These are just a few of the hundreds of questions one could ask. The cards are on the table. But it will soon be time to deal a new hand. p

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Memoris is the first chronograph-watch in watchmaking history.

This 46 mm timepiece is available in pink gold or white gold, in three limited editions of just 60 pieces each.

The new caliber on Memoris is the LM54. With a rhythm of 28,800 vibrations per hour (4Hz), it has 302 components and provides a 48-hour power reserve. Over sixty parts have been designed and manufactured to allow the chronograph to be presented atop a dedicated movement plate, separating it from the automatic movement beneath.

Les Ateliers Louis Moinet Rue du Temple 1 CH 2072 St-Blaise Tel :+41 (0)32 753 68 14 Fax : +41 (0)32 753 68 16 www.louismoinet.com

THE WORLD’S MOST INFLUENTIAL WATCH MAGAZINE

EDITORIAL Reshuffling the deck

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COVER STORY Louis Moinet – From the kitchen to the stars

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SIGNALS

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BASEL REPORT The Babelworld labyrinth

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INTERVIEWS A business talk with…

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BASEL REPORT Faces in time Smartwatches: prototypes & promises Gallery: world tour

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LAKIN@LARGE The world’s happiest country

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SPOTLIGHT Adriatica

16 SIGNALS

20 BABELWORLD

38

INSERT

INTERVIEWS

READER SURVEY: 48 ICE-WATCH TO WIN! What do you think of Europa Star? Today, the media and watchmaking landscapes are evolving very rapidly.

In order to know better how much you appreciate our magazine, what you like in it and what could still be improved, we invite you, dear Readers, to participate in our Reader Survey.

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CONTENTS

SMARTWATCH

Please go on our website – www.europastar.com – to fill out a very quick online survey.

It will take you no more than three minutes but these minutes will be of great value to us. And you can become one of the lucky readers to win one out of 48 Ice-Watch watches!

The models we will offer our luckiest readers, through a random draw, are 20 Ice-Forever White Unisex, 20 Ice-Forever Blue Unisex and 8 Ice-Forever Pink Unisex.

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GALLERY

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The statements and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily Europa Star.

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DIGITAL PARTNER

+ special supplement: The unpublished export figures for Swiss luxury watches!

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Escale Time Zone.

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COVER STORY

FROM THE KITCHEN TO THE STARS In barely ten years Jean-Marie Schaller has succeeded in reviving the forgotten name of Louis Moinet and placing it firmly at the centre of the watchmaking scene. Here is the fascinating story of this independent watchmaker, who began in a kitchen and is now reaching for the stars.

by Pierre Maillard

“

My story is not at all typical,” announces Jean-Marie Schaller right off the bat. “You may or not believe this, but when I created the Louis Moinet brand, it was because I had the very strong feeling that it was my destiny. I didn’t really have a choice. And, because I didn’t have any money either, I had to do it with my heart.”

Is this the usual story-telling to which the watchmaking industry is particularly partial, given its need to inject that crucial touch of soul to what is essentially, particularly now, a useless lump of metal: the wristwatch? I have to say... it isn’t. Having known the man in question for two decades now, and followed his career, I can assure you his sincerity is beyond question. Jean-Marie Schaller continues: “Gaining recognition for Louis Moinet was, for me, a mission. It was about paying tribute to a watchmaker who was supremely talented, and yet so humble that he was almost forgotten forever. It’s a genuine love story; more than that – it’s almost a metaphysical experience. You might not believe me, but sometimes I have the impression that Louis Moinet is there, putting ideas into my head, that he is the source of my intuitions. In any case, one thing is quite clear: I couldn’t sell this brand. It would be a betrayal, the brand would suffocate...”

Strong words, and a marked contrast to the usual marketing speak, which tends to be more controlled, smoother, and

highly unlikely to venture into metaphysics. And, like many true and lasting love stories, this one began with apparent indifference. The embers were smouldering below the surface. It was 1991. Jean-Marie Schaller was at Siber Hegner (a distributor that later became the DKSH group), working under Daniel Roth, who had just launched his own brand.

Daniel Roth was very familiar with Breguet and its history, having been involved in its renaissance as a watchmaking brand (at the time Breguet did not yet belong to Swatch Group, which bought it in 1999, but to the Chaumet brothers, and then Investcorp). He happened to mention the name of Louis Moinet (1768–1853), a long-forgotten contemporary of the ultra-famous Abraham-Louis Breguet. But JeanMarie Schaller wasn’t really paying attention. He was already thinking about ‘reviving’ another watchmaker, AbrahamLouis Perrelet, the inventor of the automatic watch (Editor’s note: this is disputed by some historians). He accomplished LOUIS MOINET IN MILESTONES Louis Moinet was born in Bourges in France in 1768 and was drawn to watchmaking and the fine arts from an early age. At the age of 20 he left for Italy to study architecture, sculpture, painting and engraving. On his return to Paris he was appointed Professor of the Academy of Fine Arts at the Louvre, and embarked upon a practical and theoretical study of horology, to which he would devote himself entirely from 1800 onwards. He became President of the Paris Chronometry Society, and worked closely with Abraham-Louis Breguet. He created a number of extraordinary clocks for Napoleon, the first presidents of the United States, Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe, and King George IV of England. Over the course of twenty years he produced a respected Treatise on Watchmaking. He was an indefatigable innovator, designing alarm clocks, regulators and astronomical watches with breathtaking mechanical features.

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Jean-Marie Schaller with the compteur de tierces invented by Louis Moinet in 1816, the first chronograph ever made. This photograph was taken by Geneva-based photographer Denis Hayoun, founder of Studio Diode.

his goal in 1993, when he launched the Perrelet brand with an investor (he was to leave in 2000).

But a few years later, in 1997, the name of Louis Moinet cropped up again. This time it was from a friend, who had seen what Schaller had achieved with Perrelet and had bought the name Louis Moinet with a view to replicating his success. But the friend had decided that the adventure was not for him, and was hoping to sell the name to Jean-Marie Schaller. This was the second ‘contact’ with Louis Moinet. It didn’t come to anything. Time passed once again, and Jean-Marie Schaller moved on from the Perrelet adventure, left Switzerland for personal reasons and went to live in France, away from the watchmaking world. But this new departure didn’t work out, and Jean-Marie Schaller returned to Switzerland “all washed up,” as he puts it, “without a penny to my name.” He was taken on by Lacoste watches in the marketing department, where he evidently did a good job, in just a few short years overseeing an increase in volume from 40,000 to 266,000 watches a year when he left.

But this kind of mass marketing left him unsatisfied. He still dreamt of devoting himself to a high-end, mechanical, historic brand. Happily, his friend came back on the scene, and once again tried to get him to buy the Louis Moinet name.

THE START OF AN ADVENTURE Jean-Marie Schaller, who at that point had nothing more than a ten-page biography of Louis Moinet to go on, finally gave in to the pestering. Along with his partner Micaela he bought the name for what was effectively a negligible sum, but which at the time was practically all he had in the world. In 2005 the

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big adventure finally began, with what he calls his “laboratory years”. The laboratory in question was in fact his own kitchen.

He explains: “We established a number of principles from the outset: Louis Moinet would be devoted exclusively to the highest form of mechanical art, and would produce only limited editions and one-of-a-kind pieces.” But before embarking upon this journey, it seemed like a good idea to learn more about this Louis Moinet, still something of a shadowy figure. “At the time I only had this short biography, less than ten pages long, and his famous Traité d’Horlogerie, published in 1848. I had to retrace his steps and rediscover his works, including his famous clocks.”

This exhilarating adventure took him to Saint Petersburg and Washington, D.C., where he gradually pieced together the crucial role played by the watchmaker, culminating in the 2013 discovery of the world’s first chronograph, which Louis Moinet completed in 1816 (see Louis Moinet biography, opposite).

“But in parallel with this research I had to create a new reality, flesh out the product line and make it coherent,” Schaller continues. “We do not travel through life alone, so we began by building up a genuine family of solid partners, both upstream and down. This took quite a long time, because we weren’t just looking for subcontractors, we wanted true collaborators who were committed and passionate and would work with us towards the same goal. So we moved forward step by step. A local shareholder came on board and we were able to launch our first product in gold. We had to grow slowly because we didn’t want to have to borrow any money, so we were obliged to turn a profit every year. As you can see, our work is governed by both a sense of craftsmanship and good old-fashioned common sense.” u

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I DERRICK GAZ

I ASTRO MOON

Jean-Marie Schaller, who is creative director as well as CEO, then defined a neo-classical aesthetic inspired directly by Louis Moinet’s historical period, but adapted in such a way as to give it a contemporary resonance and meaning. “The beauty and fascination of working only with limited editions is that you’re forced to always go that extra mile, to constantly reinvent yourself. But if we have managed to do that while maintaining a strong coherence, it is because Louis Moinet is and remains our unwavering guiding light: chronometric precision, astronomical observation, art and craftsmanship are at the root of his thinking, and they are the values that shape our activity.”

designer and creator Concepto, a recognised cutting-edge specialist in the domain of complications.

In less than ten years, Louis Moinet has succeeded in creating and marketing a unique output, with models immediately recognisable by their shared family resemblance. Their primary traits are a richly detailed aspect without unnecessary decoration, a neo-classical but resolutely contemporary aesthetic, and complexity always paired with legibility. The watchmaking of Louis Moinet is not just about high precision, although it is certainly that; it is also thoughtful and philosophical, with something of an astronomical bent. For, let us not forget, Louis Moinet, a skilled craftsman and a distinguished watchmaker, was also a renowned astronomer who, in his exploration of the cosmos, rigorously researched the mechanisms of time while admiring its ineffable beauty.

Today, Louis Moinet watches can be divided into three broad families: Essence de Louis Moinet, the Classique collection, and ‘Mechanical Art’ – the unofficial designation of the mechanical curiosities that the brand likes to play around with.

This latter category includes the Derrick Tourbillon and Derrick Gaz, which were introduced at Baselworld this year.

These sumptuous pieces, as their names suggest, reproduce on their dials the motion of a working derrick.

The Classique family includes watches whose raison d’être is precision chronometry, beginning with a whole series of beau-

GUIDING LIGHT This guiding light, which is historical, technical and aesthetic, has given the Louis Moinet brand the opportunity to produce watchmaking creations that are coherent, strong and unusual from many points of view. The style emerged gradually as each new piece was crafted; the house makes a point of producing its own cases, hands, dials and its own unique decorations (the Côtes du Jura, which are more sensuously curved than the famous Côtes de Genève).

Most of the movements and mechanisms are original and exclusive, and from the beginning they were created with the

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tiful tourbillon watches, and also the iconic Mecanograph, perhaps the pinnacle of this research. The only independent watch to have won a prize at the 2013 Concours de Chronométrie, this chronometer reveals its regulating organs through a half dial, and features a remarkably efficient patented bi-directional winding mechanism dubbed Energie Plus.

The Essence de Louis Moinet family brings together watches with specific features. In addition to the Tempograph 20 Seconds, with its astonishing creativity and mechanical originality, there is the Astro Moon with its stunning moon phase display decorated with meteorite, and the great innovation of the year, the Memoris.

MEMORIS, THE FIRST WATCH-CHRONOGRAPH “It’s probably our most important launch ever,” notes JeanMarie Schaller. “The timepiece stands at the exact crossroads of the 10th anniversary of the Ateliers Louis Moinet and the bi-centenary of the chronograph invented by Louis Moinet [see sidebar]. It was therefore important that whatever we created to honour this legacy should be different from its predecessor. While everything, or almost everything, chronoI MEMORIS

THE COMPTEUR DE TIERCES Named the compteur de tierces (counter of thirds), since the word ‘chronograph’ had not yet been coined, this extraordinary timepiece created in 1816 measures time to the 60th of a second, beats at a frequency of 216,000 vibrations per hour, and has a zero reset function. This extraordinarily complex object confirms Louis Moinet’s status as a pioneer of high frequency, and a trailblazer who anticipated later developments in his field by at least 100 years. After JeanMarie Schaller bought this compteur de tierces at auction in 2012, he realised that he had brought to light the world’s first chronograph. This historic discovery was the final validation of his intuitions, and his brand was rewarded with an exceptionally high profile.

graph-related had already been invented, there was still one step nobody had dared to take: no longer seeing the chronograph as a complication, but rather as the primary function of the timepiece. And so Memoris was born: the world’s first watch-chronograph. But we couldn’t draw inspiration from what had come before: everyone else worked from the premise that the chronograph was an additional complication on top of the time function. Our starting point was the opposite: sweeping away the past and making the chronograph the heart of our design, the central component to which we then added a time function, rather than the other way around.”

The result is a magnificent watch, the first to give pride of place to a classic chronograph movement with column wheel. Its components are mounted at the top of the movement, which thus takes up all the central space; the hours and minutes display is relegated – if this is the right word – to a delicate little white lacquered dial at 6 o’clock. A complete role reversal. The first watch-chronograph – an entirely different beast from the usual chronograph-watches – not only validates Jean-Marie Schaller’s entire approach, but also places his brand at the pinnacle of mechanical watchmaking. p

Discover more at www.europastar.BIZ/Louis-Moinet

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SIGNALS

Did you know?

Famous Swiss brand and conglomerate “Swatch” is an abbreviation for “second watch”. (Fortune)

54% According to latest reports, the share of Swiss watch exports to Asia is at 54% of its global export total. The Middle Eastern markets of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait are now also in the top 30 rankings of Swiss exports.

(Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry)

Silicon Smart and traditional watches have more in common than you think! Key components of mechanical watches – including balancewheels, hairsprings, and escapementwheels - are now also made from silicon, which is stronger than metal and doesn’t need lubrication. (Swiss Watch Wire)

Fear Apple might have to postpone its launch of the Apple Watch in Switzerland due to some controversy over trademark issues. But according to intellectual property lawyer Michel Jaccard,“Apple has nothing to fear.”

Good news for the Swiss, who are among the biggest consumers of Apple products.

(Bidness ETC) 16 | SIGNALS | europa star

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NOMOS

»NOMOS is among the best luxury watches out there.« N e w Yo r k Ti m e s

Find all NOMOS models and retailers at nomos-glashuette.com and nomos-store.com

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SIGNALS

Timeless Jean-Claude Biver, CEO of watches at LVMH and TAG Heuer, thinks that good timekeeping is timeless.

According to Biver,“A connected watch from Apple or any other brand will not compete with eternity.”A good point, since he recently bought his wife a century-old Patek Philippe that, according to him, ticks like the day it was first set.

(Fortune)

Multipliers IWC’s Middle East marketing strategy doesn’t use celebrity brand ambassadors. In Oman, the brand uses local women that wear their watches out to generate interest.“I’d rather build relationships with 30 ladies who can potentially become our multipliers or ambassadors in the market,” admitted Karoline Huber, IWC Schaffhausen Brand Director for the Middle East & India. (Times of Oman) 18 | SIGNALS | europa star

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Ad_Tito

Embrace your inner princess MISS LOVELY

www.titoni.ch

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BASEL REPORT

THE BABELWORLD

by Pierre Maillard

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ntering the hall where the official opening of Baselworld 2015 is to take place, amid the hubbub of journalists taking up their usual places, and greeting each other as from one continent to another, it is immediately clear that something is not quite right. On the rostrum are René Kamm, CEO of the MCH group, the organiser of Baselworld, Managing Director Sylvie Ritter, and François Thiébaud, CEO of Tissot and chairman of the Swiss exhibitors. But someone is missing. René Kamm is unable to hide his emotion as he informs us of the death, the previous evening, of Jacques Duchêne. A pillar of Basel, the former Rolex boss was about to celebrate his sixtieth consecutive Baselworld and twenty years as Chairman of the Exhibitors’ Committee. He was also a man of conviction, and an indefatigable opponent of the counterfeit industry. Basel city hall had even planned a ceremony in his honour. However, he collapsed as he finished his evening meal. And so, at the request of René Kamm, Baselworld began with a solemn minute of silence.

But business swiftly resumed – how could it be otherwise?

– and after the usual and less usual speeches, question time brought up the issue on everyone’s mind that first day: the smartwatch. Is it a tsunami or an insignificant trickle? Will the much-vaunted timelessness of mechanical watchmaking defeat built-in obsolescence? Or will the power of marketing finally smash that dream? Will the two universes end up peacefully coexisting in a symbiotic relationship? Is it a crisis, or another development opportunity? You get the picture. On this subject we will hear everything and its opposite.

But, curiously, and tellingly, all the buzz and nervous excitement over smart technology basically blew over as the days passed. True, there was no avoiding Jean-Claude Biver, ever the showman, who struck his table with a sonorous fist, and announced with great fanfare TAG Heuer’s partnership with Google and Intel. He pushed the provocation to the point of unveiling a large lit panel on the front of the booth, bearing the three logos together – the first thing visitors see when entering the prestigious Hall 1. As a TAG Heuer executive later confided to me, this strident announcement, despite lacking any associated product, secured the brand in a single day a level of worldwide media coverage that was worth its weight in tourbillons. And a good thing too… because, just half an hour earlier, very quietly, Fossil group had announced exactly the same thing: an agreement with… Google and Intel. (Malicious tongues are suggesting that although this year we are seeing a lot of TAG Heuer/Google/Intel, next year the order will be Google/Intel/TAG Heuer.)

For other brands seeking connectivity, a number of approaches are emerging. Bulgari’s strategy, which is intelligent and wholly in keeping with its image, is to transform the jewellery watch into a virtual vault, while Breitling, logically, is using smart technology to support professional pilots. Because, when you think about it, anyone who can’t survive without checking their pulse, their calorie intake or output, or the number of steps they have taken, is already spoiled for choice.

[On the subject of smartwatches at Baselworld, see Serge Maillard’s analysis later in this issue.] But, curiously, this topic, which everyone thought was so pivotal before the fair opened, rapidly evaporated from discussions. No doubt it will return.

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The Tower of Babel that is Baselworld never fails to excite even the most jaded observers and journalists. Thousands, tens of thousands of timepieces are all lined up for inspection. On either side of the ‘Champs-Elysées’ of Hall 1 rise the luxurious façades of the great houses. Between these impressive piles open innumerable avenues, roads and alleyways, lined with a gallimaufry of edifices and booths dressed up to the nines to bring in the punters. And so the question arises: how can we even begin to give an account of it all, even a partial one? Is it even possible to draw any general conclusions from this mass of disparate information? In order to navigate through this horological labyrinth, we shall

opt for the subjective ramble, giving no thought to hierarchy, pausing as the mood and serendipity take us. It’s as good a way as any to try to make sense of it all. As we are all by now abundantly aware, smartwatches aside, watchmaking is certainly at a turning point: a societal, geopolitical, generational, economic and technological turning point. Here is one example: why did we see so few Chinese journalists and retailers at Baselworld? Will China’s clampdown on ostentatious luxury, coinciding as it does with the release of the Apple Watch, cause even greater turbulence in this gigantic market? But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s go and take our stroll.

A NOVICE’S VIEW

Lacoste, Hugo Boss, Tommy Hilfiger, ESQ, Coach, Scuderia Ferrari Orologi and Juicy Couture, a cohort that posted a turnover of USD 587 million in 2014, a 3.3% increase over the previous year.

For flagship brand Movado, Ricardo Quinteiro is hoping to capitalise on the Museum, a deservedly iconic timepiece that can been seen in more than twenty museums around the world. The watch with its pared-down dial, featuring a solitary ‘sun’ at 12 o’clock, was designed by Horwitt back in 1947 and has not dated in the slightest.

“The same should apply to every brand,” notes Quinteiro.

“They should be immediately recognisable, without the shadow of a doubt, and without a logo.” That is what he is hoping to build on. Particularly so for Ebel: “We need to return to the essence of this beautiful brand, rediscover its truth, reconnect

There are times when nothing beats the fresh eye of a novice to help rediscover what familiarity has clouded. The amiable Ricardo Quinteiro is the new president of the Movado group. His acquaintance with the world of watchmaking dates back only to July 2014. Before that, he worked at Estée Lauder. So this is his first Baselworld, and he is completely gobsmacked. Never, in any industry, has he seen anything like it, such a debauch of luxury, such glittering multi-level booths. He still can’t get over it, but equally, he can’t hide his excitement. “I’m still in a learning phase. First, you should try to understand, and then you can act on the knowledge of exactly what needs to be changed, improved or transformed. I have travelled all over the world to find out about the brands’ status, their hierarchy, their respective strengths and weaknesses, and I’m still not finished. You have to learn from the consumer, keep learning…” The Movado Group is primarily Movado, Ebel and Concord, but many people forget that it also includes a small empire of licensed brands:

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Some 95% of Movado’s 2015 collection is directly inspired by the Museum and its iconic dot, which has become a signature feature. From left to right, either side of the Museum Classic, are the 1881 women’s and men’s automatic, the Movado Sapphire, the Movado TC chronograph and the colourful Sport Edge. The complete 2015 Movado collection can be found on www.europastar.com

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with its codes and its amazing comfort in wear. Ebel is a jewel, and we intend to put it back in its rightful place. Ebel will become strong again,” he concludes. On the subject of Concord he is unwilling to commit: “I’m trying to understand the deep-seated reasons for Concord’s reputation in certain regions of the world, like the Middle East, for example, where it has a very strong resonance with several generations of consumers. Once I have thoroughly understood its raison

d’être we will be able to act more effectively.” Does he have a figure in mind? Given that he is currently in the black-out period that precedes an earnings announcement he is unable to say too much, but is willing to admit to a target of USD 750 million by 2017. In passing, he notes that in the USA one watch in three in the $500–$1500 price bracket is a Movado, along with one in five in the $300–$3000 range.

And… smartwatches? Let’s leave that for another time.

A SHEER MARVEL FROM DE BETHUNE Quetzalcoatl might well be the most unpronounceable name of the salon, but it is certainly one of its most beautiful watches, inspired as it is by the famous feathered serpent that was believed to govern the cycle of time in the pre-Columbian era, the divine protector of goldsmiths and artisans and inventor of the calendar.

Nestled in the centre of the dial, the serpent points its head towards the hours and its tail to the minutes.

Thus it coils and uncoils perpetually over an aerial view of the temple ruins of the city of Tenochtitlan, painstakingly carved in relief. Following the designs of David Zanetta, engraver Michelle Rothen has accomplished a masterpiece of subtlety and delicacy, further enhanced by the sophisticated play of light, whether sparkling off the guilloché motifs or glowing from the matte surfaces. Twenty examples of this marvel are available (CHF 110,000).

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STOPOVER After last year’s Escale Worldtime caused such a stir, Louis Vuitton is continuing in the same beautifully coloured vein by offering, at the top end, a Worldtime with minute repeater that strikes home time (€280,000) and, at the lower end – if one can say that – a rather lovely Escale Time Zone in steel at €5,300, which is bound to sell like hot cakes.

Tambour Escale Time Zone, steel case, 39 mm in diameter, discs with transfers produced by hand by a craftsman from the La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton Manufacture, central hour disc in circular satin-brushed anodised aluminium, calibre LV87 self-winding La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton movement. Functions: 24 non-synchronised time zones, grey strap with stitched alligator lined with yellow calfskin.

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Modern times, eternal elegance.

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Ernest Borel S.A. +41 32 926 17 26 / info@ernestborel.ch www.ernestborel.ch

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AN APARTMENT IN THE PALACE Leaving the Movado Group stronghold, we slip into the tent of the inappropriately named but bustling Palace, which brings together some of the most interesting new faces, to meet Jean-Marie Schaller in his booth, intricately designed to resemble a cabinet of curiosities. The 19th century ambiance is entirely deliberate, as we are in the premises of Louis Moinet (read our Cover Story). The brand’s ten-year history reads like a masterclass in independent watchmaking. It is watchmaking of the highest order: original, inspired and coherent. At a rate of two timepieces completed each day, Louis Moinet has come a very long way, leaving some impressive milestones in its wake: the Tempograph with its 10-second retrograde mechanism; the space-themed collections like the Astralis, a wrist-mounted planetarium complete with meteorites; and a number of other creations that expertly combine classical inspiration with contemporary execution.

It therefore gave us great pleasure to discover the company’s latest offerings, stored on the most beautiful USB key at Baselworld, in the shape of the dial of the famous Louis Moinet 1816 Chronograph. The timepiece that is most emblematic of the brand and its approach is without doubt the Memoris, a tribute to the invention of the chronograph by Louis Moinet himself. But Jean-Marie Schaller has turned the concept on its head, and what we hold in our hands is no longer a watch featuring a chronograph but a chronograph featuring a watch. The first of its kind. Here, the complication is no longer the chronograph function, but the time function. The chronograph occupies the whole of the central area, the current hours and minutes being relegated to a small white enamel subdial at 6 o’clock. This technical somersault required all the constructive genius of Concepto, the movement manufacturer who has accompanied Louis Moinet from the outset. As a result, the chronograph mechanism has been switched entirely to the dial side, where it has plenty of room, along with the column wheel and monopusher re-

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“For the Memoris, we couldn’t draw inspiration from what had gone before; everyone else worked from the premise that the chronograph was an additional complication on top of the time function,” explains Jean-Marie Schaller.

“Our starting point was the opposite: sweeping away the past and making the chronograph the heart of our design; the central component to which we then added a time function, rather than the other way round.” The complete Louis Moinet 2015 collection can be found on europastar.com

lease, while the balance wheel, hidden behind the time dial, is visible only from the back, under the oscillating weight. The entire exterior of this 46 mm piece in pink or white gold has been reworked, and is executed with great classical finesse, punctuated with ultra-contemporary details such as the black zircon screwed chatons that adorn the lugs. It is an unqualified success, and the vindication of a remarkable creative and entrepreneurial approach.

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THE COURTESY OF ROMAIN GAUTHIER Since we are in the company of some of the most creative independents, let us not deprive ourselves. Let’s spend a little more time appreciating their different approaches. First, Romain Gauthier, who is also celebrating his tenth anniversary this year. His faultless track record began in 2005. In 2007 he produced his first watch with hours and minutes; in 2010 he followed up with hours, minutes and seconds; and in 2011 we saw the now famous Logical. This year’s HMS Ten

celebrates a decade of creativity. As Romain Gauthier himself explains: “With HMS Ten, supreme legibility was paramount.

My idea was to have a dial with completely unobstructed views. Once the eye is drawn to the hour-minute subdial, it is then naturally attracted to the sectorial seconds. Nothing disturbs the wearer’s reading of the time. Such a timeless, elegant dial came to me naturally because I was born in the heart of Swiss watchmaking, the Vallée de Joux, and was

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constantly exposed to classic, historical dial design as I grew up there.” With his roots in the watchmaking universe of the Valley, Romain Gauthier pursues his uncompromising quest for horological purity, working not just on the readability of his timepieces – which is the essence of watchmaking ‘courtesy’ – but also manually refining the perfection of his handfinishing, as befits the spiritual heir of Philippe Dufour. The HMS Ten has all the hallmarks of a great classic: it’s perfectly round and seemingly innocent of any crown, which is nevertheless concealed on the caseback but, thanks to its imposing diameter, can be wound while the watch is on the wrist. We should add that, apart from the mainspring, balance spring and jewels, all of the components were developed and produced in Romain Gauthier’s own workshops. After ten years’ building and development, Romain Gauthier now believes he has a strong enough collection to begin large-scale communication with the world’s most discerning watch collectors.

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HMS Ten is available in three limited editions of 10 pieces each: platinum 41 mm case/blue dial, white gold case/anthracite dial and red gold case/light dial. Off-centre hours and minutes subdial at 12 o’clock. Sectorial seconds at 4 o’clock. Dial open 4 o’clock to 8 o’clock to reveal balance wheel and seconds gear. Multi-level, multi-textured dial featuring smooth and Clous de Paris finishes. Hand-finished in-house movement visible through display back.

Flat crown on caseback for ergonomic winding. In-house manufacture movement Calibre HMS. Power reserve: around 60 hours. Balance frequency: 28,800 bph / 4Hz. Fine hand finishing including hand-polished screws and jewel countersinks, hand-polished bevels and bridges.

ONE DAY OR AN ETERNITY “To have lived an eternity or to have lived a day amounts to precisely the same thing,” declared the giant Micromégas in the eponymous book published by Voltaire in 1752, 18 years before his creation in 1770 of the Manufacture Royale to take on the rival Genevan watchmaking industry.

The venture fizzled out, but in October 2013 the GoutenGuten family, well known in watchmaking circles, bought the name with the intention of rebuilding the prestige of this brand with its historical resonance. On the strength of an associated manufacture now located in Vallorbe, which is extremely well-equipped and has around forty experts in situ, they succeed in designing, producing and finishing all of their exquisite movements.

Following on from the first Androgyne collection, with its complex and polarising design, they called upon Eric Giroud,

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Manufacture Royale also cultivates the art of Haute Horlogerie through the care devoted to the finishing and decorating of each individual component by hand. This is expressed in the MR03 by the fine-sandblasted bridges and mainplate, which are also hand-chamfered and black-polished with satin or perlage finish, and by straight-grained flanks on the inside and outside.

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an excellent designer well known to our readers, for their newest range. The result is extremely successful. Very discreet, very pure, the 1770 Micromégas features a pared-down flying tourbillon that drives two bold sword-shaped hands, with arrow-type indices and a small power reserve indicator. A domed crystal emphasises the perfect circularity of the

watch, and is echoed by the slim lugs, which all contributes to the exceptional legibility of the watch. Through the caseback it is possible to admire the rigorous architecture of the perfectly finished and decorated movement. In the space of a year and a half, the Manufacture Royale seems to have found its path.

GLOBEMASTER OFFENSIVE Let us for a moment leave the poetic world of the independents and return to Main Street, where battles continue to rage on a rather different scale. Here, new products are scrutinised not just for what they actually are, but also for what they might reveal about current strategy. Omega, not previously known for inviting the press corps to its cocktail receptions, welcomed journalists to its chic digs in the suburbs of Basel, which had been entirely redecorated for the occasion. Charm offensive? Quite possibly, and also an attempt to prepare the best possible backdrop for the launch of the Globemaster. This is the first watch – coaxial, as is now the case of “99% of Omega watches” according to CEO Stephen Urquhart – to be granted the famous Metas certification, launched last autumn. The Master Chronometer certification is one of the most rigorous: as well as the usual demands in terms of accuracy and reliability, it guarantees that the watch is almost perfectly insensitive to environmental magnetic fields (up to 15,000 gauss). This is clearly a substantial offensive, and one aimed squarely at Rolex, with whom Omega is jostling for position in certain territories. Everything points to that hypothesis, including the slightly vintage look of this appealing watch, inspired by the Constellation models of the 1940s and ’50s, with its pie-pan dial and fluted bezel which, in the words of Omega, “makes it immediately identifiable to future generations.”

As the brand’s executives point out, “The Globemaster will be known forever as the very first watch to bear the Master Chronograph certification.” And that says a great deal about the ambitions that lie behind this new certification (which the Swatch Group officially wants to open up to all brands). At the end of the day, it’s the customers who will decide: will they take this new certification on board as the new ultimate reference, or will they just not care? A strategy is being played out.

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The eight criteria for the Globemaster certification process are: 1. The function of the movement during exposure to a magnetic field of 15,000 gauss 2. The deviation in the running time of the watch in six positions 3. The deviation in the running time of the watch between 0 and 2/3 power reserve 4. The function of the watch during exposure to a magnetic field of 15,000 gauss 5. The deviation of the average daily precision of the watch after exposure to a magnetic field of 15,000 gauss 6. The average daily precision of the watch in tests replicating daily wearing conditions (six positions, two temperatures) 7. The power reserve of the watch (autonomy – functioning without winding) 8. The water resistance of the watch (tested in water).

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THE IMPERTURBABLE AND UNCONQUERABLE GIANT Is Rolex even bothered? Is it slightly miffed? Or does it take more than that to upset the Crown? Activities in 2015 are proceeding inexorably along three axes, we are told: the new flagship product is a new generation Day-Date, the big news is the launch of the 3255 movement, also new generation, and the third innovation is a new Oysterflex technical bracelet. The rest of the world might be running around like headless chickens, but Rolex proceeds majestically along its royal road. The new Oyster Perpetual Day-Date is emblematic of this unflagging march forward, step by step, without missing a beat, which is one of the remarkable characteristics of the company. Subtly modernised, equipped with the new calibre 3255 which, on the strength of its 14 patents, is proud to call itself the new ‘Superlative Chronometer’, the watch remains triumphantly an Oyster Perpetual Day-Date, the Presidents’ favourite, as the timepiece’s backstory has it. Why make a radical change to something that is self-evidently capable of maintaining its own course on autopilot? Having said that, however, the new 3255 movement bears witness to the uncompromising work ethic of the house’s R&D division. The movement, driven by the new Chronergy escapement for high energy efficiency, offers significant improvements in accuracy, autonomy, shock resistance and magnetic shielding. Tested in the box, its performance is astonishing: plus or minus two seconds per day, far better than COSC (-5 to +6 sec/day).

And while we’re on the subject of Rolex, who else could generate such a buzz around a new strap? Well, this is certainly the case with the new Oysterflex bracelet that is fitted to the Yacht-Master. A series of flexible metal blades at its heart

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Rolex is introducing the new generation of its most prestigious model, the Oyster Perpetual Day-Date, featuring a modernised design with a 40 mm case as well as a new mechanical movement, calibre 3255, which sets a new standard for chronometric performance. The new Day-Date redefines the status of Superlative Chronometer, established by Rolex in the late 1950s, with criteria for accuracy on the wrist that are twice as exacting as those for an officially certified chronometer.

are enclosed in a black high-performance elastomer. Just the ticket for waterproof comfort in stormy weather (at sea or on the stock exchange).

PATEK PHILIPPE SPRINGS A SURPRISE A change of direction? Rolex might not care to try it, but no less traditional a house than Patek Philippe, guardian of the watchmaking temple, showed no hesitation. The curious and questioning expression on Thierry Stern’s face as he watched the journalists’ reception of the completely unexpected pilot watch said it all. What is this? Sacrilege!

A Patek pilot? And it will take a great deal more than a historic reference or two, such as the “two hour-angle instruments” on display in the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva,

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The Ref. 5524 Pilot Travel Time enriches Patek Philippe’s venerable Calatrava collection with a large-format, decidedly masculine model that evokes images of the classic aviators’ timepiece, while details such as the blue dial, white-gold case and time-zone function place it in a category of its own.

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to change their minds. Amused, Thierry Stern says he did it “for pleasure. I had a lot of fun and I’m pretty happy with the result.” Indeed, sometimes it’s the quiet ones you’ve got to watch. Having said that, Patek Philippe is by no means a stranger to changes of direction. Remember the launch of the Twenty~4? At the time, lots of comments were made about this ladies’ watch, which in fact proved to be a huge success. The naysayers can keep their carping to themselves: the now famous Patek Philippe Calatrava Pilot Travel Time

reference 5524 seems already to be a hit with retailers. And rest assured, it retains all the qualities of purity, legibility and functionality that are the hallmarks of the house. A further illustration of Patek Philippe’s mastery, if one were needed, is the new Split-seconds Chronograph Reference 5370, unmistakeably stylish with its deep black enamel dial, and the forerunner Perpetual Calendar Chronograph Reference 5905P with a reworked design. In short, all is as it should be.

HERMÈS, A HAVEN OF PEACE Baselworld is noisy, its crowded aisles jostling with impatient and self-important delegates. How delightful it is, then, to find a haven of peace where you can take a little time to talk, about… typography, for instance. “Typography is all but invisible: it’s there, it’s omnipresent, and yet we pay it very little attention. But where creativity is brought into play, you suddenly notice it, you feel a pull. But true greatness in typography is in the most subtle details.” The speaker is Philippe Apeloig, one of the best contemporary graphic designers and a master typographer. Philippe Delhotal, creative director of La Montre Hermès, asked him to create the typeface for the dial of the new Slim collection. It’s just a detail, you might say, a needle in the huge haystack of Baselworld! And yet the entirely convincing result has something of the miraculous about it.

Perhaps a future icon has been born? A blueprint would seem to have virtually nothing to it, but this ‘nothing’ is the starting point for a rarely-encountered delicacy and elegance. “I used just a single stroke width,” explains Philippe Apeloig, “The weight of the line doesn’t change, but I added some ‘silent’ places, some gaps, as I traced the numerals, as if time had stopped for an instant. The design avoids any optical ‘knots’ for optimum legibility. And the originality of this rhythmic and lively design gives the watch a strong identity, evokes a particular emotion. Yes, typography can be emotive…”

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The numerals designed by Philippe Apeloig emphasise the pure lines and understated elegance of the Slim watch’s case, which is available in steel or rose gold, with or without diamonds, in three diameters: 39.5 mm, 32 mm and 25 mm. At the heart of the 39.5 mm model beats the Manufacture Hermès H1950 ultra-thin movement. The integration of a micro-rotor serves to slim down this self-winding calibre, which now measures just 2.6 mm. The 39.5 mm model can also be fitted with a perpetual calendar mechanism. The 32 mm and 25 mm models have quartz movements. Browse the entire Slim collection on europastar.com

The subtlety of this approach contrasts strongly with all the clamorous and ostentatious timepieces, so many of which fill the display cases of Baselworld, seeking to make the loudest noise possible. We were therefore genuinely delighted to discover the hushed Slim collection which, we are convinced, will mark a discreet but important chapter in the watchmaking annals of La Montre Hermès, of which Laurent Dordet, a company man who has moved over from leather goods, has just been appointed the new CEO.

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CHANEL AT THE PINNACLE Nicolas Beau, international director of Chanel Watches since 2002, is in a good position to say it, but that’s rather beside the point as it is clear to everyone who has eyes to see: Chanel is becoming a watchmaking power. All the collections are evolving, improving, gaining more depth. The 3rd dimension beckons: tourbillons explore the concept of depth and the play of light and shadow, while the superlative craftsmanship of the Mademoiselle Privée Coromandel collection introduces a consummately artistic dimension whatever the technique used – sculpted gold, enamel, mother-of-pearl or embroidery. “These timepieces have a meaning because they connect with our history and our heritage. And everything is done on the basis of personal encounters, discovering talented artisans. We hear a lot about métiers d’art these days, but Chanel, which has its own network of small artisanal businesses, has been immersed in them forever. Watchmaking can feed off that, too.” …Until next June, the launch date of the new Boy Friend collection, apparently a rare example of a masculine ladies’ watch. “A Première with a little masculine seasoning…” according to Nicolas Beau. We’ll wait and see.

INFECTIOUS ENTHUSIASM

Mademoiselle Privée Coromandel Sculpted Gold.

I have never before seen Jean-Marc Wiederrecht, creator of Agenhor, the multiple award-winning and celebrated movement manufacturer, and a specialist in retrograde and poetic movements (notably for Van Cleef & Arpels), so excited and enthusiastic. “I find I am free to create as never before, it’s fantastic, I can start to implement my craziest ideas…” What is this golden opportunity?

“Fabergé of course! The watchmaking department has been taken over by a young woman, Aurélie Picaud, and it’s just fabulous…”

And it’s true that the buzz around Fabergé’s new watchmaking creations continued to mount over the course of Baselworld. The first object of Jean-Marc Wiederrecht’s enthusiasm is named simply Lady Compliquée. And what a ravishing complication it is. Ultra-feminine, it consists of a fan that gradually opens over the course of 60 minutes, at the end of which it snaps shut, before beginning the cycle again. This watch, with its ever-changing face, currently exists in two versions: a fan of ice that opens across a snowy mother-of-pearl landscape, and a peacock spreading its tail before closing it again. This stunning timepiece has singlehandedly launched a new era of Fabergé watchmaking. Europa Star will return to Fabergé at a later date.

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POETIC RIGOUR Since we are talking about subtlety, let us extend the topic a little further in the company of the excellent German brand Nomos. Not many people know that Nomos, created in 1990 by Roland Schwertner in Glashütte, not only makes its own calibres from start to finish (it currently has 11), but it is also Germany’s market leader in watches between €1,000 and €4,000. And it achieves this with the most pure and simple aesthetic possible, and a graphical efficiency that manages to be warm and poetic despite its rigour, expressing the fundamental values of this business which is a model both in watchmaking terms – extreme care is evident in the creation and production of the inhouse calibres – as well as socially and environmentally.

And also in terms of price, as the brand’s executives are fond of saying: “Nomos watches must be as expensive as necessary but as cheap as possible.”

This ‘less is more’ philosophy is genuinely embodied in Nomos’s products which, rather unusually, successfully marry Glashütte’s secular watchmaking tradition (take, for example, the latest DUW 3001 movement, a “very slim but not very expensive” automatic, with the typical German three-quarter plate) with the avant-garde modernism of Berlin, where the creative teams are based.

We shall no doubt see a great deal more of this uniquely positioned brand. We will come back to it in more detail in a forthcoming issue.

THE SLIGHT DISSONANCE OF THELONIOUS MONK As far as subtlety is concerned, Oris goes in for such minute details that only an extremely well-trained eye is likely to spot them unaided. For years Oris, as part of its Oris Artelier collection, has regularly paid tribute to the giants of jazz. This year it’s the turn of Thelonious Monk, the pianistic genius who would always introduce judicious touches of dissonance into his melodic and rhythmic lines. How can you bring dissonance into a watch? Look carefully at the dial! More specifically, count the minute indices from 50 to 60. How many are there? The usual ten? No: in fact, there are eleven. Now that’s subtle.

The other news at Oris is the launch of a new, entirely industrialised, in-house mechanical movement, the Calibre 111, which we shall come back to in our next issue.

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SHINJI HATTORI WANTS A “MORE FUN, MORE LIVELY” SEIKO Let us change continent, and spend a few moments in Japan, beginning with Seiko. Shinji Hattori is in fighting spirit as he sketches out the landscape of the great Japanese firm. “I took over the management of Seiko thirty years ago now. The crisis of 2008 had some positive and some negative effects for us.

The good thing was that it forced us to explore new avenues, and we are seeing the results today. Firstly, with the Astron line we invested in hi-tech GPS coupled with solar power, which we have mastered perfectly. Then, we launched our historical mechanical Grand Seiko collection internationally, although hitherto it has been confined to Japan. It is now available in 30 markets. To achieve this we invested heavily in our manufacturing capacity. And finally, the Prospex has made the sports watch our biggest business. Overall Seiko has improved and consolidated its position. Our plans for the future are to continue with GPS technology, to continue to invest in Grand Seiko and go full speed ahead with Prospex, with the help of our ambassador Novak Djokovic. We have opened new boutiques, notably in New York in 2014, and we will pursue this strategy.

I want Seiko to be more fun, more lively. I want us to move forward and touch people’s hearts.” There is nothing much to add to this speech, except to say that, having seen and touched the timepieces, I have to concur: Seiko is going upmarket.

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In 2015 Grand Seiko returns to 1967 and its first ever automatic watch, the supremely accurate 62GS. The design, too, established a style that has been passed down the years to today’s Grand Seiko. The 62GS had a mirrored, multi-sided case and a wide dial opening, achieved with a bezelfree construction and Grand Seiko’s unique Zaratsu polishing. The crown was recessed and placed at the 4 o’clock position to dramatise the fact that hand winding was not required. The 62GS also had the long razor-edge hands that have always been part of the Grand Seiko signature. There are eight references in the new 62GS collection: four are faithful recreations of the 1967 original with an automatic calibre and four are modern reinterpretations featuring Grand Seiko’s most advanced movements, including the Spring Drive. All are limited editions.

CITIZEN PLAYS THE GPS CARD Here is another quick overview, with Citizen this time. The Japanese powerhouse’s star for Baselworld 2015 is the EcoDrive Satellite Wave F900. According to the brand’s publicity, it is “the world’s thinnest light-powered GPS satellite-synchronised watch with the world’s fastest reception speed (3 seconds).”

The driving concept behind this entirely analogue watch is speed: its new high-speed motor is designed specifically to enable the hands to spin very fast, improving the performance of its various functions, such as displaying a second time zone (which can easily be switched) and a chronograph.

Its very thin case (13.1 mm) is made in Super Titanium™, which incorporates a proprietary surface hardening technology. This makes the titanium resistant to scratching (we tested it with a metal brush) and five times harder than steel, while remaining 40% lighter.

The Citizen Eco-Drive Satellite Wave F900

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On the advent of smartwatches, Citizen’s executives say they are open to all possibilities, provided that they offer a genuine advantage to the consumer. They are also determined to remain entirely analogue; incoming messages, emails or calls could be indicated with a needle

or hand, for example. As far as the mechanical sector is concerned, Citizen is apparently thinking very seriously about the best way to promote and boost this side of its business, following the purchase of Lajoux-Perret in 2011.

Watch this space.

BLUETOOTH: A GAME-CHANGER FOR CASIO? Casio is also investing heavily in analogue, and particularly the connected analogue, with the new Edifice Smartphone Link.

“This watch could be a real game-changer for Casio,” we are told at the booth. “We have done a lot of work on Bluetooth linkage, taking on board both positive and negative experiences. We are closely following technological developments in the smartphone sector, while keeping our DNA intact. In fact, this watch is water resistant to 100 metres, whereas water resistance is a real problem for current smartphones.

Powered by solar energy, this robust and elegant watch can display the time in more than 300 cities around the world on a secondary dial, by means of a smartphone link and a dedicated app. It automatically adjusts the time to the previously specified home and international locations (correcting for daylight saving if necessary). Alarms, notifications and other settings can be easily reset. Its other functions include a stopwatch, countdown, full auto-calendar, aeroplane mode, LED light and a hand-concealment feature.

Casio is also heading resolutely upmarket. Take its remarkable G-Shock MRG Special Baselworld 2015: it is made of a special alloy of 90% titanium, 6% aluminium and 4% vanadium, hardened by a re-crystallisation process to reproduce the characteristic finish of traditional Japanese swords known as nie. This influence is carried throughout the watch’s design, without compromising on technology such as the hybrid GPS and radio-wave time-calibration system.

The Edifice Smartphone Link and the G-Shock MRG Special Baselworld 2015

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THE VERDICT OF FRANÇOIS THIÉBAUD It has become a ritual that one of our final meetings at Baselworld is with François Thiébaud, boss of Tissot, chairman of the Swiss exhibitors and likely future chairman of the Baselworld exhibitors’ committee, following the sad loss of Jacques Duchêne (see beginning of this article). Together, we return to the smartwatch issue. In his opinion, “The Apple effect has really thrown the spotlight on watchmaking in general, and on the T-Touch in particular. This year at Basel everyone wanted one, although they represent just 5% of our timepieces. But, as you know, Swiss watchmaking is only the tip of the iceberg. Yes, it has a total turnover of almost 60 billion, but with just 28.6 million watches, 50% of which are by Swatch and Tissot. This is a drop in the ocean compared with the 2 billion or so watches made each year. But given the growth of the middle classes around the world, the Swiss industry has enormous potential in the mechanical sector, and I am convinced that 10 or 15 years down the line it could represent 20% of total watch volume. The ‘terroir’ of Swiss watchmaking is truly exceptional, and I use the word ‘terroir’ as one speaks of the ‘terroir’ of Bordeaux, for wine. It is irreplaceable. When you make a watch you make more than just a way of telling the

time: you contribute to the identity of the person who will wear it, you provide a lasting emotional connection. Smartwatches, however, have one major problem: obsolescence. But we will show that Switzerland is not about to give up. Swatch Group has great expertise, not only in tactile technology, which we pioneered, but also in terms of access, security and connectivity. Apple arrives with its apps and generates enormous media hype, but what do people actually use, and what will they actually use in the future? You’ll see, simple quartz watches will start to feature simple, basic ‘smart’ functions, such as switching to daylight saving time, for example.”

In terms of putting this into practice, the first stone, or rather “the start of a lot of things” will be the ‘Tissot beacon’ that the group hopes to begin installing in the network of high mountain cabins in the Swiss Alps. Via a connected T-Touch, climbers will be able to receive invaluable weather information. What is more, in terms of autonomy, the sky is (literally) the limit as far as solar power is concerned.

The battle lines have only just been drawn up. Baselworld draws to a close, and once again, the name of Apple is on everyone’s lips. It would appear that the subject is far from closed. p

The new Tissot T-Touch Expert Solar features 20 tactile essential functions for everyday use, such as a perpetual calendar with indication of day and week number, two alarms, two time zones, weather forecast with relative pressure, altimeter with altitude difference meter, chronograph lap and split with logbook, compass, timer, azimuth, regatta function and backlight, changing the face of watchmaking forever.

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INTERVIEW

A BUSINESS TALK WITH‌ Jean-Christophe Babin, Mario Peserico, Ricardo Guadalupe, Adrian Bosshard, Manuel Emch, Laurent Katz, Alain Spinedi and Rune Bruvik

by Serge Maillard

Jean-Christophe Babin

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“BULGARI IS NEGOTIATING WITH MORE THAN 200 RETAILERS WHO ARE NOT SUFFICIENTLY COMMITTED” Jean-Christophe Babin, who has been Chief Executive of Bulgari for nearly two years, is aiming to put his brand in the Swiss watchmaking top 10.

One crucial step will be to overhaul its points of sale worldwide.

You are launching a new ‘concept’ watch, a version of the Diagono Magnesium. How is it different from a smartwatch?

Smartwatches these days are just wrist-mounted mobile phones. Obsolescence, no added value... they are the opposite of luxury! The concept is incompatible with a high-end Swissmade brand. We wanted to develop an intelligent mechanical watch. And what could be more Swiss than data security?

Through our partnership with WISeKey, a leader in digital security and data storage, we are offering a vault on the wrist, combining precision and security (see explanatory sidebar).

When will it go to market?

By next spring. We started the process a few months ago, and we need several more months in development.

You took over the reins of Bulgari in mid-2013. What are the results of your first full year as head of the brand?

We don’t give out specific figures. But I can tell you that Bulgari was LVMH group’s best-performing brand in 2014.

We have grown significantly, both in jewellery and in watchmaking. Our aim remains to gain market share, to move from the top 15 into the top 10 of Swiss watchmakers, and to stay there. Our Lucea collection, in gold and steel, has an important role to play in achieving this objective. We have strong watchmaking potential because of our jewellery heritage.

This potential has been under-exploited up to now.

So, which market, in your view, has the greatest potential for growth today?

The United States, no question. America is still an El Dorado: it has 300 million consumers, and they are particularly sensitive to good value. That’s where the Lucea collection comes in: it’s very attractive from this point of view, with prices starting at CHF 9,000. Japan is also an important market. We are also leading strong marketing offensives in Europe and Asia, with our muses Carla Bruni and Shu Qi. How do you manage your watch distribution?

The division is undergoing some changes. We want to go for higher quality. We have 300 Bulgari sales points around the world (100 of which are franchises) and we are also present in 700 multi-brand stores. Currently it’s the mono-brand boutiques that are the most successful. We open another ten or so each year. As far as the multi-brand stores are concerned, we are in discussion with more than 200 of them who, in our opinion, are not sufficiently committed at this time.

Diagono Magnesium: how does it work?

The Diagono Magnesium includes a cryptographic chip and an invisible antenna that enable the watch to transmit a digital certificate to the Bulgari Vault app installed on the user’s phone (iOS or Android) via NFC (Near Field Communication) technology. The app is activated when the watch is tapped against the smartphone, which also has an NFC chip. Only the owner of the watch has access to the confidential content, which is stored with bank-level security.

The applications of this technology are potentially as extensive as the digital universe itself: passwords and PINs, obviously, payments, automatic calls, data transfer, but also direct marketing, plane tickets, even as a replacement for house and car keys.

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“SOME GROUPS HAVE NEGLECTED EUROPE. WE HAVE BENEFITED FROM THAT” Eberhard & Co is one of those independent Swiss brands doing its best to survive in a difficult climate, made even more so by the strong franc. Interview with Mario Peserico, its general manager.

In a few words, how would you define the DNA of Eberhard & Co? Men’s mechanical watches! Men make up around 90% of our clientele. And 60% of our watches are chronographs. This is particularly reflected in our Chrono collection. In 2001 we launched the Chrono 4, with its distinctive row of four counters. We produce around 16,000 pieces per year, all in the CHF 2,000–10,000 range. We target collectors.

What’s new for 2015?

This year we’re focusing on the Tazio Nuvolari collection, inspired by the Italian motorcycle racer and racing driver from the 1920s and ’30s. Our brand has a special connection with the world of motor sports. The collection includes a limitededition dual time watch, the Tazio Nuvolari 336.

What are the main challenges you face this year?

As an independent brand our ongoing challenge is how to continue producing watches at an affordable price! We don’t

have the resources to do a lot of technical development. We don’t make in-house calibres, we work with ETA and Sellita.

Above all, we will be strengthening our four watch families.

And I’m not forgetting women: our Gilda collection was launched in 2010.

How do you manage distribution?

We are present in some 500 points of sale around the world. We have no local branches, except in Italy. Europe remains our principal market: the Old Continent accounts for around 60% of our sales. Some groups have turned their backs on Europe in recent years, and we have made the most of that! Asia represents 25% of our market. I would also like to develop the United States. But Eberhard & Co still suffers from a lack of recognition outside Europe. It remains difficult to find shop window space; retailers are under pressure...

How are you reacting to the strong franc?

We have increased our prices in Europe by about 5%. We are absorbing the difference with respect to the total loss in value, which represents around 12%, by cutting our profit margins.

From my point of view, the Swiss National Bank’s decision is incomprehensible and indefensible. Swiss retailers will suffer.

The strong franc even has an impact at Baselworld, because it means increasingly higher travel costs for potential buyers!

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“A CLIMATE OF SOME CONCERN IN THE WATCHMAKING INDUSTRY” As a new generation of buyers emerges, conservatism in the watchmaking industry is ringing alarm bells for Romain Jerome CEO Manuel Emch. In his opinion, classicism is no longer a safe bet.

What is your take on the watchmaking landscape in 2015?

There are some strong imbalances in the market: fast-moving geopolitical upheavals, a complex situation in Russia, markets such as Japan getting a second wind, others – Hong Kong, for example – in difficulties, and some new, dynamic markets like the Philippines and Vietnam. But there is one common factor worldwide; a new generation of buyers is emerging, a generation that is more focused on events, lifestyle, experience... And that needs a new approach to sales and retailing.

What kind of new approach?

The main question is: how do we reach this young, dynamic clientele? And consequently, how can we find retailers with the ability to target young people? In my view we have to take a cultural, emotional and conceptual approach to reaching these clients. At Romain Jerome we are working with ‘legends’ connected with air, sea and land. These icons, such as the Berlin Wall, are in a way our playing field. But we also have to innovate constantly, because concepts have their limits. Innovation, paradoxically, creates stability. Generally speaking, however, I’ve observed a climate of some concern in the watchmaking industry.

Why? Obviously, there is the smartwatch, which will have a strong impact on the entry-level. But I must also come back to this new, emerging generation, which has different references.

Today, if I were a classic brand, and down in fifth place in my sector, I’d have good reason to be worried... Mentalities are changing quickly and profoundly. The watchmaking industry remains very closed. It needs to learn to open up. What is more, too many brands have opened own-brand boutiques in recent years. The customer experience in these boutiques is often disappointing. They are lifeless. And we are supposed to be selling emotion.

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with this technology are eight to ten times more accurate than traditional quartz watches.

How do you achieve this degree of precision?

We have developed a number of innovative features, such as temperature compensation and an intelligent ceramic case that protects the movement from humidity.

“CERTINA DOESN’T HAVE AN IDENTITY PROBLEM WITH TISSOT” The Swatch Group brand is hoping to stand out with its sporty, ultra-precise quartz watches. It has trebled its revenues in ten years. Meeting with Certina CEO Adrian Bosshard.

How do you differentiate yourself within the Swatch Group from other brands such as Tissot? Are your roles clear?

Yes. Our price range is quite similar, from CHF 300 to 2,000, with the majority of our sales between CHF 300 and 1,000.

We are both in the highly affordable price range. But you could say that whereas Tissot is a ‘general’ brand, we are very sports-focused. Our DS Eagle chronograph, for example, is a perfect illustration of our sporting identity. Another feature we have is the use of Precidrive technology: these quartz movements offer the accuracy of a chronometer, with a working precision of ±10 seconds per year. Watches

What are your main markets?

Our primary market is Europe (55% of sales), particularly central and northern Europe. We have also enjoyed strong growth in Russia since 2008, although the devaluation of the ruble has obviously had a negative effect on sales. We also benefit from Swatch Group’s hitting power on an international level – it has 18 regional subsidiaries – to gain strength in other markets such as the Middle East and Asia, which currently represent just 12% of our sales.

How has Certina evolved over the last decade?

Our revenues have trebled! Today we account for a little under 10% of the group’s revenues. Here too, our membership of Swatch Group is an advantage, for example in terms of after-sales service, which, as we all know, is a critical factor for the watchmaking industry. We don’t have any shops in Australia, but Australians can still send their Certina to Swatch Group’s Sydney branch for servicing. It’s an advantage that not all our competitors have.

Swatch and Tissot have launched or announced smartwatches. What about Certina?

Swatch Group as a whole is intensively developing connected products. But the key thing is to ensure that there is genuine added value. We’re not going to blindly invest in this sector and get embroiled in the fitness wearables market: we remain a true watchmaking brand. Water resistance remains a critical selling point for us. With a Certina you can go for a dip in the lake, no problem...

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“PROVING THAT THERE IS REAL STRENGTH BEHIND HUBLOT’S MARKETING SUCCESS” Women’s watches, insourcing of métiers, a China offensive, and the benevolent oversight of Jean-Claude Biver: a roundup of 2015 with Ricardo Guadalupe, Hublot CEO. How do you see 2015 shaping up?

I predict a fairly flat year, despite a positive start. There have been some positive sell-in effects, but we need to maintain and even increase retail sales. We have just arrived on the mainland Chinese market, and only with our own-brand boutiques, but they are not really profitable yet. We continue to rely heavily on sponsorship, event marketing and ambassadors, such as Lang Lang in the Middle Kingdom. Other Asian markets are far more mature. We launched the Big Bang in Japan ten years ago now.

Your marketing style has attracted many imitators.

Yes, but we want to show that there is something solid behind this success – major innovations like Magic Gold, for example, which we developed in partnership with the EPFL. Nevertheless, our growth brings with it some major challenges. For example, how can we retain the concept of exclusivity if we grow production from 60,000 to 100,000 watches per year? In addition, as you know, the LVMH group is in the process of repositioning its brands, with the scale going upmarket from TAG Heuer, through Zenith to Hublot.

Presumably, this goes hand-in-hand with greater independence for the brand?

Absolutely. Our Nyon campus is currently undergoing some major construction work, to bring all our métiers together under one roof. We are aiming to have a completely integrated manufacture by five years’ time.

What are your main growth markets?

Japan and the Middle East in particular. But also the United States, where we now have 12 Hublot boutiques. I should also point out that, globally, the women’s market is looking particularly attractive.

Today, 26% of our clients are women. We are aiming for 35%, and we’re counting on our new ambassador Bar Refaeli to achieve this! We are bringing out an increasing number of ladies’ models.

How do you manage distribution?

We are not retailers and we have no intention of taking their place. Of our 800 sales points around the world, around 70 are own-brand boutiques. What is particularly interesting is that the franchised stores are the most profitable. And not necessarily our flagship store in Place Vendôme...

What is your relationship with Jean-Claude Biver, who is now head of LVMH’s watchmaking division?

We are very complementary. He’s a marketing genius, he has one idea every minute. I try to stay near him to channel some of this energy! We remain in close contact.

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me. You have to realise that Bruvik is the first real Norwegian watch brand. Retailers were justifiably sceptical.

THE WATER OF THE FJORDS IN A WATCH Young brand Bruvik is passionate about exploring its Norwegian identity, whether this be fjords, polar bears or the heritage of the Arctic explorers. Meeting with its founder, the dynamic Rune Bruvik.

How did the Bruvik brand come about?

I am a Norwegian designer. Ever since I got my first black Swatch, at the age of 15, I have dreamed of designing watches.

Eighteen years later, the dream became a reality. My watches have a strong Norwegian identity, but I was determined that they should be Swiss made, and so I came to Switzerland. The adventure began in 2008. The Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry gave me its support. But I had a great deal to learn.

Nevertheless, you chose to start distribution in Norway, your home country.

Yes, in 2009. I spent three months knocking on the door of a retailer in Oslo, and eventually got a spot in the window – right next to Breitling. In the beginning they didn’t believe in

What is your watches’ DNA? The first prototype was in ceramic. But I moved on to something else with my first collection, Fjord, which, as its name suggests, contains water that I collected from a fjord. In general, watchmakers are looking for maximum water resistance: they want to protect the watch from water. I took the opposite tack, and put water inside the watch! Don’t worry, the watch is still waterproof! (laughs) Are your other collections as Norwegian as Fjord?

Svalbard is just as Norwegian! It takes its name from the archipelago near to the North Pole. There are more polar bears there than people. The back of the watch features a map of the archipelago and some of its statistics. Our latest collection, Heritage, also has a very Norwegian DNA. It’s a tribute to the great pioneers of Arctic exploration, such as Fridtjof Nansen. The watch has the GPS coordinates showing how far they got.

What is your price range?

Prices go from CHF 800 to 3,500. We offer both quartz and automatic (ETA) models. One of our unique features is also our use of very finely worked sapphire crystals, which can represent up to half the total production cost of the watch.

Where are your markets?

The Nordic countries, naturally, and also the Czech Republic.

At the moment we are selling around 1,000 timepieces per year. We are gradually growing. My dream would be to break into the American market, which I’m sure would be very attuned to our history and our ‘natural’ side. But also Japan, Germany and even the United Kingdom. p

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SPOTLIGHT

“RUSSIANS WANT MORE AFFORDABLE WATCHES. THAT’S WHERE ADRIATICA COMES IN” Adriatica is hoping to seduce clients in emerging countries who are looking for Swiss made at a more accessible price point.

Interview with Thomas Swiderski, Director of the family firm based in Italian-speaking Switzerland.

What is Adriatica’s history?

Our family has owned the company since 1991. There are 15 of us in total, covering assembly and administration. Our biggest market is Eastern Europe (Russia, Poland and the Czech Republic), with Switzerland next. We also have good results in Vietnam.

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How would you define Adriatica’s DNA? Reasonably priced, high-quality classic watches! Around 70% of the watches we sell are between CHF 200 and 300. In total, 95% of our watches have a quartz movement, and 5% are automatic. Today we have marginally more women than men clients. We introduce between 50 and 70 new models each year.

What was 2014 like for you?

2014 was our best year ever. We grew by 20%. In some countries such as Russia, which is currently going through a crisis, consumers are looking for more affordable watches.

That’s where Adriatica comes in. In

Vietnam, people can buy one of our Swiss made watches, or ten Chinese watches for the same price. Many of them go for the former option!

Traditionally, Asians appreciate watches with a classic design like ours.

How are you dealing with the strong franc?

We are getting a lot of complaints.

Many buyers want a special price.

We don’t produce anything in euros, so we have really lost out. On average we have increased prices by 5 to 10%, depending on the buyer. Thankfully, sales are relatively stable.

How was Baselworld for you?

It was our 12th year. Our booth was better located and better designed than in previous years. Because of that, our buyers noticed that we are growing. We were able to meet some new clients. We are targeting Asia in particular. We are looking at countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as Vietnam. p

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FACES

CINDY LIVINGSTON

BASEL REPORT

Baselworld is intrinsically about watches, but without people neither theevent nor the timepieces would exist. This is about some of those faces.

by D. Malcolm Lakin

E

ach and every year, Baselworld entails days of strolling around the myriad corridors in search of that Horological Grail, the scoop that everyone will read, the watch that will make headlines. Yet, what often tends to get overlooked is that behind every aspect of the watch’s existence, its creation from drawing board to prototype, the innovation of its multiple complications, the assembling of hundreds of minute parts, the PR hype, the marketing and retailing, not to mention the years of financing prior to its launch, behind all of these … there are people.

Dedicated, dynamic, creative and innovative people that bring the time to your wrist, they are the ‘Faces in Time’.

ROBERTO & DAVID PIACENTI: two different photographer’s visions in a single work These two brothers, each with his own trajectory – technique for the first and creativity for the second – are living their passion for photography and creating a unique body of work. Their collaboration was born from this dual perspective, which gave rise recently to a joint venture: fabrik5 (www.fabrik5.ch). Located in the historic Suchard Chocolate Factory No. 5 in Serrières-Neuchâtel, the venue, as well as being a photographic studio, will host artistic and creative events.

Roberto Piacenti: www.bastardpixel.com David Piacenti: www.snapshotphotography.ch

An attractive lady, business-like, vibrant and always convivial, Cindy Livingston is the CEO and President of Sequel AG, the Swiss company that has the exclusive distribution rights for Guess and Gc watches in more than 100 countries.

The large Gc/Guess booth on the top floor of Hall 1 was buzzing with excitement when I arrived – almost everybody seemed to be connected to somewhere or other using the new Guess Connect watch – a standard Guess timepiece with a strip display between 5 and 7 o’clock that uses Bluetooth to display notifications from your smartphone. Nevertheless we found a room far from the madding crowd.

“I was on the retail side of the business working for Federated Department Stores (Macy’s, etc.) dealing with cosmetics, watches and jewellery when Swatch launched their first models at the beginning of the 80s. Mickey Callanen, who launched Guess watches in 1984, asked me to join his company and kept on at me for five years until I finally agreed in 1989,” Cindy Livingston explains.

“Two years later, I was asked to head up Callanen International, a former subsidiary of the Timex Group. I travelled the world from 1991 to 1998, introducing our fashion watches to retailers as if they were a high-end product. Swatch was selling its plastic watches at around $38 and we were selling our metal watches at $42 offering three different movements and various funky straps. It was all go, go, go, but it was the best job I ever had!

Then in 1997 we started Gc, a new wave of timepieces for us.

Starting with the premise of ‘what will kids buy before eventually moving into the Rolex world’ we created legitimate Swiss

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DEREK CREMERS

watches at affordable prices. We considered the brand to be a bridge leading to fine watches.”

The rest is history: today Gc is in the upper half of the top ten in Swiss watch production, no mean feat when you consider the massive competition for watch retailer space and the short time it has existed.

In addition to the business side of Gc, Sequel established ‘Faces to Watch – Time to Give’, its charitable arm that selects a different children’s charity each year to support the health, education and welfare of children around the world.

I met Cindy Livingston the first afternoon of this year’s Baselworld and, sadly, discovered that just two weeks earlier, Ira, Cindy’s husband, had passed away after a very short illness.

The pain of her loss was obvious but, like the trooper she is, the show had to go on – and it did. Truly, a remarkable lady.

L’Emeraude is a charming family-owned boutique situated at 12, Place Saint-François in Lausanne. Established in 1909, it soon became renowned for its prestigious pocket watches, many with multiple complications – often made to order – and important collectors’ jewellery. Royal families were regular visitors in the 1920s.

In 2004 Patrick and Marina Cremers purchased the premises and set about establishing the boutique as one of Switzerland’s leading watch retailers specialising in brands such as Patek Philippe, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Panerai, IWC, François-Paul Journe, Voutilainen, Hublot, Breitling, Ulysse Nardin, De Bethune, Romain Gauthier and H.Moser. Derek Cremers, Patrick’s brother, took over the management of the boutique in 2010 when his brother was made an offer he couldn’t refuse – that of Director of the Patek Philippe salons in Geneva.

I met up with Derek Cremers at the coffee bar of the Palace. He is an amiable man who has that enviable characteristic of making you feel immediately at ease, giving you his undivided attention. Having honed his horological prowess with two high-end watch brands he is now passionate about the direct contact he has with clients and refers to it as ‘an emotional experience’.

“We have a very loyal local clientele, eighty percent of whom are Swiss, but we have an important international group of clients for whom we have also made unique timepieces with certain brands, and we consider it an obligation to be there for them. We have an excellent team of eight people, each with their own clients, to ensure a personalised and professional continuity. They offer an irreproachable service since they all have a deep knowledge of our products and they transmit their passion for watches to their clients.

“We also consider our after-sales service to be of primary importance.

We have a watchmaker on the premises and another who specialises in antique models, probably one of the only boutiques in Switzerland offering that service.

“L’Emeraude is a family business and for us it is hyper-important that our clients feel genuinely welcome when they visit us, whether it is for a battery, a watch strap or a watch. They enjoy talking about watches and many come into the boutique just to chat about watches with no specific intention to purchase.

And as a sort of thank you to them we organise dinners and special events such as we arranged with Breitling for a client to do a wing-walk in flight on one of their 1940s bi-planes.

“We also have a long-term vision concerning the brands that we sell, we’re not after the ‘quick buck’, we want to maintain a steady growth with a knowledgeable clientele. And as a development of that strategy we are currently working on a project to enlarge our boutique, an all-important factor in the eyes of the brands we represent.”

And with a smile and a firm handshake Derek Cremers dashed off to yet another appointment. u

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GUILLAUME TETU Hautlence (an anagram of Neuchâtel) was founded in 2004 by Guillaume Tetu and Renaud de Retz. (Five years later, Retz left Hautlence and is now CEO of Ernest Borel timepieces.) An amiable man of rugby-sized proportions with a good-humoured temperament, Guillaume Tetu fell in love with watches when he worked for a Rolex supplier. He then joined TAG Heuer where from 1997 to 2004 he was involved in everything from Cad-Cam ProEngineer work to Product Development Manager.

We talk about one of our mutual vices – cigars, usually Cuban – although this time Guillaume spends time telling me about his latest discovery, a Gurkha Cellar Reserve cigar whose tobacco is aged for 18 years. This may seem irrelevant to many, but I discovered that in addition to having been named after the famous Nepalese warriors, the company was acquired by Kaizad Hansotia in 1989 with the intention of giving the cigars as unique gifts to customers of his family’s watch business. The business has since expanded to become an exclusive brand and now holds the record for the world’s most expensive cigars, retailing at $25,000 a box – the price of one of the superb Hautlence timepieces in the Invictus or Destination collections that Guillaume proudly showed me.

Be that as it may, today, Hautlence, along with Moser, is one of what Guillaume Tetu refers to as Baselworld’s ‘official rebels’ – his reference to participating in the off-Broadway section of the event at the Ramada Hotel alongside Hall 2.

Since its inception, Hautlence has been at the forefront of offering a different manner of reading the time that combined what seemed like a classical case, through which much of the

FRANCK DUBARRY

movement was visible on the side, with innovative mechanical perfection.

“We have had to rebuild the image of the brand,” Tetu explains, “because after the launch of Hautlence, we didn’t have enough product to satisfy demand. Having established a solid sales network the crisis hit. We had been just selling watches, but we hadn’t really had the time to build and develop the brand.

We are enjoying a resurgence now since Georges-Henri Meylan joined the Board as Chairman, and with the addition of Eric Cantona – ex-footballer, actor, artist and collector – as an ambassador with a hands-on involvement on the creative side, we are underlining our prowess as an example of an inventive and dynamic team.”

Long live the rebels and Vive la Rébellion!

The last time Franck Dubarry was at Baselworld was back in 2007, the year he sold Technomarine, his adventurous company that introduced the world to an audacious combination of plastic and diamonds. But that was way back before the turn of the decade.

Looking tanned, fit and as enthusiastic as ever, Franck Dubarry brought me up to date on the last eight years: “When I sold Technomarine I went to Hollywood where I formed a film company called Red Dragon and produced a couple of movies. It was there that I fully realised that

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SERGE AEBISCHER

I needed to reinforce my MBA and develop my skills in finance and economics, so I returned to HEC Paris (Hautes Etudes Commerciales de Paris).

“I have also spent a lot of time in Argentina because I love the freedom of open spaces, horses and polo. Consequently I purchased 250 acres of land in Argentina, created Technopolo, a development of several polo fields where people who love the game can live and play. I also started breeding polo horses, one of which, Emocionada, won ‘Best of the Year’ polo horse, which is quite something in Argentina.

“I also developed and patented an idea I had for a ‘smart unit’.

It’s an anti-theft/loss system that is connected to luggage that allows you to follow it and locate it by GPS and, since it recognises take-off and landing through changes of pressure, it can be traced and tracked down.”

Although he had a ten-year non-competitive clause in the sales contract of Technomarine, Franck Dubarry negotiated a return to business this year. He managed to obtain a booth in Hall 2 where, under the new patronymic brand name and a complex logo based on his initials, he displayed inside the stand – there were no external showcases – collections of jewellery and, in particular, his new ground-breaking timepiece … Crazy Balls.

Crazy Balls? “The watch has become a social attribute,” Dubarry continues, “and this model is a complication that is meant to please and entertain. It creates life in the form of meditation, energy and chaos depending on the movement of the wrist: ‘meditation’ is when the 12 balls are inactive; ‘energy’ when the wrist is more active and the balls move slowly around the watch and return to their position alongside the indices; and ‘chaos’ when they spin wildly around before settling down again. All of this functions with a complex magnetic system on the outer section of the dial without it affecting the movement.”

The watch comes in various combinations of metals, balls and precious stones and heralds a welcome return to the watch world of a man of many talents. “This is a collection of watches to remind us that freedom lies in our relation to time,” Franck Dubarry concludes. Crazy? Who knows, it’s for you to decide.

For a man who has been in a few hot seats within the watch industry for close to thirty years, Serge Aebischer looks too well.

Fit, hyper-active, yet always smiling, he manages to convey his enthusiasm and passion to both clients and curious journalists.

He carries with him an impressive compendium of positions: two years with Cartier in distribution and sales; five years with Tiffany & Company in New York and Lausanne as Production Manager and Logistic Supervisor; two years with Marina B as Product Development Director; two years with Gérald Genta in Geneva and Monte Carlo as Sales Director; three years with Mauboussin Joaillers in Paris and Geneva as Development Director Horology, where he replaced Richard Mille; a return to working with Gérald Genta at Gérald Charles in Monte Carlo for three years as Sales Director; two years at Jean-Mairet & Gillman in Geneva as Sales and Product Development Director; eight years with Franc Vila as Director of International Sales and Marketing rising to CEO; and as of this year, Snyper Watches Genève as CEO, Sales and International Marketing Director.

His booth in the Palace at Baselworld was buzz-

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JEAN-PAUL GIRARDIN

ing with clients and visitors and during the few minutes at my disposal he was up and down greeting them with a handshake here and a bear hug there.

“I am looking to accentuate and develop the identity of the brand in horological complications and continue to exploit the use of new materials in our watches,” he confides. “The brand was established in 2008 after the brand’s founders met a Special Forces Sniper and realised that there was much in common with their respective worlds – the demand for high quality, robustness, precision, technology and functional design. Since then four collections have been created, including a tourbillon and the new Ironclad, a self-winding chronograph with day/date, small seconds and a 48-hour power reserve.”

The unusual feature of all the Snyper collections is that on the left of the watch there is a bar to which modules such as a cigar lighter, a laser and a torch can be attached as and when required.

Our talk ended there as a group of very excited and athleticlooking clients arrived, some of whom could easily have been snipers in every sense of the word.

Fort Knox is probably easier to enter than the massive Breitling booth with its imposing aquarium sitting above the reception area, sometimes with sea bass, sometimes with sharks, today with thousands of tropical fish darting around in seventeen thousand litres of water.

Equipped with a loupe on a chain around my neck as my pass, a massive minder opens the door to the stand where I’m met

by Charlène Reynaud the charming PR Coordinator who with a disarming smile leads me ever upwards to my appointment with Jean-Paul Girardin, the brand’s Vice-President.

Elegant and softly spoken, we’ve met like this for many years, except this time my intention is to get him to talk about himself – something that isn’t obvious since all he wants to talk about are the latest and greatest of Breitling’s watches, one of which is the Galactic Unitime SleekT, an eye-catching world time timepiece with a Manufacture Breitling Calibre B35 self-winding movement and the new and meaningful B55 smartwatch with an app that simplifies and annotates work for the pilot – such as flight plans – which can then be downloaded or printed out.

We have thirty minutes before his next meeting and the first few are taken over by a few niceties and an excellent ristretto accompanied by a delicious chocolate in a Breitling wrapper.

“I was born into a watchmaking family, my father and my grandfather were in the industry. I studied mechanical engineering and specialised in machine tools since I’m one of those people who like and need to understand how things function. My first real job was with Honeywell where I worked for seven years as a Development and Design Engineer. I travelled around Europe and then in 1990 obtained my MBA and joined the watch industry with the Swatch Group in case manufacturing since they made me the best offer.

“I’d known the Schneider family for years, mainly through flying; consequently when I was asked to join the firm in 1992 I didn’t hesitate. I liked the fact that Breitling specialised in watches for pilots and that precision was a necessity – especially since flying doesn’t sustain mediocrity.”

Breitling remains an independent brand, and in keeping with its owner Teddy Schneider and the company’s philosophy, JeanPaul Girardin is also discreet. I don’t recall where I read this quote from him: “At Breitling, we may not always say what we do, but we always do what we say,” but in the final analysis, he certainly didn’t give too much away. He didn’t even mention that he flies a helicopter between his meetings around Switzerland.

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‘Take no Time’ is a company that was founded by Isabelle Thomas in 2000 essentially to offer PR expertise to watch and jewellery companies. Of course Isabelle’s real claim to fame is that for three years (1996 to 1999) her pretty face and joie de vivre brightened the Europa Star offices where she worked on the production side of the magazine.

“When I was at Europa Star I was also responsible for the promotion of GIE (Economic Interest Group) Pearls of Tahiti.

For that I worked with Didier Brodbeck who was in charge of the GIE in France. I had to propose types of supports – brochures, displays for the pearls. Not only did I discover the universe of those magic pearls, but also I had the luck to attend the auction of pearls, visit the farms of Robert Wan and visit his museum in Tahiti … a wonderful memory.

“After Europa Star I joined the editorial team at A World of Dreams and Heure Internationale magazines which were based in Paris, but in the year 2000 I decided to start my own PR company which I called ‘Take no Time’ and, slowly but surely, developed a client list working for companies such as DMC Consulting with Jean-François Ruchonnet, JeanMairet & Gillman, Romain Jerome, Azzaro, Peter Tanisman, Blacksand, Mouawad, Franc Vila and my latest client, Snyper.”

Married to Jean-Marc who works for one of the world’s leading watch manufacturers, they have two lovely children, Charlotte who is now a young teenager, and Erwan who is pushing six, but Isabelle still finds time to visit Baselworld.

“This year is my twentieth Basel. The world of watches and jewellery has really changed in that time, the event gets bigger and bigger. I am amazed at how many new brands there are and

GUIDO BENEDINI

ISABELLE THOMAS

I admire the effort and energy they use in attracting people to discover their timepieces. It’s really difficult to find a place in the midst of these mastodons if horology since points of sale are rare.

“Even if today’s technology drives the limits of precision further and even if the innovative movements make my head spin and require an instruction booklet to tell you how to read the time, I still love the simple, classic watch without useless complications.

“This is a terribly masculine universe and it has difficulty in accepting the point of view of women. Whether it’s for the development of products that they say diamonds are a girl’s best friend, the majority of women don’t wear them. Cliches die hard!

Born in the Netherlands, studied at Reading University and the Scuola di Direzione Aziendale Bocconi in Milan where he gained his MBA, Guido Benedini is a youthful forty-seven years old and is the energetic and experienced CEO of Alpina, the company re-established as a leading sports brand by Peter and Aletta Stas.

Having asked about his business career to date, I have to admit I was surprised to learn how hands-on his involvement has been in the marketing of several leading Swatch Group brands.

“I joined the Swatch Group in 1993 as Brand Manager for Blancpain in Italy, then two years later Nick Hayek convinced me to move to the home of the Swatch Group in Biel as the International Communications Manager of Swatch.

“It was there that I was privileged to learn how tough the business side of the watch industry is and the importance

u

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JEAN-PIERRE LUTGEN

of design to the brand. Three years later I was involved in the marketing of Longines, after which I became Marketing Director for Tissot, Blancpain and Rado.

“Then in 2008 I decided to leave the industry and set up my own e-business, marketing and selling branded artworks whilst also working as the CEO for Classicdriver.com, an on-line classic car market and magazine. That was an exciting period.”

Guido Benedini was appointed CEO of Alpina in 2012 and accepted the challenge of seeing the brand’s development as a genuine manufacturer of the brand’s sports watches. “There’s only so much you do on the design side of watches and in the past that was considered to be the most important aspect.

Today the content of the watch has become the most important feature. Now with the development of smart watches the scope is enormous. Apps are a part of life now and consequently apps in watches is potentially even more of a growth area than the introduction of quartz movements was in the 70s. It has opened up a whole new market because it’s what the younger generation are used to, apps have become a way of life, its joy plus technology.

“Alpina has taken an elegant watch that looks like a watch, not like a computer on the wrist, and developed practical and meaningful apps for it. The advance we’re making is inside the watch, not in its appearance and I think that that is what will attract the younger generation as well as watch aficionados.”

Jean-Pierre Lutgen, like his brand Ice-Watch, is colourful, unpretentious and fun. And like his collections of watches he is difficult to keep up with, because he talks as fast as his watches sell.

Jean-Pierre Lutgen founded his brand in 2007 and unless you’ve been living on another planet you cannot have failed to notice the amazing development and success of the brand: around four million watches sold a year; more than 500 different watches for men, women and children; 7,500 points of sale and 12 flagship stores in 97 countries; 5,000 collaborators around the world and the construction of a new 6,000 m2 stock and distribution centre in Bastogne at a cost of six million euros.

So to what does he attribute his success?

“Colour. I have always been attracted to colour, especially in paintings, which is why I opened a small art gallery called Les Trois Ours (The Three Bears) in my home town. I was creative and had a good artistic eye, but I wanted to be independent, to have the freedom to do what I wanted, which is what led to me starting a company selling promotional products to businesses. That folded when internet began to flourish, which is when I had the idea of creating colourful silicone bracelets engraved with messages. Their success was almost immediate and soon became a worldwide phenomenon. I sold millions.

“From there it was a small step to add a watch, which resulted in my first collection of inexpensive yet trendy, colourful silicone watches in 2007.”

Jean-Pierre Lutgen then showed me the latest collections: the Ice Flower, a kaleidoscopic series, the dials decorated with flowers and names like Paradise, Botanic, Daisy and Wonderland to name just a few; Ice-Heritage, a muscular looking watch with a stainless steel case and strong handstitched leather straps; Ice-Fly with birds and butterflies and luminous colouring in mint, mango cream and lavender; Ice-Carbon, an ultra-light collection with carbon fibre dials and carbon composite cases, and a new BMW Motorsport Collection with stainless steel cases.

Sitting on the table during our meeting was a ceramic skull decorated in bright colours. “A supplier of mine from South America brought me this today and I couldn’t believe it because my other new collection is called ICE Skull and the dials are decorated with skulls. Quelle coïncidence, non?”

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The Frédérique Constant watch brand was founded in 1988, its name emanating from combining the names of the greatgrandparents of Peter and Aletta Stas – Frédérique Schreiner and Constant Stas who founded a watch dial production company in 1904.

From the very first time the brand exhibited its watches in Hong Kong where the couple had been living whilst Peter Stas was employed as Product-Marketing Manager for Royal Philips Engineering, the brand has developed along a controlled, sustainable growth path in what they call ‘the accessible luxury segment’ of the industry.

“We were both born in Holland,” Peter Stas explains, “and after we had completed our university studies we lived initially in New York where I worked as a consultant and then moved to Hong Kong where I worked for Philips in consumer electronics. We both had a hobby and a passion for watches and we decided to form our own company in 1988, we participated in the HKTDC trade fair in 1991, showing six models fitted with Swiss movements that had been assembled by a watchmaker in Geneva. A Japanese wholesaler ordered three hundred pieces and we delivered them in 1992.

“We relocated to Geneva, participated in Baselworld for the first time in 1995, and by 1997 we were selling 12,000 watches a year. We moved premises three times before eventually building our own production facilities in Plan-les-Ouates, and in 2005 our sales figures had reached 48,000 watches a year. By 2006, the industry was taking notice of us when we achieved 60,000 sales.

“In 2002 we acquired the sports watch Alpina brand, which we saw as a logical complement to the Frédérique Constant watches, whose raison d’être is the production of high quality

MR & MRS PILO

PETER & ALETTA STAS

classical watches at sensible prices. Last year Alpina’s growth was 60% (12,000 watches) and our combined sales for both brands were 133,000. This year’s goal is 145,000.”

Because of the conflict around movement supplies that watch companies in Switzerland were facing in the early 2000s, Peter and Aletta Stas decided to ensure their independence by developing and producing their own movements. Today this familyowned company is capable of producing movements from a chronograph to a tourbillon.

The Frédérique Constant slogan is ‘Live your Passion’, which is exactly what the Stas family are so successfully enjoying.

Smiling, sympathetic, sociable and welcoming, which included a ristretto, a chocolate and a small glass of mineral water, Amarildo (named after a Brazilian footballer) and the lovely Barbara Pilo exhibit at Baselworld with their three brands: Pilo & Co., David Van Heim and Louis A. Leuba.

“My father was a diplomat and when we arrived in Geneva in 1991, he introduced me to the owner of a Swiss watch distribution company. I had a six-month work experience period before plunging into a full-time job with the company working in the Eastern European countries – notably in Poland – selling several well-known brands.

“Barbara, who is Italian and studied interior decoration in Florence, joined me in Geneva 1998 and we married in 2001, which is the year I began the distribution of our inexpensive quality Pilo & Co watches. We also found the time to have two children, Davide and Ariana. u

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FREDI BRODMANN

“I opened our second Geneva boutique opposite the Parc des Bastions in 2006 and Barbara has been responsible for that since its opening. That year I also developed the David Van Heim brand, spent a lot of time working on the designs and the first collection of watches, and finally they saw the light of day in 2009.”

Hyperactive, a very regular traveller, especially in China, Amarildo Pilo recently opened another boutique in the main street, Morges in the Canton of Vaud, and has extended his brands’ visibility with a showroom and a boutique in Italy, 11 boutiques or shop-in-shop mono-brands in China and another multi-brand boutique in China in January of this year.

As if he wasn’t busy enough, in January of this year he organised the first Swiss Independent Watchmaking Pavilion (SWIP) at the Casino du Lac in Geneva, close to the airport and the Palexpo where the SIHH is held at the same time.

“Fifteen independent brands, including Kari Voutilainen, Vincent Calabrese, Vianney Halter and Rebellion – not to mention Pilo and David Van Heim – took part and we welcomed 1,600 visitors along with most of the specialized media. With very flexible opening hours, a good security system and the gaming tables not too far away, the event was a success and it will take place again next year,” Pilo confirmed.

Having finished my coffee and after listening to Pilo’s busy travel schedule, his demanding work agenda and watching his constant leaping from his seat to greet clients, I left the booth exhausted, but in admiration of the evolution of his brands.

I have known Fredi Brodman long enough not to be able to remember when we met for the first time. Friendly, polite, a mine of information about everything from watches to cartoons, he is a man of many parts.

Born in Vienna in 1956, he is from a “family of derailed musicians and opera singers” – his father was Viennese and his mother Hungarian. His home is now in New York. He published his first cartoons when he was around twelve years old and he is a self-taught designer with a neurosis for perfection.

“I published many cartoons about the physical and philosophical aspects of Time, which actually led me to designing my first watch collection – ‘Watch Me’ – in 1985. In 1987 I co-founded Ventura with Pierre Nobs [which may well have been where I first met him] and I broke away in 1994 to Parallel Worlds, creating The Fish watches, and sold 40,000 pieces.

“I brushed up on licensing and began producing watches for the army, navy and marines.

“Then one day I was playing paddle tennis with my kids and I suddenly had the idea of creating paddles without handles – a sort of double-sided glove made of lightweight EVA foam that you put your hand into and use instead of an orthodox bat, which I called a ‘Hit Mit’. This was financially a winner and I eventually sold the company but remain on as a consultant.”

In an aside he also told me that the mother of Andy Murray the tennis player recently purchased 800 of the Hit Mits to teach children how to play.

“My current project is a watch called Normalzeit. There are four very famous clocks around Vienna that were built in 1907 and are synchronised to show the exact time wherever you are and I managed to obtain the right to make a Limited Edition of 1907 wristwatches using their design. It is a 50 mm watch in stainless steel with an automatic movement, a fully fluorescent dial based on the clocks being lit from the inside for clarity. It is being launched on June 12 and costs only 350 euros.

“I’m also working on a series of 24 different models of watches in a collection called ‘Time Flies’ with names such as Bomber – a satirical aviator timepiece inspired by the B52 plane. The prices range from 199 to 795 euros dependent on the model and its movement.”

Fredi doesn’t exhibit at Baselworld, he simply spends a week there talking to people, showing his designs and formulating new ideas and concepts. Next time you’re there, keep an eye open for him, he’ll be delighted to talk to you and I can assure you that you’ll come away feeling exalted at having spent a few minutes with this dynamic, highly original and likeable designer. p

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BASEL REPORT

SMARTWATCHES: PROTOTYPES & PROMISES Europa Star set itself the challenge of trying out all the smartwatches introduced at Baselworld. This goal quickly proved to be too ambitious.

There were many promises and announcements and some prototypes, but in the end very little that could actually be strapped to the wrist. This is only the beginning...

by Serge Maillard

“

TAG Heuer, Google,

Intel” read the giant notice at the LVMH subsidiary’s booth. The tone of the year was set right at the entrance to Baselworld’s main hall: welcome to the wedding of Silicon Valley and Watch Valley. Malicious rumours – or, as far as the Swiss watch industry is concerned, pessimistic predictions – suggest that by next year the order will be “Google, TAG Heuer, Intel”, and the year after, “Google, Intel, TAG Heuer”. Beyond all the announcements, smartwatches are proving to be pretty elusive: there is not much to get one’s teeth into, or to put on one’s wrist. Jean-Claude Biver gave fair warning: “We are here to announce a partnership, not to show you a product.” u

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Google, with its open operating system, unlike that of Apple, is setting itself up to be the new ‘ETA’ of the watchmaking industry version 3.0.

Despite the hype surrounding TAG Heuer’s announcement, it was not exclusive. Several months before, another industry giant, Texan-based Fossil Group, the world’s fourthlargest watchmaking group, and geographically closer to Silicon Valley, announced ties with the same firms. And this was confirmed at the group’s press conference. There too, there were no samples to try, and we had to be satisfied with an announcement. Nevertheless, it looks like Google, with its open operating system, unlike that of Apple, is setting itself up to be the new ‘ETA’ of the watchmaking industry version 3.0. And, if we want to stretch the metaphor to its logical conclusion, Intel could be the new Nivarox.

THE LIFESPAN CHALLENGE Another American fashion brand that is very enthusiastic about the connected world is none other than Guess (Timex Group). At the booth, President Cindy Livingston gave a personal demonstration of the Connect model – including a selfie – to this writer. Finally, something concrete! Readers may recall the letter of admiration Ms Livingston sent to Tim Cook after the Apple Watch launch. There are no signs of a partnership with Apple, but the Connect is compatible with iOS and Android via Bluetooth Low Energy. The winner of an award at the famous CES show in Las Vegas, the watch – inspired by the Rigor model – is driven by technology developed by Martian. Its main feature is the ability to give voice commands to the watch, for example to take a photo remotely. The watch can also receive a variety of notifications, which it displays on a small screen at 6 o’clock.

HOW CAN SALES STAFF BE TRAINED? The terminology is still not yet clear: what exactly is the difference between a wearable, a smartwatch, a connected watch and a fitness tracker? The borders are still being disputed – it’s all still very new. At Fossil Group, for example, they like to speak of ‘connected accessories’ which, group insiders predict, will be the “next lever of growth”. In addition to Intel and Google, the American group has also entered into a partnership with hi-tech marketing company R/GA. The group’s first brand to offer (non-Swiss made) smartwatches will be Fossil. “Models will be available this year and will offer a wide range of functions,” notes Preston Moxcey, Group Vice-President in charge of wearable technologies, who is sporting a prototype of a connected bracelet on one wrist and a mechanical watch on the other... Why this brand first? “All brands in our portfolio are curious about these new technologies, but this is the one that decided to jump in. The licensed brands are obviously keeping a close eye on developments.” Distribution chains are unlikely to change from today. Fossil Group’s brands are present in around 30,000 points of sale worldwide. “We will have to train our sales personnel in these new products.” Quite a challenge, then.

Joe Santana, former CEO of Timex Group, has also decided to invest in the smartwatch market with a new brand, Vector, which has launched a full-scale attack on the biggest challenge for connected watches: autonomy. Will it become a habit to charge our smartwatches every evening, as we do our smartphones? It’s a problem, particularly if the watch needs to remain on the wrist to monitor our sleeping

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“Customers don’t want a hamburger on their wrist! (…) We have not sacrificed design on the altar of technology.”

habits... Joe Santana has devised an alternative: a connected watch with a battery life of a month or more! Of course, a number of sacrifices had to be made to achieve this, notably a black and white screen, which contrasts strongly with the colourful displays of Pebble and Apple.

And yet here, too, it was good to have something to put on the wrist. The Vector is not targeted at young geeks but primarily at businessmen who don’t want to have to keep pulling their smartphones out of their pockets, and who can’t

always be charging their smartwatch: people who just want to glance from time to time at their watch, with its strippeddown design, and receive simple and functional notifications.

“Customers don’t want a hamburger on their wrist!” exclaims Joe Santana. “We have not sacrificed design on the altar of technology.” So, a round dial, unlike the Apple: “I don’t understand why they went for a rectangular watch, when 80% of watches sold around the world are round. It’s too much like a computer.” One thing is clear: the Apple Watch has already established itself as a benchmark for the other players in the sector.

Another feature of the Vector, also unlike Apple, is the minimal interaction with the watch. There is no touch screen, just three control buttons. A pragmatic, no-frills choice for a model that will be available from July at a price range of between USD 200 and 349 – or, in other words, between Pebble’s high-end models and Apple’s entry-level.

CONNECTED MECHANICAL WATCH After this American appetiser, we continue to South Korea, already the most connected nation on the planet. Kairos (from the Ancient Greek for ‘supreme moment’) is making another bold bet: it is combining a mechanical watch with a connected watch. Clearly, the smartwatch is already engendering a proliferation of alternatives... Prices are, logically, higher (between USD 1,190 and 2,548) and power reserves lower (2.5 days) than for the Vector, but the system is an ingenious one and, here too, we had the opportunity to test the watch. And reassuringly, on standby, we have good old clockwork to rely upon! There are two models to choose from – a Miyota and a Soprod – and the brand began accepting pre-orders in June 2014. u

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“In Europe there is greater scepticism, in general, towards new connected products.”

So, on standby, the watch is mechanical. But once a call is received, or when it connects to the smartphone to synchronise, a colour touch screen is superimposed over the watch dial.

“We have already taken orders and made sales amounting to two million dollars since last year,” notes Joshua Wang, the brand’s communication director. “The majority of these preorders are from Russia, Japan and even the United States. In Europe there is greater scepticism, in general, towards new connected products.”

In addition to its connected watch, Kairos also offers a connected bracelet that can be fitted to a mechanical watch, a little along the lines of the e-strap introduced by Montblanc at the SIHH earlier this year. This ‘T-band’ displays fitness tracking data and notifications directly on the strap, and it can also act as a simple sensor. The brand is currently seeking distribution partners: watch retailers for its watches and also electronics stores for its connected bracelets. “We are also ready to negotiate with other brands for our patented overlay display that is compatible with mechanical watches.”

Attention all enthusiasts!

The Mondaine Helvetica No.1 Horological Smartwatch will focus on fitness applications – activity and sleep tracking – with specific goals to be met. It will be available in the autumn for CHF 850 (compared with CHF 300–500 for the ‘standard’ model). Like the Frédérique Constant and Alpina models (see ES Première 2/15), at first glance the screen gives nothing of its smart capabilities away. It’s a very discreet, very Swiss way of tackling the smartwatch.

THE SWISS RETURN TO THE NEST Back to Switzerland, and Mondaine. This brand, which for so long has been identified with Swiss railway watches, is currently turning to another Swiss icon: the Helvetica font.

And it is precisely the model that the Bernheim brothers have chosen to connect, thanks to the MotionX system, initially developed by brands Frédérique Constant and Alpina with the assistance of Californian technology company Fullpower.

Soprod is another behind-the-scenes collaborator, which has more influence in the smartwatch domain than one might think (see ES Première 3/15).

“At the end of January the CEO of Frédérique Constant, Peter Stas, contacted me about this project,” reveals André Bernheim, CEO of Mondaine. “My brother Ronnie and I then met up with him in Bern, and we immediately hit it off – all it took was a look! We remain loyal to our Helvetica line and the Swiss made label, while giving it a ‘smart’ touch.” He is keen to point out: “All the other Swiss brands are talking about concepts. We already have a smartwatch, which at the same time makes reference to Switzerland’s industrial heritage.”

Equally Swiss and very discreet is the Bulgari vault model (see interview with Jean-Christophe Babin on p. 38). This is also a prototype, however. Breitling has also presented its smartwatch (see Malcolm Lakin’s article on p. 50). We will also be hearing a lot more from Swatch Group. From the announcement of the Swatch smartwatch designed for beach volleyball, and that of Tissot (see interview with François Thiébaud on this topic in ES 6/14), the Biel behemoth appears in the first instance to be focusing on specific applications rather than on a global range. Of course, the group has some serious advantages, such as electronic circuitry specialist EM Marin. But will it be able to go it alone, without partnering with Silicon Valley? The race is on. And the paths to success, and the possible deviations, are many. p

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BASEL REPORT

DUTCH CONNECTION

RETRO-FUTURIST ODYSSEY Lionel Betoux, who took over Cabestan in March 2013, sees 2015 as a year of consolidation for his brand, which sold around 30 very high-end watches last year. His latest retro-futurist creation is the Triple Axis Tourbillon, which bears the signature of watchmaker Eric Coudray. In the case of this model, a picture is certainly worth a thousand words...

GALLERY

In the Netherlands, watchmaking is a family affair for the Grönefeld brothers, whose grandfather was also very familiar with the trade. In 2008 they brought out their first model, a tourbillon, which was followed four years later by a jumping seconds model. All the bridges are hand-finished – no surprise when the maison is a laureate of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève.

SWITZERLAND LOOKS TO JAPAN Pierre DeRoche is introducing a number of new models, including a ladies’ version of the Pure, and a TNT with resin composite bezel. The Swiss family company, whose primary market is Japan (this honour previously belonged to Russia), celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2014. Now this landmark has been reached, there is talk of a tourbillon. Watch this space.

HUNTING CHIC The 150-year-old Belgian company Lebeau-Courally made its name as a prestigious manufacturer of bespoke hand-carved hunting guns, which go for as much as €600,000 each. Four years ago the Liège-based company ventured into the world of watchmaking, which shares a number of similarities with the hunting world, not least the importance of ‘calibres’! The Swiss-made watches make a number of references to their hunting heritage, including the clé de fusil motif and elegant lozenge patterning. Interestingly, the proprietor of Lebeau-Courally also owns the über-exclusive Swiss brand Julien Coudray and the IMH manufacture.

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SAXON RENAISSANCE Glashütte brand Moritz Grossmann has an all too rare claim to fame. In a watchmaking world that remains dominated by men, it was (re-) launched by a woman, Christine Hutter, in 2008. The company, which draws a great deal of inspiration from Egyptian mythology, is currently developing no fewer than five in-house movements, and also produces its own hands. It is known for the exceptionally high quality of its finishes, and all the movements are assembled twice. You can’t be too careful!

GALLERY

LADIES’ REVELATION The famous Magical Watch Dial system by Revelation is now available for women. The brand is launching its first model for women, the R05 First Lady. As with every Revelation watch, the watch bezel is turned 90 degrees to reveal the secondary functions, in this case the date. Anouk Danthe and Olivier Leu are continuing their exploration of the ambiguous world of invisibility and imagination inspired by our timepieces.

LAKE GENEVA At the fireside, beneath a beautifully painted portrait of Emile Chouriet, we enjoy a welcome moment of quiet amid the hustle and bustle of Baselworld. The Geneva-based brand, which has a strong following in China and 360 points of sale around the world, is moving up a gear and looking to boost its presence in Europe and Switzerland. This return to its roots is elegantly embodied in the Lac Léman collection.

FINNISH MOONS Finland is home to an astonishing number of master watchmakers: Kari Voutilainen needs no introduction, but Stepan Sarpaneva is also one to watch (he was in fact taught by Kari Voutilainen at Helsinki’s watchmaking school). Combining Finnish eccentricity and sense of the absurd with impeccable finishes, Sarpaneva offers variations of complications on the theme of the moon – his favourite topic – in models such as the Northern Star and Moonshine.

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CHINA SPACE PROGRAMME Founded in 1987 in Shenzhen, Fiyta is today one of China’s most important watchmaking brands, producing some 600,000 timepieces per year. It is now looking to expand internationally, from the Middle East to North America, in the 300–670 dollar price bracket, with quartz but also mechanical watches (using Swiss, Japanese and Chinese movements). China’s astronauts wear Fiyta watches – a welcome publicity coup for a brand that is exploring new horizons.

Tutima, founded in 1927, has supplied watches to the Luftwaffe for decades. Although during the Cold War it ‘delocalised’ to the west, the brand, which at its height employed up to 1,000 workers, moved back to its native Saxony in 2008. Four years later it launched Glashütte’s first minute repeater.

The new Saxon One model (EUR 4,600) with its sporty but elegant looks marks a new departure for the brand, which nevertheless continues to cater for the special requirements of pilots.

GALLERY

GERMAN AVIATION

THE CULT OF THE HEX NUT The trademark of one-year-old watchmaker Greco, named after its founder Stéphane Greco, is its cases in the shape of a hex nut. This year it is introducing a fluorescent ‘galactic’ watch containing a piece of meteorite. The young brand is active in the CHF 5,000–10,000 price bracket.

VELOCITÀ – FULL SPEED AHEAD Italian design, Swiss-made: this is the magic formula with which Meccaniche Veloci is hoping to get back in the game. Its affordable sports watches (CHF 1,300–5,000) have an obvious motor racing vibe. Pistons are everywhere. The brand is present in around 40 points of sale worldwide, and is hoping to reach out to new markets including Canada and Australia.

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EDITORIAL & ADVERTISERS’ INDEX A, B Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants (AHCI) 18 Adriatica 45, 65 Alpina 16, 51, 52, 53, 58 Anpassa 63 Apple 8, 16, 18, 36, 56, 57 Apple Watch 16, 18, 21, 57 Arbutus 63 Aries Gold 63 Audemars Piguet 62 Azzaro 51 Baselworld 8, 14, 20, 21, 30, 31, 35, 40, 46, 47, 48, 49, 54, 55 Blacksand 51 Blancpain 51, 52, 62 BMW Motorsport 52 Breguet 12, 62 Breitling 20, 44, 47, 50, 58 Bruvik 44 Bulgari 18, 20, 39, 58, 62 C, D Cabestan 59 Carl F. Bucherer 9

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Cartier 49 Casio COVER III (International), 27, 35 Certina 42 Chanel 6, 7, 31 Chaumet 12 China Watch & Clock Fair 64 Chopard 18, 62 Citizen COVER III (Europe), 34, 35 Classicdriver.com 52 Coach 21 Concord 21, 22 Crédit Suisse VI Daniel Roth 12 David Van Heim 53, 54 De Bethune 22, 47 DeWitt 62 DKSH 12 DMC Consulting 51 DWISS 63 E, F Ebel 21, 22 Eberhard & Co 40 Economic Interest Group GIE 51 Emile Chouriet 60 Ernest Borel 23, 48 ESQ 21 Estée Lauder 21

ETA 25, 40, 56 Euromonitor 16 Fabergé 31 Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FH) 16, 18 Fiyta 61 Fossil Group 20, 56 F.P. Journe 47 Franc Vila 49, 51 Franck Muller 62 Frédérique Constant 16, 53, 58 Fullpower 16, 58 G, H Glashütte Original 62 Go, Girl Only (SMB) 63 Google 8, 20, 55, 56 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) 59 Greco 61 Grönefeld 59 Guess 46, 56 Gc Watches 46, 47 Hautlence 48 HEC (Hautes Etudes Commerciales de Paris) 49 Hermès (La Montre) 30 HKTDC trade fair 53, 62, 63 H. Moser & Cie 16, 47, 62

Hublot 43, 47 Hugo Boss 21 I, J Ice-Watch 52 IMH manufacture 59 Intel 20, 55, 56 Investcorp 12 IWC 18, 47 Jaeger-LeCoultre 47, 62 Jean-François Ruchonnet 51 Jean-Mairet & Gillman 49, 51 Juicy Couture 21 Julien Coudray 59 K, L Kairos 57, 58 Kari Voutilainen 47, 54, 60 Lacoste 21 Lajoux-Perret 35 Lebeau-Courally 59 L’Emeraude 47 Longines 52 Louis A. Leuba 53 Louis Moinet COVER I, 12, 13, 14, 15, 24 Louis Vuitton 11, 22 LVMH 18, 39, 43, 55

M, N Macy’s 46 Manufacture Modules Technologies 16 Manufacture Royale 26, 28 Martian 56 Mauboussin 49 MCH Group 20 Meccaniche Veloci 61 Milka 66 Mondaine 16, 58 Montblanc 58 Moritz Grossmann 60 Mouawad 51 Movado 21, 22 Movado group 21, 24 Nivarox 56 Nomos 17, 32 O, P Omega 28 Opus Magnum II Orient 33 Oris 32 Panerai 47 Parallel Worlds 54 Patek Philippe 4, 5, 18, 29, 30, 47 Pebble 57 Perrelet 12 Peter Tanisman 51

Philips 53 Piaget 62 Pierre DeRoche 59 Pilo & Cie 53, 54 Promotion SpA 37 R, S Rado 52 Ramada Hotel 48 Reading University 51 Rebellion 54 Revelation 60 Richard Mille 49 Rolex COVER II, 3, 18, 20, 29, 46, 48 Romain Gauthier 24, 26, 47 Romain Jérôme 41, 51 Samsung 8 Sarpaneva 60 Scuderia Ferrari Orologi 21 Scuola di Direzione Aziendale Bocconi 51 Seiko 34 Sellita 40 Sequel AG 46 SIHH 58 Snyper Watches 49, 50, 51 Speake-Marin COVER IV

Swatch 16, 36, 42, 44, 46, 51, 58 Swatch Group 12, 28, 36, 42, 51, 58 T, U TAG Heuer 18, 20, 43, 48, 55, 56 Take no Time 51 Technomarine 48, 49 The Swiss National Bank 40 Tiffany & Company 49 Timex Group 46, 56 Tissot 20, 36, 42, 52 Titoni 19 Tommy Hilfiger 21 Tutima 61 Ulysse Nardin 47 Union Horlogère Holding 16 V, W Van Cleef & Arpels 31 Vector 56, 57 Ventura 54 Vianney Halter 54 Vincent Calabrese 54 WISeKey 39 Z Zenith 18, 43, 62 Zerone 63

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LAKIN@LARGE

THE WORLD’S HAPPIEST

by D. Malcolm Lakin

A

ccording to the third annual World Happiness Report (WHR) - produced by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, an initiative under the United Nations using input from leading experts across various fields, Switzerland came top of the 158 countries examined.

I suppose it’s lucky the Report was prepared prior to the results of this year’s SIHH and Baselworld because happiness was not one of the feelings dominating these two annual events. Glum, miserable, bordering on depressing might be more appropriate.

So what is ‘happiness’? According to the Collins English Dictionary, “feeling, showing or expressing joy; causing joy or gladness; slightly intoxicated” (I can handle that one); and the winner is… “the position of not having to work” which is not the case in Switzerland since they voted against shorter working hours not so long ago.

But laughter wasn’t mentioned in the definition, which I find odd. Surely a good laugh is also a must in happiness; it needn’t have you rolling on the floor, it can be something simple like – I went to the doctor the other day and he said, “Say aah.” So I said, “Why?” He replied, “My dog died.” See what I mean?

Happiness, however, is so very subjective; what’s happiness for one person might be purgatory for the next – think dentist! Some people probably don’t even realise that they’re happy until it’s too late – like the man who said he and his wife had been happy for thirty years, then they met each other. So who can decide what is and is not happiness?

Switzerland exported around 26 million watches in 2014 bringing in around 24.3

billion dollars and yet the manufacturers had long faces at the beginning of this year, so last year’s money doesn’t seem to play a role. Personally I’d be happy with a small piece of the action. But if happiness is associated with money, then according to the International Monetary Fund, then China and the USA should be far happier than Switzerland – which is in 39th place.

However, if money isn’t the factor and as they say it can’t buy happiness, it can certainly make you comfortable while you’re being miserable.

My opinion, for what it’s worth, is that Switzerland heads the happiness stakes because of the three Cs: chocolate, cheese and cholesterol. According to Chocolate Confectionery Consumers, Switzerland is the world’s largest consumer of chocolate, weighing in at 11.5 kilos of chocolate eaten per capita per annum, that’s around 93,815,804 kilos of chocolate eaten in the country in 2014. That’s really a lot of yummy, happy moments.

As for the cheese, the Swiss Farmers Union claims that the average Swiss resident ate 21.37 kilos of cheese in 2014. That’s 174,334,238 kilos of fondue and raclette being consumed with a few bottles of white wine, a combination that certainly causes joy or gladness.

Did you know that it takes at least one cow working full time to satisfy the cheese consumption per forty residents?

Add a few more cows to that for the milk that goes into chocolate and there are at least 50,000 of Switzerland’s 700,000 cows chomping grass for the country’s cheese and chocolate intake. No wonder the Milka cow is a funny colour.

It also appears that the massive ingestion of cholesterol from the cheese and chocolate has no effect on the Swiss population’s health, since according to the life

expectancy charts have Switzerland 4th in the list, so one must assume that the three Cs are the answer. Japan heads some of the life expectancy lists but I’ll bet a pound to a penny you can’t guess which other country has long-life bunnies … go on have a guess … no, it’s Monaco, the rock where one person in three of the 36,000 population is either a millionaire or a billionaire. Could it be the champagne and caviar?

Charles Schulz, the man that wrote and drew the wonderful Peanuts cartoons, said, “My life has no purpose, no direction, no aim, no meaning, and yet I’m happy. I can’t figure it out. What am I doing right?”

Who knows Charles, ask the Swiss.

All of which reminds me of a story about an Englishman, a Frenchman, and a Russian who were discussing the meaning of happiness.

The Englishman said, “Happiness is rising early in the autumn, saddling a horse and galloping behind the hounds in pursuit of the fox. Then back home with the ears and tail of the fox to sit by a roaring fire with a glass of port. That is happiness.”

The Frenchman said, “Non, ‘appiness is being with the love of your life, ‘aving a wonderful meal with champagne and then making love all night long. That is ‘appiness.”

The Russian said, “Niet, happiness is when you are in your room after a day’s work in the factory, reading Pravda with your son Igor on your knee. There is a knock at the door and three KGB men come storming in and say, ‘Ivan Ivanovich?’ You reply, ‘Niet, in the room upstairs.’ That, my friends, is happiness.”

Well, you’ve got to laugh haven’t you. p

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