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THE WORLD’S MOST INFLUENTIAL WATCH MAGAZINE EUROPE

IN THE FULLNESS OF TIME 10

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WATCH BUSINESS MAGAZINE | EUROPEAN EDITION | N°339 5/16 WINTER | CHF8 / €8 / US$8

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18K 18K BEIGE BEIGE GOLD. GOLD. CHANEL CHANEL Manufacture Manufacture movement movement with with integrated integrated complications. complications. 18K 18K BEIGE BEIGE GOLD. GOLD. CHANEL CHANEL Manufacture Manufacture movement movement with with integrated integrated complications. complications. Instant Instant jumping jumping hour, hour, 240째 240째 retrograde retrograde minute, minute, small small second. second. 3-day 3-day power power reserve. reserve. Instant Instant jumping jumping hour, hour, 240째 240째 retrograde retrograde minute, minute, small small second. second. 3-day 3-day power power reserve. reserve.

EDITORIAL

LEARNING TO by Pierre Maillard, Editor-in-chief

hen the printing press began to take off in the 1450s, booksellers, who made a living from selling manuscripts – and quite a handsome living at that – were outraged. Their business would be destroyed! Others were worried about the dangerous new possibilities for subversive ideas to be disseminated on a grand scale. The political establishment immediately sought to control the presses, including by ordering that a copy of every book be deposited in the royal library. The Roman Catholic Church hurriedly drew up its Index of Forbidden Books. And on the back of all this, clandestine workshops and counterfeiters flourished. Any resemblance to the crisis currently being experienced by the press is purely coincidental. Or is it? Is history cursed to repeat itself eternally, in different guises, under the impulse of similar social and economic mechanisms? Today, print is nearing the end of a glorious cycle, during which it had a very big hand in changing the face of the world, and is now seeing all its fundamental assumptions called into question. Writing remains, but it is in the process of shuffling off its mortal coil of paper and subliming into bits and bytes displayed on thousands upon thousands of portable screens. For us at Europa Star*, who have devoted ourselves entirely to the watchmaking industry for almost 90 years, the paradigm shift is twofold. The problems facing print

6 | EDITORIAL | europa star

media are curiously similar to those now affecting the watch industry. I’ll paraphrase what I just said about print: “Today, watchmaking is nearing the end of a glorious cycle, during which it had a very big hand in changing the face of the world, and is now seeing all its fundamental assumptions called into question. Telling time remains, but it is in the process of shuffling off its mortal coil – the watch – and subliming into bits and bytes displayed on thousands upon thousands of portable screens.” Like the booksellers of the 1450s, who were thrown into disarray by the arrival of the printing press, watch retailers today are thrown into disarray by the evaporation of their bricks-and-mortar business. The political establishment, which went into a tailspin over the dissemination of dangerous ideas, is today fretting about corruption and, as in China, inspecting every wrist in search of “subversive” watches (subversively priced, that is). The fact remains that bookshops still exist today, and they don’t look likely to vanish any time soon. Books won’t die, because humans are material beings with a sense of touch and smell, with feelings and emotions, who would never be satisfied with a world composed entirely of bits and bytes, the ephemeral and immaterial. But books will change. Watchmakers are hoping that, in the best case, watches will share the same fate as books. The watch is not threat-

ened with extinction. It will change, that is certain, and it will probably become more scarce; but with scarcity comes greater weight, greater value. But if it is to take this route, the watch industry must embrace the inevitable changes, understand where the changes must be made, and manage all this intelligently. We don’t claim to be able to teach watchmakers anything about their business. But we, as “printers”, confronted with a paradigm shift in the press, will make the most of our 90 years as an independent voice to explore new avenues, create new partnerships, build new bridges and examine new possibilities, both material and virtual. We trust you will join us in our new adventure, that you will consider our adventure your own, and that you will agree with the Roman philosopher Seneca when he said: “Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.” We feel this makes a very apt motto in the current climate. Dear watchmakers, dear readers, dear friends: come and join us on 18 January 2017. A new chapter is about to be written. For us, for you, and for watchmaking. p * The publishing house now known as Europa Star HBM SA was founded in 1927 by Hugo Buchser, grandfather of Philippe and Pierre Maillard and great-grandfather of Serge Maillard, who is now our company’s CEO.

CONTENTS

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QUANTIÈME PERPÉTUEL (PERPETUAL CALENDAR) WITH INSTANTANEOUS JUMP by F.P.Journe Perpetual calendar with instantaneous jump. Unidirectional automatic winding. Simultaneous correction of the date and day in one direction, rotation of the day only in the other direction in position 2 of the winding stem. Discreet and secure corrector in the lug of the watchcase for correction of the month and leap year. Central hours and minutes / indication of leap year with centred small hand, 1, 2, 3, in black; L for the leap year in red / day and month at 12 o’clock in 2 apertures / large date at 6 o’clock in double aperture / power reserve at 9 o’clock, power reserve 160 hours+/12 hours. Automatic Calibre FPJ 1300-3 in 18K rose Gold (4N). Off-centre 22K Gold guilloché winding rotor. Platinum or 18K red Gold. Diameter 40 or 42 mm. Height 11.00 mm

MONTRES JOURNE SA 17, rue l’Arquebuse 1204 Genève Switzerland Tel.: +41 (0)22 322 09 09 Fax: +41 (0)22 322 09 19 www.fpjourne.com

EDITORIAL Learning to dance in the rain

SPECIAL Europa Star’s 90th Anniversary and some birthday surprises

COVER STORY F.P. Journe – Time proves him right

MARKET FOCUS What’s going on in Hong Kong? U.S. watch market faces new challenges while catering to shifting demands Report on the Italian watch market

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SMARTWATCHES Focus on smartwatches – From A to Z The smart perspective of Gerald Roden Review of smartwatches

16 20

SMARTWATCH

MARKET FOCUS

MOONS GALLERY Andreas Strehler, Patek Philippe, Jean-Baptiste Duboule, Parmigiani, Cartier, De Bethune, Arnold & Son, Christiaan van der Klaauw, Vacheron Constantin, Frédérique Constant, Urban Jürgensen, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Glashütte Original, Harry Winston, A. Lange & Söhne, Stepan Sarpaneva

54 56

BRANDS Louis Moinet – Lunar eclipse Bovet – When Swiss watchmakers and Italian designers meet

SPOTLIGHT Casio G-Shock Gulfmaster: making waves

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STRAPS Watch straps shake off the shackles Chanel – When the strap sets off the watch Hermès – Saddler turned watchmaker All about watch straps Portraits of watch strap makers

INDUSTRY Upheavals in the discreet world of the private label

EDITORIAL & ADVERTISER’S INDEX

LAKIN@LARGE Connected watches: breaking records or is it wind?

MOONS

BRANDS

STRAPS

DIGITAL PARTNER

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The statements and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily Europa Star. Europa Star subscription service: CHF 75 in Europe, CHF 100 International | One year, 5 issues | Visit: europastar.com/subscribe | Enquiries: register@europastar.com

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Escale Time Zone.

RY A S ER ES V NI RIS N P , an H A SUR as 1927 e T r a ye k in g th 90 AY h c n S t ’ 0 Ba nchi h a , R THD s 9 sm. t A t u i ide T IR wi i la s l w e S k a y d r n b rl at A EB br jour role etwo wo P e l r . n g ce ch to ay RO S O M ar wat erin zine sec tod U t E D S e a g oil pa ce in pion mag kin itted N m o a r r e i A l u tu , th vo hm mm da na ,E

ew in 17 dent laye atio watc n co elf g a n new e s r 0 t 2 n p ai a e in s a ng i In epen tar nter th rem et uc ent, s. i k t d S i g r d n l o e a ip in st in opa ta ve intr fir mot ch w r rsh e m rein w s e u e h e ’ i o t E n h is rld o pr ll b y, ), n part ar ow ar e wi 017 t wo s t t r w n w e aS W HH 2 ne vie issio niv rop als. I d n S n Eu ha )a go rom am o, s, 0t and 17 ts f 9 ag pas i ( 0 r s 2 t , e r u u a to ld ain hiev ayo so ye rm or c l It’ e ag 0 w a o l 0 .” 0 c o st ew ase on ter t a n ain n 2 the B n r a , t m 7 i er th for la he o 1 t be u r e 0 r 2 g in ov rm te (f ry disc mo itin nce i fo a , s a u d b s. n w y, da ai we Ja da ith u a s out g to 8 h c 1 t w ir ne t ab nin n ’ Se r s o th b rain n a s u s e 0 i A l e n 9 th ife ut joi our n “L abo o i te ut ce s it’ yo ebra dan e l it ce and inv to k, e a W ev loo n Ge new r ou

COVER STORY

TIME PROVES HIM RIGHT Over more than three decades, with unerring consistency, François-Paul Journe has constructed a neo-classical watchmaking approach whose watchwords are balance, harmony, rigour and legibility, the inevitable product of an exemplary coherence between the aesthetic exterior and the technical interior. Time has proven him right. by Pierre Maillard

rançois-Paul Journe’s horological journey officially began nearly 35 years ago, in 1991, at the booth of the Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants (AHCI) in Basel, where he exhibited his first tourbillon, made entirely by hand. Since then he has continued to “make and remake the same watch,” as he explained to Europa Star FIRST TOURBILLON several years later, in 2003, when he had be- POCKET WATCH 1983 come F.P. Journe, invenit et fecit. To lend cre- “Fascinated by the exceptional tourbillon watches that I had had the dence to his comment, he showed us a care- opportunity to admire in my uncle’s fully framed paper napkin, the same napkin workshop, but without the financial means to acquire any, I decided to on which, in 1994, he had mapped out his build my own tourbillon chronomfuture. “Look,” he said. “It’s all there. For the eter. Working with the little experiI had behind me, I devoted all benefit of my friends, I sketched out everything ence my free time to this project and it I wanted to achieve in watchmaking. Look took me five years to complete it. I carefully... here you have the Résonance, crafted every single component as well as the case in gold and in silver. here’s the Octa, there’s the Réserve de Marche, This watch completed in 1982 is still of the last two decades without so much as a and over there you can see the Calendrier. All part of my collection.” F.P. Journe wobble. Through hell and high water, Françoisthe ideas are there, all the future developPaul Journe has pursued his own horological and stylistic course with unswerving consistency, refusing to ments are sketched out...” This little anecdote is not as inconsequential as it might first be swayed by the ostentatious trends and attention-seeking appear; in fact, it goes a long way to explaining why F.P. exaggerations that have dominated the watchmaking scene. Journe has managed to weather the turbulence and excess That is the source of his company’s resilience.

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CHRONOMETRE A RESONANCE

TOURBILLON SOUVERAIN

HARMONY IN FORM AND FUNCTION His watchmaking style can be categorised uncontroversially as “neo-classical” because of its pursuit of a certain stylistic harmony, a formal and functional equilibrium in which, as in classical architecture, the outside is a faithful expression of the inside, just as the arrangement of the interior is dependent upon the exterior. In a watch industry that is constantly striving to make a splash (“faire le buzz”, as they say in French) François-Paul Journe has never strayed from the path he set out on all those years ago. His approach has always remained substantially the same. It invariably begins on paper, where Journe starts by designing... the dial. This is not because the watch’s appearance is dictated by abstract design concerns: it’s because of his quest for what he calls the “equilibrium” of the watch. As he explained in 2003, and continues to maintain today: “I know where I want to go, I know what functions I want to give the watch, I’ve laid out the technical principles I want to follow, but everything starts with the dial. I begin by sketching out the hour and minute hands, then the functions I want to add to the watch. Above all, I’m looking for an overall harmony in the dial, because in my view the dial should be the direct expression of what goes on inside the watch. The harmony I’m looking for is both stylistic and technical, from the outset. It’s not about making it look nice; it’s about finding out what the watch is trying to say, and how to say it. The inside and the

OCTA CALENDRIER

TOURBILLON DES 30 ANS

outside are not two separate aspects. A watch is a coherent whole, and it has just one way of expressing that, and that expression is the watch itself.” Some 25 models later (not counting variations in materials), this rigorous approach has not wavered in the slightest. The consistency of his aesthetic and technical approach provides the perfect explanation for the “timeless” quality of his watches, which are consummate modern classics. Journe himself describes his watches as “tools”, because the legibility of their different functions and displays, their user-friendliness, their wearability and their usefulness remain cardinal values of his watchmaking approach. u

THE OCTA QUANTIÈME PERPÉTUEL WITH INSTANTANEOUS JUMP One of his latest creations, now available in F.P. Journe boutiques in Geneva, Paris, Tokyo, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Hong Kong, Beijing, Boca Raton, Beirut and soon Kyiv, is no exception to this rule. A glance at the dial tells you everything you need to know about the new perpetual calendar with instantaneous jump: perfect formal balance underpinning optimum legibility and functionality. The new perpetual calendar with instantaneous jump – the 9th member of the Octa collection – differs aesthetically from most other perpetual calendars on the market by its generous apertures for the day and month, and its double-window large date – a characteristic of F.P. Journe watches. The result is that the time and the intuitively placed calendar indications can be read off without any confusion and with the utmost simplicity. Ease of use is also one of the major features of this timepiece, and it’s a key point, given that adjusting perpetual calendars is often something of a brain-teaser and that, generally, midnight adjustments are strictly verboten. Here, all corrections are carried out via the three-position crown, except for the rapid month correction, accomplished with a small hidden corrector lever beneath the lug at 1 o’clock. The wearer can make adjustments whenever he likes, whatever the time of day. No specialised tools or correctors are required, which would in any case risk scratching or otherwise damaging the case. Months with 28, 29, 30 or 31 days are automatically taken into account, and leap years are shown in the centre of the dial under the fulcrum of the hour and minute hands (years 1, 2 and 3 are in black; the leap year is marked with a red L). In order to drive these functions and displays, which take just 16 thousandths of a second to complete their instantaneous jump (a feat that, it is worth noting, took François-Paul Journe several weeks, months even, of testing and minute adjustments, because the large windows require bigger discs, which are consequently heavier to move), the watchmaker used the exclusive Octa calibre 1300.3. This 18-karat rose gold automatic movement was designed from the outset to be able to easily incorporate all the current and future complications planned for the Octa collection. Its off-centre 22-karat red gold rotor has a self-blocking ball bearing sys-

tem that winds the movement in just one direction, ensuring that the slightest wrist movement is maximally exploited to power the slip-spring barrel, giving an effective power reserve of more than 120 hours. The power reserve is indicated by a hand at 9 o’clock on the dial. Available in platinum or 18 karat red gold, with a diameter of 40 or 42 mm, and a red or white gold dial fixed by a steel circle with silver chapter ring, the Quantième Perpétuel with instantaneous jumping replaces the annual calendar model, the Octa Calendrier, which is now a collector’s piece.

IMAGE AND LEGACY It is F.P. Journe’s custom to systematically cease production of old models once a new model is created. With manufacturing capacity limited to 900 watches per year, F.P. Journe has always made a point of limiting production of its successive series, and never producing any additional watches, even in the event of very high demand. In order to reinforce this principle, the Manufacture F.P. Journe recently launched a new service that offers its collectors the opportunity to buy rare watches that are no longer in production. Depending on the (very few) opportunities that arise, and after careful personal study by François-Paul Journe of the watches available at auction or by private sale, the Manufacture buys back its own pieces and refurbishes them fully in its workshops, before offering them once again to its most loyal clients, with a new 3-year guarantee. François-Paul Journe sees this as a way of preserving his heritage, strengthening confidence and retaining control of his company’s image and authenticity. It’s an original approach, which is in perfect keeping with his passionate desire to keep strict control over distribution. “While today you can easily find prestigious watches available at a 40 or 50% discount, you will never see any of my watches on special offer. I’ve spent over 20 years building up my image, and I’m not prepared to jeopardise that on a whim. In my view, much of the current crisis is due to the blindness and greed of many large watchmaking companies. Now, they’re paying for their recent excesses.” Just as he has never been swayed by the currents of fashion, François-Paul Journe refuses to be swayed on this point. Time will prove him right – as it already has. p

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