Europa Star - EUROPE 2/14

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THE WORLD’S MOST INFLUENTIAL WATCH MAGAZINE EUROPE

7 WATCH BUSINESS MAGAZINE EUROPEAN EDITION N°324 2/2014 APRIL / MAY

CHF20 / €17 / US$22

BASELWORLD 2014

2013-2014 Retroperspective New products and analyses by sector

ONLY ONE WATCH MANUFACTURE

Our collection of mechanical calibres, all made in-house, is unique in the world with unparalleled breadth in shape, design and level of complication: for every watch its own calibre. Since 1833, we have produced 1,249 different mechanical calibres.

Out of the 60 calibres in creation today, the most exceptional are shown here. Absolute leadership in the history of fine watchmaking.

YOU DESERVE A REAL WATCH.

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CAN SHOW YOU THIS.

Mademoiselle Chanel’s favourite flower, the camellia, decorates the dial in a subtle gradation of colours; it was embroidered by hand at the Maison Lesage using the traditional needle-painting technique. This exceptional timepiece has been rewarded in 2013 by the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève in the "Artistic crafts watch" category. Limited edition to 18 numbered pieces. 18 karat white gold set with 642 diamonds ( ~ 3,55 karats).

www.chanel.com

EDITORIAL

MR. UP and MR. DOWN Pierre M. Maillard Editor-in-chief

there is a silent battle being waged between shareholders behind this brilliant and harmonious smokescreen or, on the contrary, that somebody else, who has always kept a low profile, is at the height of their form and raring to go.

Everyone has their ups and downs, the days when they are full of beans and those when they are at the end of their tether.

So is the watchmaking industry up or down? ….

Asked in this way, the question has no sense. Just as we are not all up or down at the same time, the watchmaking industry has brands that are up and those that are down. Trends that are down and technologies that are on the up.

A global exhibition like BaselWorld is a snapshot for which everyone poses and, even if they are down on the inside, tries to look as if things are on the up. Nothing could be more normal or logical: even if you are really down, at the end of your tether and your power reserve is exhausted, it’s not really the time to let yourself go, take your eye off the ball, to hide away or disappear under the carpet. No, being upbeat at this time of year is an obligation.

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The power reserve of the Legacy Machine No. 1, created as a collaboration between MB&F and Chinese artist Xia Hang. The power reserve has been modified to allow Xia Hang’s “comma man” (4mm high, in polished aluminium) to move from his arched position when the power reserve is low to his upright position when the watch is fully wound. By means of an invisible hinge, the head, shoulders, back and chest of Mr. Up (the name of the power reserve when it is fully wound) gradually lean towards the horizontal as the barrel unwinds: Mr. Up becomes Mr. Down.

So you will understand the difficulties that we face as journalists. How do we drag the truth out of people, how can we find out more about the state of their “power reserve”, how can we tell the difference between the true, the false and the approximate when it is all smiles and the noise of champagne corks popping? More than ever we need to go back over our information, compare, weigh up, evaluate, sort.

We have to find out, here and there, that behind these flamboyant displays somebody may be on their last legs, that

A salon – we used to call it a “fair”, which had a slightly popular and raffish side to it – is a vast stage on which actors parade, adorned and made up for the show. They have learned their lines, prepared their responses, committed their talking points to memory, rehearsed their performance: everything is ready, everything is “up”!

We will take stock afterwards and that is when we will know who is up and who is down. Not forgetting all those (the majority, in fact) who are quite frankly neither up nor totally down. They are somewhere between the two, with some power reserve remaining. But will the energy they take on during BaselWorld be enough to allow them to raise their heads high? Or will a brand-new connected watch put them on a serious downer?

Find out in our next issue. p

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E L PR IM E RO C H RONOMA S TE R 19 6 9

Acknowledged as the world’s best chronograph, it is a descendant of the legendary El Primero fi rst unveiled in 1969 and proudly bears the iconic colours of the fi rst high-frequency automatic column-wheel chronograph calibre. Beating at a rate of 36,000 vibrations per hour, this daring feat embodies the exceptional expertise of the Manufacture.

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CONTENTS

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NAUTILUS TRAVEL TIME CHRONOGRAPH

by Patek Philippe Brushed and polished stainless-steel case and integrated steel bracelet, dial with embossed horizontal relief, applied hour markers in white gold, date dial at 12 o’clock and 60-minute chronograph counter at 6 o’clock, day/night indications for home time and local time, central baton hour and minute hands for local time and a skeleton hour hand for home time, powered by the Patek Philippe calibre CH 28250 S C FUS with patented Spiromax® balance spring in Silinvar® and 21-carat gold oscillating mass. Water resistant to 120 metres.

PATEK PHILIPPE SA Ch. du Pont-du-Centenaire 141 CH 1211 Genève 2 Switzerland Tel. : +41 (0)22 884 20 20 www.patek.com

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EDITORIAL Mr Up and Mr Down

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RETROPERSPECTIVE Three-fold vertical integration

26

LETTER FROM CHINA China in 2013, a zone of turbulence

28

COVER STORY Patek Philippe – The voyages of the Nautilus

32 38 42 44 48

SWATCH GROUP Interview with François Thiébaud, CEO of Tissot The Swatch Group has all bases covered Glashütte Original at the Berlinale Stripping down the Sistem51 Interview with Elmar Mock

28 Nautilus

50 52 54

LVMH Interview with Stéphane Linder, the new CEO of TAG Heuer TAG Heuer – the V4 Tourbillon… with belt drive!

Blossoming Bulgari

44 Sistem51

57 58

PRESTIGE Gallery – Hermès, Dior The 2014 Chanel collection in tactical formation

74 78

GRANDES MAISONS Catching up with the extremely busy Michele Sofisti The very radical Neo-Tourbillon under Three Bridges by Girard-Perregaux When H. Moser & Cie goes wild DeWitt: Imperial in style and innovation Ulysse Nardin, the joys of manufacture Jacob&Co. celebrates new movement development partnership with the Astronomia Tourbillon The beginnings of the new Eterna Carl F. Bucherer: Assertive but measured expansion

80 84 87 90 94 96 98

MID RANGE Raymond Weil, the legacy of a unanimously respected gentleman Frédérique Constant, manufacture for the masses The discreet strength of Ernest Borel Fossil – the antithesis of its name Emile Chouriet: a new manufacture on the horizon?

Football to fuel Rotary’s global expansion Folli Follie – Creating and housing fashion

63 65 66 68 70 72

(continued on page 10)

8 CONTENTS / europa star

THE WORLD’S MOST INFLUENTIAL WATCH MAGAZINE

48 Ressence

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32 Tissot

52 TAG Heuer

63 M. Sofisti

72 Jacob&Co.

74 Eterna

80 Raymond Weil

CONTENTS

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THE WORLD’S MOST INFLUENTIAL WATCH MAGAZINE

104 106

INDEPENDENTS Armand Nicolet – Traditional Swiss watchmaking meets Italian design Auguste Reymond, the discreet brand with a beneficent edge Gallery – Rudis Sylva & Manufacture Royal

107

JAPAN The Japanese race for absolute precision

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AMERICAN SPIRIT The home of industrialized watch production is back at it – in many forms

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NEWCOMERS Beltonn watches, or the enigmatic Mr. Inthavanh Barbour: from the waxed jacket to the wrist

123 126

SPORT Who is going to be a good sport?

Bell & Ross B-Rocket

107 Japan

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WORLDWATCHWEB Demand for Swiss luxury watches continues to grow

141

EDITORIAL & ADVERTISERS’ INDEX

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LAKIN@LARGE This could leave a bitter taste in your mouth

138 WorldWatchReport

130 Service

DIGITAL PARTNER

ADVERTISER’S SPOTLIGHTS CASIO – Twisted Trio Electro-mechanical innovation from ORIENT

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

www.worldwatchreport.com / www.digital-luxury.com

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114 America

123 Sport

SERVICE, PLEASE! Service experiences where the rubber meets the road – at the retail level (Part 1) The customer’s perspective – Ghita Ramdhiansing

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Tambour Monogra m manufactured in Louis Vuitton’s watc hmaking wor kshops in Switzer land.

Sold exclusively in Louis Vuitton s t ores. louisvuitton.com

RETROPERSPECTIVE

THREE-FOLD VERTICAL INTEGRATION Pierre Maillard

It is always easier to look back and analyse what happened last year than to look ahead and try to predict, even in the most cursory way, what will happen in the future.

Nevertheless, each year we try to do this with our “retroperspective”, to use this rather far-fetched term.

But before attempting this, we took a look at what was being said exactly a year ago and we note that the two main subjects that concerned industry observers at the time, the increasing domination of the major groups and their “advanced consolidation” on the one hand and the fate of the luxury industry in China on the other, were indeed the main things on people’s minds throughout 2013.

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If we look at some of the statements made in the spring of 2013, we can see that some of the predictions, which were relatively prudent, more or less came true. Thus, in March 2013, Nick Hayek said that “the Swatch Group has the potential to reach 9 billion in turnover in 2013 and 10 billion by 2014 or 2015”. And it almost did: in 2013, the Swatch Group generated 8.817 billion Swiss francs in turnover, an increase of 8.3 per cent on the year, whereas Nick Hayek had predicted “growth of 6 to 7 per cent in 2013”.

These are very good figures, especially since the group considerably increased its profitability, with a 20.2 per cent increase in net profit to almost 2 billion (1.928 billion Swiss francs) and an operating margin of 27.4 per cent – better than LVMH (21 per cent) and the same as Richemont (27 per cent for the first half of the year, with

the group closing its accounts at the end of March – in the middle of BaselWorld).

Having said this, the watchmaking and jewellery division of the LVMH group performed worse than its rival, with turnover in this category of 2.784 billion euros, a reduction of 2 per cent, but a 12 per cent increase in profits (to 375 million euros in 2013 compared with 334 million in 2012).

If we take a closer look at the total Swiss watch industry export figures we see that the industry overall is performing much worse than the groups.

If we take a closer look at the total Swiss watch industry export figures published at the end of January by the Federation of the Swiss Watchmaking Industry, we see that the industry overall is performing much worse than the groups. In 2013 we saw a measured increase of 1.9 per cent, or 400 million Swiss francs, to reach a total of 21.8 billion Swiss francs for 28.1 million units, a little over a million units less. The immediate conclusion: Switzerland continues its headlong rush to export fewer watches, but ones that are more expensive! But we have to be careful with this analysis because it was actually in the mid-range segment, specifically in the category of watches with an export price (not a final retail price) of between 200 and 500 Swiss francs, where there was the biggest increase: +14.2 per cent in volume and +12.7 per cent in value.

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hermès. time reinvented.

dressage la montre hermès tames time, mastering its measurement. one press on the pushbutton and the chronograph’s second hand starts moving, the counter hands hot on its heels. beneath the dial ticks the steady beat of the manufacture h 1925 mechanical movement, embodiment of the house’s high standards. precision and elegance meet and merge, reminding us that each second is truly unique.

Her mes.com

In the other categories, including the famous “watches over 3,000 Swiss francs” (a category that should one day be seriously reviewed, since it hides enormous differences covering watches for 3,000 Swiss francs and those at 100,000 Swiss francs) the increase was a lot less: +2.8 per cent in value. The same is true for the entry level (less than 200 Swiss francs), with a reduction in volume of 8.5 per cent, to 18.2 million units, which is a drop in the ocean compared with the billion watches produced in this category each year.

So Switzerland’s watchmaking industry seems to have restructured its offer slightly in 2013. This is undoubtedly due in large part to the substantial reduction in the Chinese market which, in 2013, imported “only” 1.446 billion Swiss francs’ worth of watches, a drop of 12.5 per cent. Over the same period, Hong Kong, which remains the number one market for Swiss watches, recorded a drop of 5.6 per cent.

1

Hong Kong

4,125.0

-5.6%

2

USA

2,239.9

+2.4%

3

China

1,446.5

-12.5%

4

Germany

1,306.4

+9.0%

5

Italy

1,229.0

+4.6%

6

France

1,191.0

-9.6%

7

Japan

1,155.0

+5.7%

8

Singapore

1,135.5

+1.0%

9

United Kingdom

952.7

+18.2%

10

United Arab Emirates

934.1

+9.2%

11

South Korea

537.0

+11.4%

12

Taiwan

431.0

-1.1%

13

Spain

425.0

+1.7%

14

Saudi Arabia

352.4

+6.6%

15

Thailand

287.6

+4.7%

Source: FH

14 RETROPERSPECTIVE / europa star

Looking at these figures we see that this timid refocusing on the mid range corresponds logically with the good health of the European markets, which showed renewed vigour, in particular the United Kingdom, with a surprising +18.2 per cent, Germany with +9 per cent, astonishingly in Italy, too, which increased 4.6 per cent despite the crisis it is in. In the European contingent, only France, with a reduction of 9.6 per cent, lets the side down.

This refocusing on the mid range is very good news for the overall health of the Swiss watchmaking industry.

This refocusing on the mid range (which is very good news for the overall health of the Swiss watchmaking industry) was corroborated by Nick Hayek who, when his group’s figures were published, insisted that “if we are recording such growth rates it is also thanks to brands such as Longines, Tissot and Swatch. We are not just a luxury group.” (Read more about the Swatch Group in our article The Swatch Group has all bases covered in this issue).

The Swatch Group’s ability to cover the entire spectrum of watchmaking, from the plastic watch (and not just any old plastic watch, since the Sistem51 is a marvel of engineering, cf. our article in this issue, Stripping down the Sistem51) to the traditional grand complication, gives it a foundation that shields it from structural or ad hoc corrections in the markets, like the one we are seeing in China. All the more so given that the group is also the main supplier to its competitors for movements and regulating organs.

With these different pillars, the Swatch Group therefore appears to be the most stable power in the industry, and also has a mountain of cash (estimated at 2.5 billion Swiss francs) and, it is said, a considerable stock of watches and movements (the equivalent of 433 days, according to the analysis of Exane BNP, quoted by Business Montres).

allows them to replace some of the most common ETA “tractors”).

Other initiatives are also coming to light, but bringing a movement into mass production and strictly containing costs requires considerable investment (100 million Swiss francs is the general estimate).

But we hope that these initiatives will continue to gain ground in parallel with the planned reduction in ETA deliveries.

CALM ON THE MOVEMENT FRONT

Another reason for the relaxation is that the vertical integration of in-house movement production seen at several big brands is also reaching maturity, as is the case at TAG Heuer, which can now produce tens of thousands (up to 100,000) of its own chronograph movements autonomously.

The situation regarding the supplies of movements and regulating organs, which was extremely tense last year, seems to have stabilised a little at the start of 2014.

Several factors have contributed to this.

Among them, the “final” agreement signed between the Swatch Group and the Swiss Competition Commission (COMCO) in October 2013, which obliges ETA to ensure continuity in deliveries to third parties until 2019, with a gradual reduction against the 2009-2011 average that is fixed at 75 per cent for 2014/2015, 65 per cent for 2016/2017 and 55 per cent for 2018/2019.

As for regulating organs, there is no question of a reduction in deliveries for the moment and this subject will have to be renegotiated.

But the situation has also calmed down a little because in parallel with this agreement a number of initiatives that were launched at the first signs of the Swatch Group’s intentions are now reaching maturity. The likes of Sellita, Soprod, DuboisDépraz, La Joux-Perret, Technotime and others are gradually gaining strength and producing new and ever-more reliable movements (the majority of which are ETA-compatible, meaning that their size

Even if the planned restriction in movement supply is manageable, it is above all the regularity of deliveries that is important.

But on the other hand, as a number of independent brands have pointed out to us, even if the planned restriction in movement supply is manageable, it is above all the regularity of deliveries that is important. And on this point, it is quite clear that ETA has a strong and effective means of pressure.

We must also not forget that some specific mechanical movements, such as the ETA 2671, a small self-winding ladies’ movement that is 17.20mm in diameter, has no equivalent on the market. (We can therefore predict, without too much risk of error, that there will be a reduction in the number of small self-winding watches for ladies available on the market this year!).

u europa star / RETROPERSPECTIVE 15

THE FIRST TWO TYPES OF VERTICAL INTEGRATION After the vertical integration in production, which we have seen over the past ten years, we saw a second vertical integration in distribution, which is still under way, then a third vertical integration that we could call “vertical integration of communication”.

Although the Swiss watchmaking industry still consists of a dense network of suppliers and sub-contractors that is indispensable to it (you only need to have a look around the small workshops in the Jura region to see all the components being produced for the most vertically integrated and most famous brands), these very brands are gradually taking full control of their own production.

In parallel with this vertical integration of production, distribution has also been gradually vertically integrated. It started with brands setting up their own subsidiaries around the world, which impacted on the “old” intermediary professions that are (or were) agent and distributor, then continued with the increasingly frenetic openings of monobrand stores, this time indirectly impacting on multi-brand retailers, and is now directly affecting retailers, for example with the take-over by the Swatch Group (them again) of the network of Rivoli Dubai, which operates no less than 360 stores in the Middle East and employs 1,500 people!

This symbolically important take-over also has its strategic significance, when you consider the importance of the hyper-commercialised hubs of the

Middle East for the Chinese customers passing through.

The consequences of this take-over – but this is just one example of a strong trend shared by other groups – were quickly felt by the “small” brands who were politely brushed aside.

Access to the market is therefore becoming increasingly difficult for the “small” independent brands. In this context, the general trend is for these brands to focus on regions where they have a strong position, to the detriment of a truly international presence.

The current model of own-brand stores, a trend that has affected almost all watch brands, seems to be reaching its limits.

Having said this, the current model of own-brand stores, a trend that has affected almost all watch brands, seems to be reaching its limits and in recent months we have seen several closures, in particular in China (Omega and Cartier have been mentioned). In view of this it is hard to resist quoting the financial analyst Philippe Béchade’s description of one of his recent trips to China: “There are a lot more of these malls and luxury shops (Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Gucci, Ferragamo, Zegna, Tiffany, Rolex, Blancpain, Omega…) than I expected, even in medium-sized cities (with a population of between two and four million).

On the other hand, they are a lot less frequented than I thought they would be given the astonishing sales figures of LVMH and Hermès in Asia.

More worryingly, there were often much

u 18 RETROPERSPECTIVE / europa star

fewer Chinese at Cartier or Chanel than there are in Paris in the stores on the Champs Elysées or Avenue Montaigne.

When I say ‘fewer’, in reality it is a lot fewer!

I covered thousands of square metres of shopping space – in at least six different cities during my trip – without seeing anybody. Everywhere, there are more sales staff than there are customers.”

high-end Swiss brand who, in answer to the question “Are there silicon components in this watch?” replied, “But sir, everything in this watch is in silicon”!!!)

“WATCHMAKERS ARE NOT RETAILERS”

On the very problematic subject of training we must welcome in passing the initiatives launched by the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie, which has implemented a whole range of tools to help with this very necessary improvement in watchmaking culture.

Or “salesmen” to be precise. As Stéphane Linder, the new CEO of TAG Heuer told us recently (see our interview in this issue, “A precisely calculated move up range”), whose network of monobrand boutiques now totals 170: “Let’s be clear: watchmakers are not – yet – retailers.

This is a profession in itself. We do not want stores that are just images with products floating in them. We have to bring something more: watchmaking culture. But how do we do this?”

Retailer is definitely a profession in itself, one that requires not just highly specific knowledge but a robust address book and a serious local network of loyal customers.

This is undoubtedly one of the great obstacles that the watchmaking industry has to overcome in the short and medium term: training salespeople and watch repairers is an area that requires a lot of work, starting with the so-called “emerging” markets, where the culture of watchmaking is still rudimentary.

(But it is not just in the “emerging” markets. A recent anecdote told to us by a totally trustworthy source, involves the manageress of the Geneva store of a very

“Are there silicon components in this watch? But sir, everything in this watch is in silicon”!!!

THE THIRD TYPE OF VERTICAL INTEGRATION: GRATUITOUS “INFOBESITY” The third type of vertical integration is that of communication.

The appearance of new communications channels that allow watch brands to connect directly with their virtual customers (Facebook, Twitter and the like) has made people believe that “intermediaries” could be cast into oblivion in this field, too.

This movement, accompanied by an explosion in the number of websites, blogs and forums, has transformed the media landscape and its conventions, calling a number of existing business models into question.

At Europa Star, we are well placed to note these radical transformations in the

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media landscape. They pose a certain number of problems, since, in the current deluge of advertising disguised as information it has become difficult for the “ordinary” consumer to tell the difference between what is true and what is false, the “sponsored” opinion from the independent analysis, the expert from the amateur, the paid prescriber from the genuine enthusiast.

But recourse to all imaginable channels (some of which are quickly forgotten: who still remembers SecondLife and the “virtual islands” that were bought up there by the big watchmaking brands…?) not only creates this media chaos but also impinges on the legitimacy of all external communication in general. Increasingly, the potential customer is no longer interested in dialogue with the brand directly, in whom he or she generally only has limited trust, and prefers instead to converse with like-minded people and to exchange experiences.

Marie-Claude Sicard, an expert in brand analysis and strategy and a professor at the Celsa (Paris IV-Sorbonne), explains this very well: “The real ‘conversation’ is the one that consumers have among themselves, about brands, either faceto-face or on the web. All the studies confirm this. For those on the web, 87 per cent of the opinions of their equals represent a ‘quite’ or ‘very’ useful source of information on products or services offered by companies, whereas the confidence in the discourse of brands, as we know, deteriorates as they are lost in the media ocean. (…) All of these people are aware of the thorny issue of the reliability of opinions posted on the web, which needs to be solved, but in cases of doubt, they prefer the more natural language, which is closer to real life. But real life is com-

22 RETROPERSPECTIVE / europa star

plex, contradictory, plural and disordered.

Prisoners of the sacrosanct dogma of coherence, among other things, brands cannot express themselves in this way. Today they are paying the price,” because, from now on “customers decide themselves the time, the place and the price of what they buy and the image they have of it.

And now that they have it, they will not give up this freedom, especially because it allows them, for the same price, to avoid the most common pitfall in the purchasing process: the human dimension.”

From now on “customers decide themselves the time, the place and the price of what they buy and the image they have of it.”

This “dimension” is all the more important given that watchmaking has made this its biggest selling point. What else is the industry selling today, when we can see the time everywhere, other than a “dream” or desire? In other words, “luxury”. (In this regard, read our interview with François Thiébaud, CEO of Tissot, in this issue.)

This brings us back to the importance of the welcome, the training for sales staff, who should be the first ambassador for a brand, to the relevance of advice given, to customer service (read more on this in our Service, Please! column in this issue, which provides an edifying list of good and not so good experiences from retailers all over the world).

Of the three types of vertical integration, those of distribution and communication therefore have their “natural” limits. We

will never be able to do entirely without the expertise and external validation of these “go-betweens” and builders of loyalty that are the retailers, not to mention us specialist journalists. Avoiding one or the other may seem worthwhile in the short term but could be damaging over the medium and long term.

idea of obsolescence because we are selling a status symbol, a dream. Maybe if and when the technology has stabilised we will have to come back to the issue and consider a luxury smartwatch.

Having said that, it’s a phenomenon that you can neither neglect nor mock.” (Read our interview ”A precisely calculated move up range” in this issue).

“CONNECTED”, THE YEAR’S MANTRA-WORD

In the best of worlds, the connected watch could gradually become a segment of the watchmaking industry in its own right. But if this was the case, we should already anticipate the arrival of new and very powerful actors (the likes of Apple and Samsung) who will try to take a share in the global watch market. And we should not rule out a move up range by them to counteract the Swiss response.

One of the most talked-about subjects of the year has without doubt been that of smartwatches. Are they are good thing or bad thing for the watchmaking industry?

For the most apocalyptic minds, connected watches could create a tidal wave similar to that of quartz watches and by neglecting this phenomenon Swiss watchmakers will repeat the catastrophe that occurred when Switzerland completely lost its footing in face of an invasion of quartz watches from Japan.

The most optimistic, on the other hand, just see them as a fad that will only affect them marginally, or not at all. Between the two, pragmatists say that they will produce “luxury smartwatches” if need be.

It is difficult to put oneself in the position of an oracle and settle this debate, especially since the connected watches that are already on the market are disappointing from an aesthetic point of view and are riddled with deficiencies (in particular regarding their power reserve), some of which will no doubt be gradually solved. But their major problem is their indisputable obsolescence, which is part and parcel of the high-tech industry.

As Stéphane Linder, CEO of TAG Heuer, explains, “The luxury sector, where we operate, is completely at odds with the

A good-old mechanical watch should (theoretically) never become obsolete.

But are we all nerds? The recent anecdote about an American journalist who was showing off his GoogleGlasses in a bar in San Francisco and was beaten up made us smile... (but we sympathise with him). “Connected”, okay, but “over-connected”, no thanks! We sometimes feel that the wind is changing and that, given that we might find the NSA or other commercially aggressive entities practically grafted on to our wrist… a good-old mechanical watch will still be welcome.

And what’s more it should (theoretically) never become obsolete.

So the issue remains open and will no doubt be discussed at length in the halls of BaselWorld.

u europa star / RETROPERSPECTIVE 23

A REFOCUSING IS UNDER WAY We are ritually asked the question of “trends”. So, what are the trends? The watchmaking spectrum we see today is a real bazaar that contains anything and everything. But we have a vague impression that the tide is turning and that many of the sumptuous objects it deposited on the beach have sunk into the sand. In other words, after the great crisis of 2008 – 2009, the one-upmanship quickly started again, as if everything had been forgotten and people were starting afresh. At the time everyone saw China as the Promised Land but the country soon put a damper on the most pressing of expectations.

Already in January the SIHH left people with mixed feelings. After the great wave of tourbillons the new watchmaking continent was called “Métiers d’Art” (artistic crafts). Some of these crafts had barely been re-established before they were being piled on top of each other, with engine turning being sculpted before adding grand feu enamel and a few feathers or some straw… We exaggerate, but only just.

In face of these sometimes vain fireworks we felt that there was a precautionary return to the more basic, solid, durable and… affordable. But this is, of course, less newsworthy. In some ways there is the show on the one hand and the products derived from the show on the other. Those that are sold during the intermission but which bring in most of the revenue.

This is where the pragmatic issues of value for money, robustness and nonobsolescence count… while nevertheless maintaining a certain level of prestige.

Isn’t that a definition of Rolex?

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The silent giant, which allows impeccable optimisations of its timepieces to trickle out over the years and whose unwavering path is not affected by the trials and tribulations of the world.

The horizon of the Swiss watchmaking industry?

THE LAST WORD With its recent referendum, Switzerland has seriously shot itself in the foot. While its prosperity – and the prosperity of the Swiss watchmaking industry in particular – depends mainly on its openness to the world, this small country has decided to barricade itself inside its small territory.

Without the tens of thousands of em-

Without the elsewhere, the Swiss watchmaking industry would never have existed. ployees in the watchmaking industry who come from France, Germany and even further away, the Swiss “factory” would simply cease to function and the research and development departments, deprived of engineers with an international background, would be drained. Not to mention the “top floors”: how many of our media-friendly CEOs come from France and elsewhere?

Even the charismatic and “so Swiss” JeanClaude Biver is from Luxembourg.

We can only hope that BaselWorld, by opening up to the watch brands from around the world, will offer a scathing contradiction of the country’s sad attempt to close in on itself. Without the elsewhere, the Swiss watchmaking industry would never have existed. p

LOGICAL ONE SECRET The vision of Art by Romain Gauthier

www.romaingauthier.com

Hall 2.0 Booth C35

LETTER FROM CHINA

CHINA IN 2013, A ZONE OF TURBULENCE Jean-Luc Adam

After years of growth at over 40 per cent, the Chinese market started to lose steam in 2012 and took a nose dive in 2013. Is this the chronicle of a pre-announced crisis or the effect of the anti-corruption campaign? The result is more like the first signs of the end of the crazy years in China, which “needs rational consumers” according to David Chang.

In 2013, sales of Swiss watches in mainland China dropped by 12.5 per cent to 1.45 billion Swiss francs. This drop is all the more destabilising for the Swiss watch industry, which, paradoxically, closed the year on a new record (+1.9 per cent to 21.83 billion francs), because the monthly sales in its third biggest market are highly volatile (ranging from +19 to –34 per cent). So what is happening in China? For David Chang (常伟), editor-in-chief of the Chinese magazine “Perfect Time” and one of the main opinion leaders in the country, “It is above all the high-end segment that has stopped growing, while mid-range brands such as Tissot have not been affected at all and still enjoy considerable success”. Consultants Bain & Company reach the same conclusion, citing 13.9 per cent growth in the mid-range segment, buoyed by the economic growth in China’s second-tier cities and helped by slightly lower tariffs. The more expensive the watch, however, the bigger the drop and the more retailers are cutting prices, as the example of the customer in Shanghai shows, who was offered a 60 per cent reduction from the outset on the collection of a renowned Parisian jewellery house.

Has the government’s anti-corruption campaign really dissuaded customers in

I

26 LETTER FROM CHINA / europa star

the luxury segment? “The political influence is evident, since we have to admit that gifting watches is a Chinese speciality.

But on the other hand we must not ignore the economic aspect that could, moreover, become more important,” explains Chang.

How are the main national brands doing in this context? “Thanks to their judicious positioning in the mid range, their sales are growing and these brands are extending their sales networks. Some have even become very active at the high end, sometimes by celebrating Chinese art.”The year 2014 started with rebound in sales, can we expect this to last for the entire year? “No, 2014 will be a year of slowdown and this is after all a good thing, because China needs rational consumers. Only the brands that satisfy this demand will be successful. Each model – national or foreign – will have to adjust its price on the market and become more transparent,” the journalist concludes.

TRENDS There was strong growth in jewellery watches for ladies in 2013 and, in terms of sales volumes, female consumers are starting to close the gap with the men.

Several brands have already restructured their collections to take this into account – a strategy that may help to compensate for the losses from the anti-corruption campaign, which will continue unabated in 2014. We must also point out in passing that female luxury consumers in China are also increasingly attracted by the technical aspects of a watch!

Another surprise is that, despite the slowdown in sales in mainland China, the share

of Chinese buyers increased considerably in 2013, with one in three customers in the world now Chinese – and even more than a third in the luxury segment! So the slowdown in sales in the Chinese market is really a delocalisation of shopping abroad, far from the zones of control (Hong Kong and Taiwan, which are also slowing down considerably), undoubtedly influenced by Xi Jinping’s campaign. According to Bain & Company, two-thirds of Chinese now do their shopping for luxury abroad. But these purchases are not always for personal use alone, they also feed the parallel sales networks. In this game, the Beijing government loses a fortune in import duties but makes enormous gains in terms of image.

And it has a vested interest here, because it allows it to reassure foreign investors and encourage international trade. In the thick smog of particulates and under the more or less encrypted layers of the Internet, the Chinese citizen knows that the fight against corruption is a smokescreen, just like the fight against pollution or the respect of human rights. p

EVENTS IN 2013 24 April: After Porsche Design and above all Eterna, the Hong Kong based group China Haidian (Ebohr, Rossini and CodeX) takes control of Corum. We knew that the brand was looking for a buyer, but the announcement on the opening day of BaselWorld was more shocking than it was reassuring.

21 June: The Swiss parliament adopts the “Swissness” legislation that fixes the minimum value of Swiss components in “Swiss Made” industrial products at 60 per cent. For its part, the Chinese watchmaking industry regrets the decision, because in addition to missing out on potential joint-ventures with the Swiss watchmaking industry, Chinese suppliers risk losing orders.

Some are already drawing up a list of well-known brands who do not reach this level. Whether Chinese industry likes it or not, it’s clear that the technology transfer in this sector is almost zero, whereas it is a concern in all other sectors.

27 June: Sea-Gull – the biggest mechanical movement manufacturer in the world in terms of volume – presented a multi-axial tourbillon at the Shenzhen fair, probably the biggest complication in the country.

6 July: A free-trade agreement is signed between Switzerland and China and adopted by the government with an overwhelming majority on 10 December. The agreement foresees a gradual reduction in customs duties, over between 5 and 15 years depending on the sector. For Swiss watches in China, the 60 per cent reduction in duties will be spread over ten years, 18 per cent in the first year and 5 per cent each subsequent year. We have already observed a drop in prices on the market, but it is not yet quantifiable.

25 September: The Samsung Gear is launched, the first genuine smartwatch, which has already been followed by several competitor models. Since the Chinese love high technology, they are wondering about the repercussions of this on traditional watchmaking. Is the multimedia watch from South Korea in 2013 what the Japanese Seiko Astron Quartz was in 1969?

25 September: Watches & Wonders takes over the halls of the Hong Kong Exhibition Centre to become the first high-end watchmaking show in Asia. It is the equivalent of Geneva’s SIHH, but adapted to local tastes.

21 October: The Swiss Competition Commission (Comco) approved the Swatch Group’s decision to gradually reduce the supply of mechanical movements from ETA to third-party customers.

The Chinese watchmaking industry sees in this an opportunity to sell more movements and components to independent brands.

europa star / LETTER FROM CHINA 27

COVER STORY

PATEK PHILIPPE The voyages of the NAUTILUS Pierre Maillard “The devil is in the details,” as the proverb says.

It’s a proverb that Patek Philippe seems to have assimilated very well, since their horological activity is anchored in this absolute cult of the tiniest detail (to the extent that the ultimate goal is probably to reverse the proposition, as the famous architect Mies van der Rohe did when he said that “God is in the details”).

T

As an example, take the new Nautilus Travel Time Chronograph reference 5990/1A launched at BaselWorld this year. For the first time at Patek Philippe it associates a self-winding chronograph with a dual time zone. The story of its gestation shows how the brand from Geneva takes things step by step, progressively “securing” its technological advances before incorporating them as subtly and aesthetically as possible in its different collections. This “devil in the details” approach largely explains the impression of extreme coherence throughout the brand’s collections. This coherence is the result of a kind of natural lineage that links every watch to the next, with a “dynastic” logic.

BACK TO 1997…

To fully understand the amount of patient work behind this new Nautilus Travel Time Chronograph, we need to go back to 1997. This was the year when Patek Philippe launched the Travel Time watch that enriched its collection of “small” and useful complications that the brand went on to develop with

28 COVER STORY / europa star

considerable success. The originality of this clever Travel Time based on an original patent from 1959, which had a manuallywound movement, is essentially down to its extreme simplicity of use and the clear way in which it displays the time. Unlike the dual time zone watches that were around at the time, the Travel Time was a beautifully classic watch (33.85mm in diameter for the gents model, which is minuscule by today’s standards, and 29.50mm for the ladies’ model) with central hours and minutes and a sub-dial with a 24-hour scale and small seconds. There are two clever aspects to the watch and they only become apparent when the dual time function is activated: the black hour hand that displays the Travel Time discreetly hides another hour hand – in gold – that moves in perfect synchrony with it. The Travel Time hand only “separates” when either of the two pusher-correctors on the case middle are pressed, when the other hand starts to display the permanent Home Time. The second technical trick is that these two pushers can then be used to move the Travel Time hand forwards or backwards – which was not possible with other dual time watches at the time, for which the hand could only be moved forwards in time. Over two years of research and development was required in order to offer this ease of use and reading.

I NAUTILUS TRAVEL TIME CHRONOGRAPH REF. 5990/1A

O CALATRAVA TRAVEL TIME REF. 5134P-001 (2001-2009)

O AQUANAUT TRAVEL TIME REF. 5164 A-001 (2006) MVT 324 PS FUS 5164 The movement is at the origin of the mechanism that activates the travel time function.

THE ADAPTATION OF A USEFUL COMPLICATION In 2001, Patek Philippe decided to incorporate this useful complication into its flagship Calatrava collection. It thus became the Calatrava Travel Time, with a 37mm case and a large mirror-polished bezel – characteristic of the new Calatrava shape that had been presented the year before.

The mechanical logic of the second time zone’s operation remained identical, but for the first time a hollowed-out black hand was used instead of a gold hand. A lot of work had been done from an aesthetic point of view, in particular for the perfect integration of the two pushers for moving the local time hand forwards or backwards. Modelled on the shape of the crown protector, these two integrated pushers highlighted the classical symmetry of the piece. The movement and its meticulous finish could be admired through a sapphire crystal case back.

mechanism was kept for the bezel fitting. But this new design allowed some small aesthetic restyling, in particular to the two hinges, which were given a slight curve to extend the profile of the bezel (we did warn you: the devil or God is in the details!).

Its elegance was improved.

At the same time, the first complications were launched in the Nautilus collection. First we saw a new self-winding chronograph movement, Patek Philippe Calibre 28-250 C, with a column wheel. Introduced in a larger Nautilus case size of 44mm, this flyback chronograph was read on a large and quite exceptional “monocounter” that displayed the minutes and hours of the elapsed time on three concentric scales. There was an enthusiastic welcome for this model, which confirmed the extraordinary attraction that this watch – as sporty and robust as it is subtle and elegant – continues to exert.

T NAUTILUS CHRONOGRAPH REF. 5980/1A-014

u

IN 2006, THE FIRST RETOUCHES TO THE NAUTILUS u For the 30th anniversary of one of its great classics, the Nautilus “elegant sports” watch, which had become a cult object, Patek Philippe made some very slight aesthetic and technical retouches to the watch that was originally sketched out by the famous designer Gérald Genta. The case is constructed in the same spirit as the watches launched in 1976, with the system of hinges that recall a porthole and the flat gasket compressed between the bezel and the case middle.

The main changes are aesthetic in nature. The “porthole”

europa star / COVER STORY 29

O

From left to right:

NAUTILUS REF. 5712/1A (2006) NAUTILUS REF. 5726A (2010)

In the following years more useful complications were added to the Nautilus, fully in line with the spirit of this watch, including, in 2010, an annual calendar version.

THE NAUTILUS’S TURN TO BECOME A VOYAGER For 2014 it is the turn of the new Nautilus Travel Time Chronograph, which combines in its own distinctive way the “monocounter” display of the chronograph and the easy to use Travel Time function that has gradually been perfected by Patek Philippe.

In order to accommodate these two different complications, chronograph and second time zone, in the same timepiece, the brand had to develop a new calibre (CH 28-250 S C FUS).

The Travel Time mechanism had to be added to the integrated chronograph movement, with its traditional column-wheel control and its innovative clutch using discs. This mechanism, as we explained above, allows the local time to be moved forwards or backwards in one-hour increment and is totally disconnected from the basic movement during these operations. So this function has no effect on the amplitude of the balance and the going rate of the watch. The date display, which, logically, is coupled to the local time and was originally displayed in a window at 3 o’clock, has been transformed into a subdial at 12 o’clock with a hand, while the chronograph’s “moncounter” has been converted into a 60-minute totaliser at 6 o’clock.

These modifications to the display have alone accounted for 47 new components. Yet the movement is only 0.3mm thicker, mainly thanks to the use of a new patented Spiromax® balance spring in Silinvar®, which beats symmetrically and isochronously on one axis and takes up much less space than the traditional Breguet spring with its raised terminal curve.

Furthermore, this self-winding calibre CH 28-250 S C FUS

30 COVER STORY / europa star

is fitted with a central oscillating mass in 21-carat gold and beats at a frequency of 28,800 vibrations/hour and has the Gyromax® that was already invented by Patek Philippe (1949) over 60 years ago!

Its superlative finish – Côtes de Genève on the hand-bevelled bridges, circular graining on the oscillating mass – can be seen through the sapphire crystal case back.

U NAUTILUS TRAVEL TIME CHRONOGRAPH REF. 5990/1A

AESTHETIC AND TECHNICAL FINESSE

I MVT CH 28 250 C FUS

But integrating this new Travel Time function inside the Nautilus chronograph also required detailed work on the famous portholeshaped case. Yet this case, with its two lateral protuberances, offered the ideal form for incorporating the two extra pushers that were needed for the Travel Time function. The right-hand protuberance acts as a protection for the two chronograph pushers, which were brought closer to the crown so that they act more directly on the mechanism. From an ergonomic point of view, these pushers have “a softer feel and a firmer action”. On the left, the original protuberance has been replaced by two pushers that mimic its shape exactly. Despite these new perforations, water resistance is still guaranteed to 120 metres (12 bar).

We also find the famous Nautilus steel bracelet with foldover clasp, characterised by its polished central links that punctuate the taper of the brushed lateral links, that offers unparalleled comfort on the wrist.

The addition of the Travel Time function also required a rearrangement of the indications on the dial, which nevertheless maintains all the identifying signs of the Nautilus collection: an embossed horizontal relief, a slightly graduated colour tone that gets lighter closer to the centre of the dial, applied hour markers in white gold covered in luminescent material and a perfect symmetry to the whole.

At 12 o’clock we find the new date dial with a hand, which mirrors the chronograph’s 60-minute counter at 6 o’clock.

On the central horizontal axis we find two small day/night indications, for the Home Time at 3 o’clock and for the Travel Time at 9 o’clock. The local time is displayed by a baton style hand, with a luminescent coating, while the home time is displayed by a hollowed-out hand.

“Everything that a man expects from a watch”, say the makers of this new timepiece that undoubtedly marks an important stage in the Nautilus saga. p Discover more at www.europastar.BIZ/Patek-Philippe

europa star / COVER STORY 31

SWATCH GROUP

The invigorating optimism of François Thiébaud, the boss of TISSOT Interview by Pierre Maillard

On the eve of BaselWorld, François Thiébaud, the boss of Tissot since 1996, is beaming. And he has good reason to, it seems, since the Swatch Group’s mid-range brand sold around four million watches in 2013. Here are some excerpts from a long discussion he had with Europa Star.

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Europa Star: Recently, Nick Hayek stressed the fact that the Swatch Group is not just a luxury group but that its strength lies in the scope, the diversity and the complementarity of its range.

François Thiébaud: I won’t contradict this and I know very well the importance of Tissot’s contribution to the group. But at the same time, we could say that the entire Swiss watchmaking industry is luxury. What do the 28 million Swiss watches produced each year represent as a share of over a billion watches produced each year? A trifling 3 per cent! That is luxury! What’s more, all watchmaking is luxury in a way, since apart from some very specific professions, nobody needs a watch anymore: the time is everywhere.

“What do the 28 million Swiss watches produced each year represent as a share of over a billion watches produced each year?”

Nicolas Hayek had the intelligence and the intuition to create a nice basket of brands that form a genuine pyramid. In this sense, he was a visionary, because you cannot dine on caviar every day, you would die from it.

But from the bottom to the top of this pyramid, it’s important to produce quality at all levels. With the Swatch in 1983 we showed that Switzerland knew how to produce quality for everyone. And it was the Swatch that helped to refinance and boost everything else. Omega, for example, would not be where it is today if Swatch or Tissot hadn’t been around.

François Thiébaud

How would you define the mission that was given to you almost 20 years ago at Tissot?

FT: In 1996, Tissot produced 840,000 watches. The brand was a little dusty, despite successes such as the Rockwatch.

I would say it was a good Swiss watch but nothing more.

But a watch cannot simply be “good”, it should have innovations, in technology, in materials, in everything that sur-

u 32 SWATCH GROUP / europa star

T i s s ot T- C o m p l i c at i o n S q u e l e tt e r e v e a ls i t s i n n e r m o s t s e c r e t s w i t h a h a n d - wo u n d m e c h a n i c a l m ov e m e n t e x c l u s i v e to T i s s ot a n d a s c r at c h - r e s i s ta n t d o m e d s a p p h i r e c r ys ta l w i t h d o u b l e a n t i r e f l e c t i v e c oat i n g . I n n ovat o r s by t r a d i t i o n .

t i s s o t. c h

“The product and its image need to be consistent.

To achieve this, you need to respect the brand’s DNA and fully understand its history. ” rounds and accompanies it. The product and its image also need to be consistent. To achieve this, you need to respect the brand’s DNA and fully understand its history. In addition to technology, I have always been interested in history.

When I arrived at Tissot I followed one of our adages: “Gold value at silver price”. To start applying this, I had sapphire crystals fitted to all models (which our volumes allowed us to do economically). A sapphire crystal and, inside, an ETA movement: these are already two ingredients for a very good product. But you must also try to find out what the customers want, sometimes when they don’t even know themselves. And in this context it is not so much the price that is the decisive element, it’s confidence.

T T-COMPLICATION CHRONOMETER

by Tissot

The arrival of the T-Touch was no doubt important.

FT: In 1997, the people from Asulab (editor’s note: the Swatch Group’s research and development laboratory) came

to present their tactile technology to all the heads of the brands. Who wants it? I raised my hand and I took it for Tissot (laughs). Two years later, the watch was launched, with the success that we now know. And it worked so well because the Tissot name was behind it, with the confidence in Tissot. “Innovators by tradition”, one of our slogans says.

We could even claim that it was us, with the T-Touch, who got people familiar with tactile technology. We were the precursors of the iPads and iPhones.

You talk a lot about confidence, but this is a construct and needs to be maintained over the long term…

FT: Yes, absolutely, which is why the quality of after-sales service is fundamental. We constantly need to increase the confidence we have already earned. If there is a break in this confidence, then we have a problem. This is why we are always looking to optimise our service, but also our presence on the markets. This year we will close a certain number of points of sale that do not offer us sufficient quality of presentation and do not give this aura of confidence. We will go from 14,000 to 13,000 points of sale. (Editor’s note: the core range of Tissot sells for between 300 and 800 Swiss francs).

u

34

SWATCH GROUP / europa star

Appreciate the extraordinary MASTER SERIES

www.titoni.ch

“If we manage to maintain our quality levels and keep the dream of innovation alive, there is no reason whatsoever why Switzerland shouldn’t be able to sell maybe 100 million watches a year in ten years’ time!”

Unlike a lot of other observers, who seem a little despondent, you seem to be very confident about the future of Swiss watchmaking.

FT: The volume of progression of Swiss watchmaking is simply enormous. If we draw a parallel with wines, there are good vineyards everywhere. But Bordeaux and Burgundy are the undisputed references. In watchmaking, it’s the same thing: Switzerland is the grand cru of the entire industry. In this respect I have to congratulate in passing the big French luxury groups, who did not make a mistake: they don’t do watches Made in France but Made in Switzerland. This is the confirmation of the excellence and uniqueness of our expertise. If we manage to maintain our quality levels and keep the dream of innovation alive, there is no reason whatsoever why Switzerland shouldn’t be able to sell maybe 100 million watches a year in ten years’ time! Think about all the developing countries, where purchasing power will rise inexorably, not just in Asia, the ex-USSR and South America but in Africa, too.

36 SWATCH GROUP / europa star

I GLAMOROUS

by Tissot

This is also why, as the President of the Swiss exhibitors’ committee at BaselWorld, I have always lobbied for the greatest possible openness, to the entire watchmaking industry, both Swiss and foreign. An invigorating emulation.

On an unrelated note: what do you think about the arrival of smartwatches? Do you see them as head-on competition, in general and for Tissot in particular?

FT: I don’t see anything negative in them. A lot of young people no longer wear a watch, so they will come back to it through smartwatches. I think they are complementary to traditional watches and that they do not have the same use. We haven’t sold fewer watches since the mobile phone arrived, even though that also shows the time.

But you can wear a smartwatch on the wrist….

FT: Yes, but remember we have two wrists. Nicolas Hayek sometimes wore eight watches (laughs). But seriously, I think the more things we do related to watchmaking, the better.

Including competition. In the past you had one watch for life.

Today, you have five, 10 or 15 during the course of your life.

Profusion creates habit, so the more there is, the better. We cannot change the measurement of time. What we need to do is dress time for the moment, trends and desires. p Discover more at www.europastar.BIZ/Tissot

Discover beyond.

Visit us at Baselworld, Hall 2.2, Booth no. B05 Ernest Borel S.A. +41 32 926 17 26 / info@ernestborel.ch www.ernestborel.ch

SWATCH GROUP

The SWATCH GROUP has all bases covered Paul O’Neil Despite the apparent slowdown in consumption in China and the continued strength of the Swiss franc, the Swatch Group continues to go from strength to strength, posting an increase in gross sales of 8.3 per cent to 8.817 billion Swiss francs for 2013 and an increase of more than double that (17 per cent) in operating profit, which totalled 2.314 billion Swiss francs. Since 1 January 2005, when the group first started using the IFRS and revised IAS accounting standards, the price of its bearer shares has increased by 248.2 per cent and the income generated from those shares has tripled over the same period (from a dividend of 2.50 francs per share in 2005 to the 7.50 francs proposed for 2013 that will be put to the vote at the Annual General Meeting on 14 May 2014). To put these figures into context, Switzerland’s SMI stock market index increased by 42.2 per cent over the same period, meaning that the Swatch Group has outperformed the index by a factor of six.

D

SWATCH GROUP KEY FIGURES 2005-2013 2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

GROSS SALES

8817

8143

7143

6440

5421

5966

5941

5050

4497

OPERATING PROFIT

2314

1984

1614

1436

903

1202

1236

973

735

7.50

6.75

5.75

5.00

4.00

4.25

4.25

3.50

2.50

DIVIDEND PER BEARER SHARE 10000

8

9000

7

8000

6

7000 5

6000

Gross sales

5000

4

4000

3

3000

Operating profit Bearer share dividend

2

2000

In its earnings press release published in February, the group claims an “auspicious start” to 2014 and maintains that “after four years of strong and dynamic growth by Swatch Group, as well as the entire Swiss watch industry, continued healthy growth is expected in 2014.” Amidst the euphoria, however, two points are worth noting: firstly, a 400 million Swiss franc windfall in the form of legal compensation paid

by Tiffany & Co. undoubtedly had an impact on the year’s results; and secondly, the group misleadingly equates its 8.8 per cent increase in net sales in its watches and jewellery segment to a “significant” increase in market share, citing an increase in Swiss watch exports of only 1.8 per cent to the end of November 2013. Although the Swatch Group continues to enjoy a position of dominance, such a generalisation fails to take into account the role of the lucrative Swiss market, which is always absent from the export figures. Nevertheless, the group looks poised to build on this success further, as the latest developments at its watch brands show…

OMEGA LEADS THE CHARGE Time will tell whether Omega’s brand building efforts as official timekeeper of the Olympic Games will be impaired by the political tensions surrounding this year’s Olympic Winter Games in Sochi. But even before this the brand once again

38 SWATCH GROUP / europa star

1

1000 0

0 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

I Gross sales and

operating profit in million CHF (lefthand scale); Bearer share dividend in CHF (right-hand scale); Source: Swatch Group

disrupted the Geneva show week with the announcement of two world firsts. One is the first-ever use of orange ceramic in a watch, on the eye-catching Seamaster Planet Ocean GMT, a luxury limited edition of only eight with a platinum case, brushed platinum dial and with platinum Liquidmetal® numerals on the rotating bezel in orange ceramic and a matching orange leather strap with platinum stitching.

Another limited edition of eight pieces, also in a platinum Seamaster Planet Ocean case, showcases the brand’s second major innovation: diamond setting on “hard bodies”.

As well as having 69 baguette diamonds set into the case middle, this watch also has diamonds set into the black ceramic bezel and the transparent sapphire crystal case back (in the form of the Omega symbol). This is achieved by precision engraving using a special five-axis laser to hollow out the material, which is then filled with an exclusive 850-platinum Liquidmetal® alloy. The diamonds are then set into the alloy using the traditional technique. Both models are fitted with the co-axial calibre 8615 with second time zone indication and are water resistant to 600 metres / 2,000 feet.

O SEAMASTER PLANET OCEAN ORANGE CERAMIC by Omega 43.5mm case in 950 platinum, bi-directional rotating bezel with 24-hour scale in 850 platinum Liquidmetal® on orange ceramic ring, sand-blasted 950 platinum dial, Omega co-axial calibre 8615 self-winding movement with silicon balance spring. Water resistant to 600 metres / 2,000 feet. Limited edition of 8 pieces.

U SEAMASTER PLANET OCEAN PLATINUM

by Omega 43.5mm case in 950 platinum set with 69 trapezoidal baguette-cut diamonds on the side, bi-directional rotating bezel with 24-hour scale in 850 platinum Liquidmetal® on black ceramic ring, black ceramic dial, Omega co-axial calibre 8615 self-winding movement with silicon balance spring, sapphire crystal case back set with 31 full-cut diamonds in the shape of the Omega logo. Water resistant to 600 metres / 2,000 feet. Limited edition of 8 pieces.

On a more accessible level, Omega’s appetisers for BaselWorld include a re-edition of the Speedmaster Mark II model that was launched in 1969, the year that the Speedmaster became the “Moon Watch”. This distinctive barrel-shaped piece with its two-piece case in brushed stainless steel does not have a bezel, so the tachymetric scale is metallised directly on to the sapphire crystal, with the numbers illuminated by a

SuperLuminova ring underneath. But in spite of this retro look and the classic Speedmaster dial, the heart that beats inside is far removed from the legendary manually-wound calibre 861 that was fitted in the original Speedmaster Mark II models. It has been replaced by the state-of-the-art coaxial calibre 3330 self-winding column-wheel chronograph movement with COSC certification.

For the ladies, Omega offers a touch of refinement to its classic Constellation models. Also boasting a co-axial movement, the calibre 8520, the new Constellation “Pluma” models have a striking feather engraving on their mother-of-pearl dials that catches the reflections of the 11 diamond hour markers and diamond-studded bezel.

u

I CONSTELLATION PLUMA by Omega 27mm stainless-steel or steel/gold case with integrated stainless-steel or steel/ gold bracelet, dial in white or blue mother-of-pearl with feather engraving and diamond hour markers and diamond-set bezel; powered by the Omega co-axial calibre 8520 self-winding movement and water resistant to 100 metres / 330 feet.

O SPEEDMASTER MARK II by Omega Contrasting brushed and polished barrel-shaped case, matt black or grey dial, brushed stainless-steel bracelet with folding clasp; powered by the Omega co-axial calibre 3330 self-winding chronograph movement with column wheel and silicon balance spring. Water resistant to 100 metres / 330 feet.

europa star / SWATCH GROUP 39

O CLASSIQUE “GRANDE COMPLICATION” TOURBILLON by Breguet 42mm case in platinum with welded lugs and screw bars, dial in 18-carat gold, silvered and engine turned in four different patterns, individually numbered and signed; selfwinding extra-thin tourbillon movement calibre 581DR with power reserve indicator (90 hours), lateral lever escapement in silicon and anti-magnetic steel, silicon balance spring. Leather strap with triple-blade folding clasp. Water resistant to 30 metres / 100 feet.

T From left to right: VILLERET by Blancpain

CLASSIC CRAFTSMANSHIP FROM THE PRESTIGE BRANDS Omega is now grouped together with Blancpain, Breguet, Jaquet-Droz and the recently acquired Harry Winston in the Swatch Group’s internal classification of “Prestige and luxury brands”. But while the Bienne-based brand innovates using the latest technologies, the two brands from the Vallée de Joux, Blancpain and Breguet, continue to embody a classical elegance thanks to the use of traditional watchmaking crafts.

Breguet once again showcases its guilloché expertise in a new platinum version of its Classique “Grande Complication” Tourbillon. Four different types of engine turning are visible on the gold dial of this ultra-thin (7mm) piece, which is powered by the calibre 581DR, which has a silicon balance spring and a high-energy barrel that offers 90 hours of power reserve. A peripheral oscillating mass in platinum helps to keep the height of the movement down to a mere 3mm.

Blancpain opts for the timeless finish of a grand feu enamel dial in the wonderfully understated new three-hand model in its Villeret collection. In keeping with the traditions of the finest enamellers, subtle tone-on-tone “JB” engravings are found between 4 and 5 o’clock, as well as 7 and 8 o’clock, in a style that mimics the secret way enamellers used to sign their dials. This piece is powered by Blancpain’s in-house calibre 1335 selfwinding movement, which offers an eight-day power reserve.

40 SWATCH GROUP / europa star

GRANDE SECONDE SW CÔTES DE GENÈVE

by Jaquet Droz 45mm stainless-steel case, crown with rubber cast, anthracite-grey dial with Côtes de Genève finish, off-centre hour and minute indication and large seconds subdial. Jaquet Droz 2663A-S self-winding mechanical movement with ruthenium treatment, double barrel, 18-carat white-gold oscillating weight, anthracite-grey alligator leather strap with tone-on-tone stitching and stainless-steel folding clasp.

Water resistant to 50 metres / 150 feet.

Over in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Jaquet Droz has dreamed up a new version of the Grande Seconde SW model that was relaunched in a sportier guise back in 2008. The latest incarnation in this line adds a touch of technicality with Côtes de Genève decoration on the anthracite dial, and refinement, with a hand-finished anthracite grey leather strap. It is equipped with the Jaquet Droz 2663A-S self-winding movement, which has an 18-carat white-gold oscillating mass and twin mainspring barrels that offer a power reserve of 68 hours.

DESIGN AND TRADITION IN THE MID RANGE Rado has developed a knack of producing consistently appealing designs using its exclusive high-tech plasma ceramic, as attested by some 30 different international design awards. In fact, the brand’s close links with the world of design will see it acting as the World Design PartnerTM for this year’s World Design Capital®, Cape Town in South Africa. Rado’s latest design is another potential winner, offering a sublime dial in the new Hyperchrome Small Seconds models. Although it contains no trace of any metal whatsoever, the Hyperchrome’s case nevertheless generates a warm metallic reflection from the molecular transformation that occurs when the patented plasma ceramic is heated to 20,000 degrees Celsius. Three new models marry this plasma with subtle touches of yellow or red gold on the dial, while a fourth uses the more “traditional” matt black ceramic case with a discreet splash of red gold on the side of the case colour to match the indications on the dial.

Longines harks back to one of its very first chronograph models ever produced for the latest model in its Heritage Collection.

Three different versions of the brand’s monopusher column-

wheel chronograph are available (in steel or rose gold) with classic white dials with black painted Arabic numerals. They are powered by the Longines L788 calibre, which has been developed especially for the brand by ETA. The self-winding monopusher chronograph movement is operated by a single pusher inserted into the crown at 3 o’clock, offers a power reserve of 54 hours and can be viewed through an exhibition case back. But the most striking feature of this timepiece is not the movement but the unique case of one of the three models, which has a thicker case with a more angular profile and movable lugs that offer exceptional comfort on the wrist.

Mido also relies on one of its historical collections with a re-edition of the Multifort diver’s collection that was first launched in the 1930s. This 42mm stainless-steel model has two crowns: one at 2 o’clock for operating the rotating inner bezel for measuring dive times; the other at 4 o’clock for setting the time and date. Powered by the ETA 2836-2 calibre self-winding movement, which offers a power reserve of 38 hours, it is water resistant to 200 metres and comes with a stainless-steel bracelet that has a folding clasp that can be extended for wearing over a wetsuit.

QUARTZ INNOVATION Certina’s CEO André Bosshard last year told Europa Star that he thought that “the quartz segment still has some potential (…) and should not be neglected.” Less than a year later, towards the end of 2013, Certina launched its DS-2 Chronograph, powered by a quartz movement. But it is not just any old quartz movement, it is the ETA Precidrive movement (ETA 251.264 CEN) that offers chronometer-level accu-

racy (provided, ETA remind us, “that the watch is not exposed to impacts, and kept at a temperature of between 20°C and 30°C”). This is because the precision is achieved by thermocompensation, which controls and regulates the motor pulses according to changes in the ambient temperature. The DS-2 is perfectly capable of obtaining COSC certification, however, which is available with a limited series of 1,888 pieces. The standard models are available with a variety of dials and straps, including new yellow- and green-accented versions.

THE POTENTIAL REMAINS INTACT It is clear that with research and development covering fields that range from innovative new quartz movements right up to high-end calibres and cutting-edge materials and technology, the Swatch Group maintains its unique position as a leader at all levels in the watch industry. With the group’s main competitors operating either at the upper or lower ranges of this spectrum, there seems no reason for the group’s increase in sales and profits to slow down any time soon. p

I From left to right: HYPERCHROME SMALL SECONDS by Rado COLUMN-WHEEL SINGLE PUSH-PIECE CHRONOGRAPH

by Longines 40mm 18-carat rose-gold case, white dial with bluedsteel hands, sapphire crystal front and back; self-winding column-wheel chronograph calibre L788 with 54-hour power reserve, brown alligator leather strap. Water resistant to 30 metres / 100 feet.

MULTIFORT by Mido DS-2 CHRONOGRAPH

by Certina

Discover more at www.europastar.BIZ/Swatch-Group

europa star / SWATCH GROUP 41

SWATCH GROUP

GLASHÜTTE ORIGINAL at the Berlinale Keith W. Strandberg For the past four years, Glashütte Original has been an official sponsor of the Berlinale, the major film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany.

“We are a German brand, and the Berlinale is an iconic German film festival event,” says Yann Gamard, Managing Director, Glashütte Original. “It’s the biggest public film festival in the world. We use the Berlinale as a platform to better present our brand. We have a lounge here, the actors, the directors and the screenwriters can use for events, so it’s always full and booked. We do a retrospective, rejuvenating and restoring old films, and we support them in that angle.

We do vintage watches on our side, so it makes sense to be involved with restoring films. At the same time, we also sponsor a prize for the young screenwriters.

“The mission of the festival is to present our brand to the right people,” Gamard continues. “We are helping the German culture to become even more visible, and we are part of German

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PANOMATICINVERSE

by Glashütte Original

culture. People are proud that we are German. Since we opened up our Dresden boutique, we have a lot of proud Germans. German people want to buy German watches.”

Glashütte Original is contracted as a partner with the Berlinale for the next three years, and the brand sees it continuing on after the current contract expires.

From a watchmaking point of view, Glashütte Original is doing really well. “We are struggling to deliver the products our customers want – we still have six months back orders,” Gamard says. “We have increased production and increased staff, but we will only release a watch from our facility if it is perfect. Honestly, it’s never going fast enough. We have orders from our retailers and we keep them in stock, but some are five or six months back ordered.

“We have cleaned out the collection, streamlined the distribution (down from 450 to less than 300), and we have doubled our production over the past four years, which means we are more important to our retailers,” Gamard continues.

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“The retailer takes better care of us, because we have a strong relationship.”

This year at BaselWorld, Glashütte Original is introducing a new version of the PanoMaticInverse, where the brand has made the duplex swan-neck fine adjustment visible on the dial side of the watch. This idea, introduced in the PanoInverse in 2008, is reintroduced in the PanoMaticInverse, in a 42mm case with a new movement, the 91-02, complete with a 42 hour power reserve.

Don’t expect Glashütte Original to grow too quickly. “We are very careful in how we grow, we are trying to present ourselves in a very unique way,” Gamard says. “Fine and klein (German for small) says it all.” p

You can find Glashütte Original in BaselWorld in the Swatch Group Pavilion in Hall 1.0.

Discover more at www.europastar.BIZ/Glashutte-Original

, Bulova and Bulova Accu • Swiss are registered trademarks. © 2014 Bulova Corporation. 65B153

HALL 1.1 B83

SWISS MADE

bulovaaccuswiss.com

SWATCH GROUP

Stripping down the SISTEM51 Pierre Maillard with the expert assistance of watchmaker Denis Asch (L’Heure Asch)

TESTS

The Sistem51 watch, which Swatch presented at BaselWorld 2013, only started to come off the automated production lines just before the Christmas holidays.

The first Sistem51 models were sold from a pop-up store in Zurich. Europa Star managed to get its hands on a few (at 150 Swiss francs each) in order to better understand this quite astonishing watch.

The Sistem51 owes its name to the number of components in its self-winding movement. The most astonishing characteristic is that, among these 51 components, there is only one screw! Normally there would need to be at least thirty.

Another characteristic is that the production, assembly and adjustment of the Sistem51 is fully automated, without any human intervention.

Besides these few snippets, Swatch has provided very little information. We wanted to know more, to understand how the movement was constructed, to test its performance.

To do this, we asked the expert watchmaker from Geneva, Denis Asch (www.heure-asch.com) to help us. Together, we opened up the Sistem51.

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But before we opened it up, Denis Asch wore it for a while and subjected it to various tests.

The first tests were for water resistance. The results were that the Sistem51 is perfectly water resistant, whether tested under pressure or not.

Then, the Sistem51 underwent a whole series of precision tests: after the first winding, after 24 hours of wear, after 24 hours of rest, after 72 hours of rest, after full winding and waiting 30 minutes.

First observation: the watch stopped after 93 hours of operation, which is a lot for a self-winding watch.

Second observation: its amplitude is good, varying between 344° and 257° (after 72 hours at rest). Its delta on the other hand (which indicates the difference between its positive and negative variations in rate) is mediocre. The watch tested showed a delta of 18.4 seconds after the first winding (i.e. from -6.1 to +12.3 seconds per day), and ± 36 after 72 hours at rest (-6.9 and +29.1 seconds/day). But, surprisingly, another Sistem51 tested, which had been worn for a month, showed much better results, “almost chronometer level”, according to Denis Asch, with a delta of 8 (-4 + 4 seconds/day).

But since they were both purchased on the same day and from the same place, only hours after the watches came on the market, these two Sistem51 models should logically come from the same production lot. Could it be a problem with the settings of the robot regulators? “It would appear that automation does not guarantee a consistent quality in adjustment…” notes

The most astonishing characteristic is that, among these 51 components, there is only one screw!

Denis Asch. “We can see the limits of machines in the quite sensitive area of adjustment, which depends on so many microdetails and delicate balances that have more to do with the human eye and experience,” says the man who as a watchmaker passed a few years in the strict Rolex school.

“But having said that, these results are more than satisfactory. Swatch has always offered the best reliability and quality for the money, with Rolex being a case apart.”

AUTOPSY After these first observations, we are about to open up this Sistem51 and see what is inside. We start by removing the spring bars for the strap (which means that the strap can easily be swapped for another). It is supple, made of a material similar to rubber, comfortable to wear and has the very “chic” detail of genuine contrasting colour stitching.

But the first problems occur when we try to open up the case that was not designed to be opened (the Sistem51 is not repairable: “that would have cost a lot more …”, says Denis Asch). First we try from the back because he thinks he has spotted a small pin. In vain. Half an hour later, we still haven’t managed to open it (but we did succeed in seriously ruining the back) and Denis Asch even managed to pierce his finger with a screwdriver. I have to go and find a plaster.

The dial has no feet and it is set into the circumference of the case.

Underneath we find the date disc and what immediately strikes our watchmaker is that there are indeed no screws. The minute wheel is visible (at 9 o’clock) and it is simply held in place by small metallic pins in the plate that covers the centre of the dial, a detail that shows the radical ingenuity that has gone into engineering this piece.

Now we have to turn the watch over to remove the movement.

The oscillating mass remains attached to the back. It is a plastic disc that moves only in one direction and seems quite free. It is held in place at the centre by ball bearings that are clipped onto the head of the central screw. We manage to remove it.

The “mass”, if we can call it that, can be seen on the back: it is in thicker black plastic, which allows it to act as a weight.

We try from above and the only solution here is to break the bezel, which seems to be glued on, to release the plastic cover, remove the hands, take out the crown using pliers (the stem is not screwed into the head of the crown but set directly into it) in order to finally remove the dial (a plastic disc).

u europa star / SWATCH GROUP 45

The movement itself is held in place by plastic studs that are seated into small holes drilled around its circumference.

Finally we have access to this famous, solitary screw. It is very short and once we have unscrewed it we can remove the self-winding assembly. But we have our doubts: does this screw not simply just hold the ball bearings for the oscillating mass in place? Because everything else seems to be soldered, riveted or studded.

We then remove the balance bridge, the balance cock – also in plastic – then the escapement bridge to access the escapement and the escape wheel.

At this point, Denis Asch goes wide-eyed. He cannot believe it: the entire lever is in plastic, including the pallet stones, “this is the real prowess,” he exclaims, “because this is what determines the rate! I have never seen that before! And what’s more, in this plastic, the axes are metallic!”

From left to right and top to bottom: the screw, ball bearings for the mass, two small gear wheels for the mass, a spring, a first bridge, the reduction gears for winding the barrel, the escapement bridge (cock), the escapement and the escape wheel.

Next we remove the gear train bridge and discover the second level of the movement. The barrel has a large diameter (which explains the 90 hours of power reserve).

Unlike traditional barrels, which have two axes, this one is drilled in the centre and turns on an axis that is fixed on the mainplate. “It is details like this that show how, by simplification and optimisation, the engineers at Swatch have managed to reduce the number of components so drastically,” Denis Asch comments.

46 SWATCH GROUP / europa star

We move on to the gear train. To access it we must first remove the motion work bridge (at 3 o’clock) that holds in place the motion train and the bolt for selecting the different functions operated by the crown. But this motion work bridge, in plastic, is stubborn and does not want to be removed. It is one of the most complex pieces in the entire assembly with a number of smaller components apparently embedded inside it. Denis Asch tries to discern its secrets: “It is very cunning, very intelligent,” he muses, eyeglass in place.

“They have grouped together as many functions as possible in order to keep the number of components down at all costs.

As a result some pieces are assembled the opposite way to what is normal.”

We have no alternative but to break this bridge in order to remove it. Having done this, we can count the number of components in the motion work.

The sprung-balance is not attached directly to the mainplate but to a metallic component, a sort of sub-bridge on the mainplate.

Why? Probably so that the sprung-balance can be set independently during the production process, then simply be placed in its setting without any need to touch it afterwards (or to be more precise, so that the robot does not need to touch it afterwards).

“What impresses me,” says Denis Asch, “is that such good precision is achieved even though the stud is attached directly to the mainplate! And look how the balance has been trued: there are milling marks visible to the naked eye.”

We note the same “reductive” ingenuity when we remove the third wheel and the last bridge: “Everything is arranged the opposite way,” explains Denis Asch, “the logic is inversed compared with a traditional movement.”

We turn the movement over and by removing the bridge on the motion work side quite easily we can access the wheels that drive the hands and the date changing and setting system. There are six components in all and a plastic ring on to which the date numerals are printed.

And that’s it. Our watchmaker is dumbfounded: “It’s a miracle that it works, bravo…!”

We arrange the 51 components for a souvenir photo.

That was a Sistem51. Peace be upon its “soul” because it cannot be put back together again. p

europa star / SWATCH GROUP 00

SWATCH GROUP

Interview with ELMAR MOCK

by Paul O’Neil

Europa Star had the chance to talk to Elmar Mock, one of the inventors of the original Swatch, who is now one of the managing partners of the Creaholic agency in Biel, about the Sistem51 and his thoughts on the state of the industry as a whole.

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Europa Star: Do you think that there is a lack of innovation in the Swiss watchmaking industry?

Elmar Mock: No, I don’t think there is. I had the good fortune to work with someone like Ernest Thomke. For me, he is the Steve Jobs of the watchmaking industry. He has the same type of charisma. What is often lacking in the watch industry is bosses who have charisma, a vision and the desire to achieve. Maybe that is why I never found happiness in the watch industry.

Why do you think that the Swiss industry has lost out in the volume segment at the expense of a company such as Ice-Watch?

EM: The cost price of an Ice-Watch is a lot more expensive than that for a Swatch. We showed 30 years ago that we could make a quality product for five Swiss francs cost price. With the Swatch we invented the “Prolex”, the Rolex for the proletariat. It was high end at the low end and we made a lot of money. That’s all very well. We did an excellent job of communications. But there was nothing to stop anyone producing a different model and targeting a different audience that was perhaps more into fashion and less into design. This segment has produced over a billion watches over the past thirty years. I’m not saying we should have taken this entire share, but we could have taken two to three hundred million. That was our objective. With this, the people who had bought Swiss watches in their youth would have bought other Swiss watches later on in life.

Do you think that Swatch is moving in the right direction with the launch of the SISTEM51?

EM: It is an interesting development, providing that it can last 10-15 years without a service, in other words that it will not need lubricating and that its going rate will remain acceptable. If the watch manages this then I would

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be satisfied. But if it is just a modern Roskopf that works just as badly after five years then I would be bitterly disappointed. The Swatch has one crucial characteristic and that is that it works well. It is water resistant and customers are happy. But I don’t understand why people have abandoned the electro-mechanical watch. What is wrong with having the precision of quartz with the convenience of a self-winding mechanism? I would love to have a watch that I could take out of a drawer after three years, give a little shake and see it return instantly to the correct time.

“The Swatch has one crucial characteristic and that is that it works well.”

Elmar Mock

Are the Swiss brands right not to see any threat from the rise of smartwatches?

EM: I don’t think that there is a direct threat. The current customer for a luxury watch is not the same as the current customer for a smartwatch. So there is no threat to their market. But there is a threat to the watch industry as a whole. How can we not take into consideration something that could be a reference tomorrow?

I’m not saying that Patek Philippe should be offering a smartwatch, but the customer who is buying a smartwatch today may well be the customer of brands like these later on in life. The brands are living in their own bubble and thinking everything is OK. But they did the same when quartz arrived in the 1970s and they almost perished, even in the luxury segment. What worries me is that, if there is another bubble, how will the luxury watch industry survive? Because luxury is not Swiss, it is in Paris, London, Shanghai, Tokyo… We are the servants of luxury but we are not creating luxury. This is why a lot of the high-end fashion brands make their watches in Switzerland. We should not believe that we are protected and that we are different from everybody else. In 1970 we thought that only the Swiss knew how to make watches, that there was nobody else like us and that the watch would only ever be mechanical… and we were nearly wiped out. p

LVMH

TAG HEUER – “A PRECISELY CALCULATED MOVE UP RANGE” An interview with Stéphane Linder, the new CEO of TAG Heuer Pierre Maillard

Stéphane Linder was appointed CEO of TAG Heuer on 1st June 2013, barely 10 months ago, and has therefore only just started in the job. But he is a man from the inner circle with a lot of experience: he has been working at TAG Heuer for 20 years and worked closely with Jean-Christophe Babin, who now heads Bulgari.

An engineer by profession, he knows the company inside out and has accompanied it on its rise in power (see box). So if there are any changes, they will certainly be in terms of continuity as far as the main strategic options – in which he was one of the key actors – are concerned, but in terms of adaptation to the prevailing conditions as far as tactical choices are concerned.

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Stéphane Linder

50 LVMH / europa star

Stéphane Linder’s rich experience at TAG Heuer Born in 1968, Swiss, married and a father of four children, Stéphane Linder is an engineer with a degree from the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne (EPFL).

Hired by TAG Heuer in 1993, he quickly took on a major role in engineering, making R&D more professional and progressively bringing product development back in house.

In 1997 he was made Head of Trade Marketing and Product, in charge of the global product strategy, where he successfully oversaw the diversification into eyewear.

When he became a member of the management committee in 2003 he was Director of R&D and Product, where he was behind a number of major commercial successes as well as the creation of the high-end watchmaking division.

Marketing was added to his remit in 2007, when he became VicePresident of Product Marketing and Design. He was instrumental in repositioning the brand’s move up range with the launch of new advertising campaigns, the redefinition of the Internet strategy and a strengthening of the growing share of retail in the business.

In 2010, Stéphane Linder took on the position of Vice-President in charge of North American Sales for TAG Heuer. He actively contributed to the restructuring of the distribution network in the USA and Canada and significantly increased the brand’s presence at multi-brand retailers, as well as the profitability per point of sales.

Europa Star: After ten months at the helm of the TAG Heuer liner, what are your main thoughts?

Stéphane Linder: In a short period, the last three or four years, the brand has changed a lot, with all our sectors of activity moving up to the next level. On the ground? 2,200 people now work for TAG Heuer around the world, including the shared back office with LVMH (1,800 exclusively for TAG Heuer). In distribution? Today, in addition to the traditional network we have 170 monobrand stores. In movements?

We have made considerable investments, which will result in, among other things, 52,000 in-house chronographs this year. The brand has grown on all fronts and has become a lot more autonomous. We are organising a gradual move up range, calculated very precisely so that we do not lose our entry-level products. All this has direct consequences on the brand image, which we also need to develop. We are planning a new advertising campaign that will aim to strengthen TAG Heuer’s pure horological legitimacy and at the same time add some new momentum to our image by highlighting the points of differentiation that make up our identity.

products floating in them. We have to bring something more: watchmaking culture. But how do we do this? A lot of creative thought has to go into offering the customer a different experience, a “supplement” to the act of buying.

We need to be able to do what shopping malls do, in other words entertain, tell stories, offer experiences, in a space of 150 m2. We have to do this through education about watchmaking – showing the beauty of a movement, its finish, offering more technical information – and by special services. By this I mean “bespoke” watches, personalisation and the different choices we can offer.

Has the growing appetite for brands to have their own stores reached its limits?

SL: This is another very important task: we must improve the level of professionalism in retail. Let’s be clear: watchmakers are not – yet – retailers. This is a profession in itself. We do not want stores that are just images with

Coming back to the products, what are your main themes for development?

SL: TAG Heuer today is 1/3 chronographs, 1/3 gents’ watches and 1/3 ladies’ watches for a total production that we do not disclose but which is between 500,000 and 1 million watches per year.

U TAG HEUER CARRERA

China: catching up

CALIBRE 7 TWIN-TIME AUTOMATIC – 41MM A second time zone can be read from a central hand with a sporty red arrowhead against the 24-hour scale on the flange around the sunbrushed anthracite dial.

The 41mm steel case requires 15 different stages of stamping to reach perfection. With a sapphire crystal case back, the watch reveals the secrets of its movement in action.

Stéphane Linder has made China, where TAG Heuer is lagging behind, one of his priorities.

“It is true that TAG Heuer is still weak in China. We started to invest there quite late, in 2008, 2009. We still have some way to go in terms of notoriety. If we took sales in China out of the statistics TAG Heuer would be number two or three in the Swiss watchmaking industry, which is saying something!

We have also undoubtedly suffered from the classic tastes of the Chinese, whereas we are more sporty and contemporary. The Chinese in general don’t like chronographs. But tastes change quickly and watchmaking culture is spreading. The tastes of the younger generation are getting closer to ours. Introducing our own base calibre and having a more classic range is also part of our strategy for China.”

That’s a wide range!

SL: That’s true, but that’s how it is (laughs).

For the products, we are working on two fronts: on the one hand we want to produce the best chronograph in the volume market, let’s say between 5,000 and 10,000 Swiss francs, but we also want to align our range more towards “simple” watches. Here we would like to offer very refined, very classy watches but with a movement that has something a little different from others, something distinctive. You know, it’s often a lot more difficult to express oneself simply than in a complex way. So the challenge is to create this base manufacture movement that is as interesting from above as it is from below and designed to accommodate additional modules.

Our great strength today is that our investments have allowed us to build up an industrial capacity that is extremely flexible. With only three or four days of adaptation the same machine can produce components for a different movement. So let’s use this flexibility to add innovative touches to our movements compared with their equivalents on the market. By 2016 to 2017, we aim to incorporate some of the extraordinary – if not revolutionary – innovations from our Research and Development department headed up by Guy Semon into our series production. There will be nothing like them on the market.

So you want to let the innovation permeate down into more affordable products…

SL: Definitely, even if we are going to continue with our different avenues of research like the Girder, the Pendulum, the V4, the 100th and 1000th of a second, the dual chain, the combinatorials… the scope is very wide. This also allows us to continuously reaffirm our motto: “technology AND aesthetics”. But not just technology for the sake of it, we never create anything gratuitously, we always know why we are doing a particular thing. [Discover next page the new V4 Tourbillon] In terms of innovation, what do you think about the arrival of smartwatches, especially since you created one for the members of the Oracle racing team, which won the 2013 Americas Cup? SL: This was an instrument designed for a highly specific application and we cannot draw any general conclusions from this. As far as the phenomenon among the masses is concerned, I’m ambivalent. The level of the products available today poses no threat to us, except maybe a little bit among the younger generation. But these smartwatches still have a lot of major deficiencies, including the question of use, restrictions with charging and, even more importantly, the question of how quickly they will become technologically obsolete. The luxury sector, where we operate, is completely at odds with the idea of obsolescence because we are selling a status symbol, a dream. Maybe if and when the technology has stabilised we will have to come back to the issue and consider a luxury smartwatch.

Having said that, it’s a phenomenon that you can neither neglect nor mock. p u Discover more at www.europastar.BIZ/TAG-Heuer

europa star / LVMH 51

LVMH

TAG HEUER – The V4 Tourbillon… with belt drive!

To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the V4, the only watch in the world that is belt-driven, TAG Heuer is making waves by presenting the V4 Tourbillon. It is an alliance between the queen of watchmaking complications and the technological avant-garde.

Driving a tourbillon with belts? The idea sounds crazy and the boffins at TAG Heuer were certainly perplexed. But with the Mikrotourbillon in 2012, then the Double tourbillon Mikropendulum the next year, they had already cleared a swathe through the path of technical tourbillons.

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A TOOTHED CAGE A conventional tourbillon is driven by a wheel above the cage.

Here, the novelty is that the tourbillon is driven directly by the cage. The cage itself is connected to the seconds wheel by a belt.

On the back of the watch nothing distinguishes the V4 Tourbillon from a “normal” V4: there are the same four barrels linked together in pairs by a belt and separated by a central linear mass.

But it is on the other side of the watch that everything changes.

The tourbillon cage at 9 o’clock has toothed edges and is directly driven by a belt from the seconds wheel at 6 o’clock.

The seconds wheel and tourbillon cage therefore turn at the same speed. The axis of the seconds wheel is linked by a belt to the penultimate wheel, at 3 o’clock, where the horological chain ends. This is all held in place by a V-shaped steel bridge that is strengthened by a NAC coating.

The horological interest in this astonishing configuration?

THE BENEFITS (TO BE CONFIRMED) At the time of writing the benefits “still need to be confirmed in laboratory testing”, but in theory they are significant.

The first is shock resistance. When two metal wheels are in direct contact cannot absorb the energy from a shock, which is therefore transmitted throughout the movement. A belt, on the other hand, because of its flexibility can absorb a large proportion of this energy. So the V4 can be considered “the most robust high-end watch”. In the case of the V4 Tourbillon, any

00 LVMH / europa star

shocks would not be transmitted to the tourbillon, since it is driven by a belt (the watch is also guaranteed for four years). “nor The second benefit: a probable increase in accuracy. In a “normal” tourbillon, the sprung balance oscillates alternately from left to right and from right to left, whereas the cage itself rotates in only one direction. This creates an effect known as “knocking”, since the oscillations of the sprung balance create microdisturbances in the cage’s rotation. With the belt-drive system acting directly on the toothed cage, all knocking is eliminated, errors are ironed out and precision is improved as a result.

The V4 Tourbillon, which you can see at BaselWorld, is not only a talking-piece but is also part of TAG Heuer’s commercial strategy in high-end technological watchmaking. The first 50 pieces of this model in titanium, which are currently in production (and will retail for around 150,000 Swiss francs), will be delivered between June and August 2014. p (PM)

LVMH

Blossoming BULGARI Paul O’Neil One of the first major synergies resulting from Bulgari’s integration into the LVMH group will be seen at this year’s BaselWorld with the launch of the chronograph models in the brand’s Octo collection for gents. As Guido Terreni, the head of Bulgari’s watch division, told Europa Star, “the objective is to make the Octo a complete line and we had to have a larger offer for men”. As well as the chronograph, this larger offer includes a new, smaller Octo model with a 38mm case.

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The new Octo chronograph is a marriage between Bulgari’s super-complicated 41mm Octo case, which consists of an astonishing 110 alternately polished and satin-finished surfaces and is produced in-house, and the high-frequency Zenith El Primero chronograph movement, which has a column wheel, silicon escapement and a skeletonised oscillating mass that is personalised for Bulgari. The new chronograph is initially available in three versions, two in steel (with steel bracelet or alligator leather strap) and one in 18-carat red gold with an alligator leather strap.

Mr Terreni also admits that “there was a demand for a smaller size Octo. Although the 41mm diameter case is not big itself, it looks bigger because the diagonal length is longer.” New 38mm versions will therefore be presented at BaselWorld fitted with Bulgari’s proprietary base calibre, the BVL191 (named after the number of components) “solotempo” with hours, minutes, central seconds and date. In its entry-level stainless-steel guise, this new model will sell for 6,300 Swiss francs, which seems reasonable for a watch with a manufacture movement and compares favourably with the 41mm model, which starts at 7,900 Swiss francs.

The brand’s gents’ collection, which now accounts for around one-third of Bulgari’s watch sales, has come a long way since the Bulgari family first decided to offer men’s watches, as Guido Terreni explains, “When the Bulgari family decided to start making watches in the 1970s it was because men were coming to shop with their partners simply to pay for the woman’s purchases. The brothers therefore decided to offer watches as a gift to the men – free of charge.”

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OCTO CHRONOGRAPH by Bulgari 41mm case in stainless steel or 18-carat rose gold, hand-polished black lacquered dial, BVL Calibre 328 self-winding column-wheel chronograph movement operating at 36,600 vibrations per hour with 50-hour power reserve, transparent sapphire crystal case back; steel bracelet or black alligator leather strap.

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O DIVA by Bulgari High jewellery watch set with 286 brilliant-cut diamonds (approx. 5.67 carats), 8 rubellites and 8 amethysts.

Case and bracelet in 18-carat rose gold (107.35g), dial in white mother-of-pearl, quartz movement personalised for Bulgari.

Lest we forget, however, Bulgari is “above all a jewellery brand” according to Terreni and “women will always have priority”. So in line with the important developments in gents’ watches the brand offers a completely new collection for ladies at BaselWorld this year, called Diva. The watches in this collection admirably portray the image – and all its connotations – that this name conjures up. Like the modern-day divas it is a watch that exudes glamour and is clamouring to be seen. Hundreds of brilliant-cut diamonds on each of the four models are sure to catch the attention and are dotted around the case and bracelet to contrast with precious stones such as emeralds, tourmalines, rubellites and amethysts. The ultimate version is fully paved with 394 brilliant-cut diamonds, 302 baguette-cut diamonds and 16 round-cut diamonds for a total of approximately 22.62 carats of diamonds, as well as a case that uses 95.2 grammes of 18-carat white gold.

These models can be yours, if you have around 100,000 Swiss francs to spare.

The tiny dials of the Diva collection dictate that a quartz movement (which has been personalised for Bulgari) must be used. But the complexity in these timepieces lies as much in the construction of the case as in its intricate stone-setting.

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To produce the airy design of the case, with elements that appear to float around the circumference of the watch case, the gold is poured into a wax mould where it solidifies, leaving behind the gaps that give the Diva its distinctive design.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, Bulgari will also present some new, more accessible models in its Serpenti collection at BaselWorld, using onyx, as well as a new full-gold version. Prices for these models will start from a more palatable 5,000 Swiss francs.

If you don’t get chance to see these new models at BaselWorld, try one of Bulgari’s 300-plus monobrand stores around the world. According to Guido Terreni, this distribution model is extremely important for the brand. “Women are more used to shopping like that,” he says, “It is popular in ‘hard’ luxury and in multibrand stores you have more work to do, because you have a different type of customer.” It would appear that, for Bulgari at least, there is unlikely to be any let-up in the trend towards vertical integration in retail. p Discover more at www.europastar.BIZ/Bulgari

GALLERY – PRESTIGE WATCHES

Cape Cod Silver

by HERMÈS The Cape Cod line, a pillar of the Maison Hermès since 1991, reinvents itself this year in a stylish and elegant manner, while preserving its rounded curves and distinctive lugs.

The entire collection now features a redesigned dial and an interchangeable strap, while the case of the Tonneau and Nantucket models is available in Silver – an unusual silver alloy. Based on a composition exclusive to Hermès this new alloy features a larger proportion of silver than the conventional 925 alloy and was specially developed to ensure that the silver maintains its characteristic glow over the years. p Quartz movement crafted in Switzerland. Interchangeable straps on the non-set case: Raspberry Mysore goat, Malta blue grained calf, Natural Barenia calf, Black Barenia calf, Smooth orange calf, Smooth etoupe calf, Smooth electric blue calf, Smooth etain calf, Smooth iris-coloured calf. On the gem-set case: Smooth red agate alligator, Smooth black alligator, Smooth ultraviolet alligator, Smooth elephant grey alligator, Smooth storm blue alligator.

O CAPE COD TONNEAU GM SILVER

by Hermès T NANTUCKET SILVER

by Hermès

U CAPE COD TONNEAU PM SILVER by Hermès

U CHIFFRE ROUGE 103

by Dior

DIOR Horlogerie and ZENITH

O La D by Dior U

Since 2004, Zenith has been supplying Dior (both in the fold of the LVMH group, although Dior belongs directly to the Arnault family group, which has the controlling interest in LVMH) with two movements specially designed for the French brand: the “Irréductible” calibre, a self-winding chronograph derived from the famous El Primero that operates at 36,000 vibrations per hour and can therefore measure intervals of 1/10th of a second, and the Elite calibre, used here in its manually-wound version.

The Irréductible is fitted in the elegant-sports Chiffre Rouge collection, in white or rose gold, while the Elite, an extra-flat movement that is only 2.84mm or 3.46mm thick, depending on the version, is used in the ravishing and very poetic La D de Dior line. p

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PRESTIGE

The 2014 CHANEL collections in tactical formation J12, PREMIERE, MADEMOISELLE PRIVE… in its three emblematic collections, CHANEL presents a range of new models which show that the brand’s horological expertise has reached the highest level. It is also a way of illustrating the great aesthetic cohesion in this collection with its strong identity. Here we present a review of the troops.

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5.

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1. J12 INTENSE BLACK 33MM High-tech black ceramic case (33mm or 38mm diameter) and bracelet, black Arabic numerals on black dial, quartz movement, water resistant to 200 metres.

2. J12 BLUE LIGHT 38MM High-tech white ceramic case (38mm diameter) and bracelet, luminescent blue Arabic numerals on white dial, self-winding mechanical movement with 42-hour power reserve, water resistant to 200 metres.

3. J12 CHROMATIC JOAILLERIE 33MM Titanium ceramic case (33mm or 38mm diameter) and bracelet, 12 baguette diamond hour markers on silvered grey dial, 18-carat rose-gold hands, 18-carat rose-gold bezel set with 34 diamond baguettes, 18-carat rose-gold crown set with a single brilliant-cut diamond, quartz movement, water resistant to 50 metres.

4. J12 TOURBILLON VOLANT 18-carat white-gold case (38mm) and bracelet paved with diamonds, dial fully set with brilliant-cut and baguette diamonds, star emblem on tourbillon cage fully set with brilliant-cut diamonds, 18-carat white-gold crown set with a single brilliant-cut diamond, water resistant to 30 metres.

Limited edition of 5 pieces.

5. MADEMOISELLE PRIVE DECOR CAMELLIA BRODE 18-carat white-gold case set with 562 brilliant-cut diamonds, dial embroidered by Lesage with coloured silk threads using the needlepoint technique, 18-carat white-gold hands, 18-carat white-gold crown with onyx cabochon, black satin strap with white-gold folding clasp set with 80 brilliant-cut diamonds, self-winding mechanical movement with 42-hour power reserve, water resistant to 30 metres. Limited edition of 18 pieces.

6/7. MADEMOISELLE PRIVE DECOR COROMANDEL SET Grand feu enamel and sculpted mother-of-pearl These two unique pieces, sold as a set, both have an 18-carat white-gold case, crown and folding buckle that are fully paved with diamonds, as well as a self-winding mechanical movement with a 42-hour power reserve. One model has a dial in grand feu enamel with clouds in pliqueĂ -jour enamel fixed under the crystal, while the other has a dial in sculpted mother-of-pearl, with sculpted mother-ofpearl clouds fixed under the crystal.

4.

9.

8. MADEMOISELLE PRIVE DECOR CAMELLIAS DORES 18-carat white-gold case set with 60 brilliant-cut diamonds, matte black dial set with five brilliant-cut diamonds, five navette-cut yellow sapphires and a hand-engraved and polished camellia motif in 23-carat yellow gold; 18-carat white-gold hands, 18-carat white-gold crown set with an onyx cabochon, black satin strap with pin buckle set with 80 brilliant-cut diamonds, self-winding mechanical movement with 42-hour power reserve, water resistant to 30 metres.

9. PREMIERE TRIPLE TOUR Stainless-steel case with black lacquered dial and onyx cabochon on crown, triple-wrap bracelet in steel interlaced with black leather, quartz movement, water resistant to 30 metres.

10. PREMIERE TOURBILLON VOLANT 18-carat white-gold case set with 47 baguette-cut pink sapphires, 18-carat white-gold bezel invisibly set with 42 baguette-cut diamonds and 52 brilliant-cut diamonds, dial in polished high-tech white ceramic, 18-carat white-gold hands set with 15 brilliant-cut diamonds, camellia on tourbillon cage set with 19 brilliant-cut diamonds, 18-carat white-gold crown set with 16 baguette-cut pink sapphires and 11 brilliant-cut diamonds, manually wound tourbillon calibre developed exclusively for CHANEL by Renaud & Papi, 42-hour power reserve, water resistant to 30 metres.

Limited edition of 20 pieces.

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10. europa star / PRESTIGE 59

INTERVIEW

CATCHING UP with the extremely busy MICHELE SOFISTI Interview by Keith W. Strandberg

Running one brand is a challenge in today’s world where everything is a global decision. There are some who direct two brands. But, as far as I know, Michele Sofisti is the only one running three brands at the same time – Girard-Perregaux, JeanRichard and Gucci.

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Europa Star: How did you start in the watch industry?

Michele Sofisti: I was CEO of Ferrari Germany and I met Jean-Claude Biver at the motor show in Geneva, and every year I organized a visit to a watch manufacture. I went to Blancpain and met him, and then a couple of years later he asked me if I wanted to join him to work at Omega. I said yes and my career in the watch industry started, in 1995.

I love watches. The years at Omega were phenomenal, working closely with Mr. Hayek Sr. and Mr. Biver was like the best university I could attend. After that, I was appointed president of Omega. I stayed in the watch business from that point on -- I worked for LVMH for a short time, then I came back with Swatch, to be in charge of all Swatch Group business in China. To have a look into the most important market in the world was an incredible personal experience.

What is the secret of your success?

MS: First, I don’t know how you measure success. Working for such incredible iconic brands, like Omega, Swatch, Gucci, Girard-Perregaux and JeanRichard, it is easy, if you do good things, to have success. I work with a lot of passion, and I work as a team player. I try to give the vision and a strategy very simply and very rapidly, and the vision is mainly based on product. If you have the product you have everything, if you don’t have the product, at the end of the day you don’t have anything. I am very involved with product design, strategy and communication.

Michele Sofisti

How do you juggle three brands? Do you break your time up into pre-defined periods for each brand?

MS: Today, the three brands are in different stages of their lives. For Gucci watches, we have done quite strong work over the last five years, which is proven by the turnover increase. The strategy is well integrated, so I can take a different timing engagement for this brand.

On the contrary, Girard-Perregaux and JeanRichard need full activity. We are really rebuilding both companies. I dedicate and balance the time between all three, but right now Girard-Perregaux and JeanRichard are in need of very strong attention.

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“I work with a lot of passion, and I work as a team player. I try to give the vision and a strategy very simply and very rapidly, and the vision is mainly based on product. If you have the product you have everything…”

How is business for Girard-Perregaux?

MS: Girard-Perregaux has been a big surprise for me. I knew Gino Macaluso from when I worked at Ferrari, and to take charge of this company has been a challenge and a great honour. The work we have been trying to do for the last two and a half years is to position the brand for the future. The brand has been looking back into the past a little too much, but today we have to build the history of tomorrow, and that is why we are focusing on research and development and innovation in products, communication and marketing.

How about JeanRichard?

MS: We decided two and a half years ago to start again with JeanRichard. It has a long history, but as a brand it was a little bit all over the place. We restarted from the logo to the product and I think it has one of the most beautiful collections in the industry. The product is very strong and it is great value. The comments from the trade press, the points of sale and the distributors are all very positive.

And Gucci?

MS: The industry is very crowded and competitive, but we have done amazing work doubling the volume, increasing our numbers by double digits every year. We have a very strong foundation, we have over 650 shop in shops or corners around the world. We feel that we can keep going with very good product. Gucci’s creative director Frida Gianinni is a guarantee for Gucci design and development and we will continue to grow strongly.

How does your vision for Girard-Perregaux differ from your vision for the other brands?

MS: Girard-Perregaux’s vision is to be innovative in high horology. In JeanRichard, the mission is more to create very high quality product on an industrial basis to make sure we can represent a certain value philosophy. It’s really a lifestyle brand, we just announced a partnership with Arsenal, for example.

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What can we expect at the 2014 BaselWorld?

MS: This year, Basel will be very strong for all three brands.

With Girard-Perregaux, we will have a couple of new products that will be very welcomed by the press and our partners. In the core range, we are introducing many new references, which will finalize the turnaround.

With JeanRichard, we have a huge direction with new pieces in all four families of the collection.

For Gucci, we are coming with new iconic products, which are very Gucci.

How does the future look for the watch industry in general?

MS: The watch industry is the only industry in the world that has been growing steadily for so many years, and it will continue to grow. Everyone needs to have a good balance, distribution-wise, among the different markets. In the recent past, too much attention was given to China in particular and Asia in general. It’s much better to have a well-balanced distribution. This requires investment, but it needs to be done.

What are the challenges that the watch industry faces?

MS: Authenticity is a key word. If you look at the Swiss Made watches, we need to tell a true story. We are dealing with clients who know what they are buying, who have strong opinions, so brands have to be even more serious than before and tell the whole story. Otherwise, these clients will go away.

You have one brand that uses only in-house, and another that uses some in-house and some supplier movements. Do in-house movements really matter today?

MS: It really depends on the history of the brand. GirardPerregaux is a manufacture, was born as one and will remain as one. There is no strategy for me to go with outside movements for Girard-Perregaux. We are quite proud about this. We need to continue creating new movements, like the Constant Escapement, the new integrated column-wheel chronograph and more.

For JeanRichard, we need a different positioning and we want to be between 2500 – 4000 Swiss francs, and at this price point it is really difficult to produce our own movement. We need to go with the most reliable and precise movements from ETA. We do have our own JeanRichard movement, but it is much higher priced. With Gucci, we average 900 Swiss francs, so there is no way we can use manufacture movements. p

GRANDES MAISONS

The very radical Neo-Tourbillon under Three Bridges by GIRARD-PERREGAUX Pierre Maillard

Girard-Perregaux iconoclastically proposes a new vision of its historic tourbillon with three bridges.

In a quite radical break from the usually very classic aesthetic of the venerable manufacture from La Chaux-deFonds, this Neo-Tourbillon under Three Bridges highlights a significant change. A new chapter begins.

Directly inspired by contemporary architecture, with everything done to use the volume to show the three-dimensionality of the dial in the best possible way, opened up to give them an airy look, cut out of titanium, sand blasted and black PVD coated, these three avant-garde bridges totally renew the brand’s design vocabulary.

“For two years, we have been trying to develop the message expressed by the brand,” explains Xavier Markl, Marketing Director. “Girard-Perregaux ranks high among the great Swiss watchmaking brands and that is where the brand’s DNA is.

But we want to inject more modernism into the products, showing off their technical nature as well – as we have done and will continue to do with the Constant Escapement – breathing more dynamism into them. Our slogan summarises this state of mind: ‘Mechanics of time since 1791’.”

If the idea was to “wake up people’s spirits a little” then the operation has been a complete success and this Neo-Tourbillon under Three Bridges is going to be talked about.

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Fixed on two vertical supports that are linked to the mainplate, positioned at a slight declivity to highlight the impression of depth even more, these three neo bridges fill the large width of this 45mm case. This space is highlighted yet further by the absence of a bezel in favour of a veritable dome of glass, a “glass box” that is set flush with the case middle in rose gold, thus allowing a side view of the movement’s architecture.

Beneath the bridges beats a tourbillon with a large 14.44mm cage in titanium and the traditional lyre shape used by the manufacture. The balance wheel, which has been specially blackened, has gold adjusting screws. It is powered by the new calibre GP9400-0001, operating at 3Hz, which is modular and bigger than the preceding calibres but uses the traditional arrangement of previous tourbillons with three bridges. The micro-rotor that provides the power supply has been placed directly underneath the barrel rather than at the edge, as it had been in the past. The power reserve has been increased to 72 hours by the use of a larger barrel drum whose teeth have been replaced by a wheel mounted above. Impressive, with coherent aesthetics and finished in accordance with the rules of high-end watchmaking, this Neo-Tourbillon sets off on a new – and no doubt promising – aesthetic avenue for the venerable company. p Discover more at www.europastar.BIZ/Girard-Perregaux

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GRANDES MAISONS

When H. MOSER & CIE goes wild Pierre Maillard lines, but this model gives off a radically different impression.

In other, more direct, words it has become sexy.

The black coating on the movement components, which are finished with the same high level of artisanal care, shows off spectacularly the architecture of the movement, with the red of the rubies in their settings (one of the brand’s traditional signatures) boldly standing out.

FIRST SIGNS

The takeover of H. Moser & Cie by the MELB Holding family group is starting to bear fruit.

Appointed to head the Schaffhausen-based manufacture a year ago, the young CEO Edouard Meylan is striving to change the ultra-classic perception of the brand, which although highly respected in the world of watchmaking has until now been restricted to a rigorously traditional aesthetic. There is an obvious breath of fresh air at H. Moser & Cie. The proof?

It comes in the form of an “electroshock” reinterpretation of the brand’s famous perpetual calendar: a model with unequalled purity and an astonishing simplicity of operation, in other words perhaps the most beautiful perpetual calendar on the market.

But in addition to the delays that built up after its launch, the Protestant rigour of its aesthetics restricted it to a clientele of absolute purists.

It now reappears in identical yet unrecognisable form. Clothed in black, right down to the heart of its movement, the Perpetual Calendar Black Edition takes on a new contemporary vigour and demonstrates that you can maintain the greatest of elegance without necessarily having to use rose gold.

All the constituent elements of the original model are there, both technically – the movement and its operation are identical – and on the case, with the same subtly taut and sculpted

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I PERPETUAL CALENDAR BLACK EDITION

But this is just one of the first signs of change taking place at H. Moser & Cie. In Basel we will discover a new collection, the Venturer, which recalls the aesthetics of the 1960s. With a pebble shape, this new timepiece with its totally “clean” design is characterised by its “Glassbox” type crystal that gives it a resolutely vintage look. Under this dome the dial, which is also domed, has just two central hands, a reworked small seconds and bâton style hour markers of the greatest finesse. The movement itself has also been reworked and the amount of engraving drastically reduced to give it the greatest sobriety.

The ultimate aim, Edouard Meylan tells us, is “to have three collections, the classic one that we know, this new ‘vintage’ collection and, later on, a third collection in titanium that will comprise more ‘everyday’ watches. We have not increased prices and we are still very competitive. But we have done a huge amount of work to drastically streamline the production and assembly of our six in-house calibres. To do this we had to re-engineer our calibres to create some synergies and simplify their assembly, which was way too complicated and costly.

You can also expect some technical innovations from us, as well as some pieces that will undoubtedly be talked about.”

A new advertising campaign, a clean-up and realignment in the markets, new tools for monitoring sell-out on a daily basis, creation of subsidiaries for distribution in Hong Kong and later the USA… the brand is undergoing a wholesale restructuring. “Since November there has been a new dynamism, our teams have understood what is at stake and there is now a new kind of enthusiasm, a new creativity. We have also invested a lot in marketing and we can feel that the markets are taking off again and that H. Moser & Cie is once again sought after,” Edouard Meylan affirms.

That is all that we can hope for for this very beautiful brand. p Discover more at www.europastar.BIZ/H-Moser-Cie

GRANDES MAISONS

DEWITT: IMPERIAL in style and innovation D. Malcolm Lakin From day one, just over ten years ago, DeWitt watches were imbued with an inspired personality, a bold, architecturally structured appearance that made them not only stand out handsomely on the wrist, but also be conspicuous within an industry that boasts some of the most original mechanical designs created by man.

To this, Jérôme de Witt the founder of the company, has slowly developed the technical know-how and innovative complications for the brand’s watches to place them in a niche of their own whilst striving determinedly to develop a true manufacture. Today, with the introduction of its own inhouse automatic movement, conceptualised and constructed one-hundred per cent in-house and the promise of a chronograph and an intriguing perpetual calendar to come, DeWitt will have achieved the autonomy and security that not many independent watch companies possess.

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IMPERIAL INNOVATION Being a relatively small company by choice, DeWitt produces timepieces in small quantities or Limited Editions – between 1,500 and 2,000 a year - that gives them an added value, but we’re not talking about simple hours and minutes creations, we’re talking about horological complications that collectors and connoisseurs revere: the Perpetual Calendar Nebula, an Academia Tourbillon Differential, Twenty-8-Eight Regulator ASW Horizons, the Tourbillon Force Constante, the Twenty-8-Eight Tourbillon – the brand’s first entirely in-house tourbillon movement - and the latest Twenty-8-Eight Tourbillon Prestige which is assembled by a single watchmaker and carries his signature on the movement which is visible through the timepiece’s caseback.

The Calibre DW8014 is another remarkable creation, an automatic tourbillon with a dead-seconds complication and a 72-hour power reserve. One of the fascinating innovations is that there is no visible rotor to impede one’s observation of the movement since an Automatic Sequential Winding system (ASW) uses a peripheral rotor assembly whereby the oscillating mass converts the circular motion of the peripheral rotor, via a ruby-rocker system, into the piston-like movement necessary to wind the mainspring.

A tourbillon is particularly susceptible to variations in torque as the mainspring runs down because of the extra load the tourbillon puts on the going train. The ASW system however, overcomes this via a special clutch mechanism that disen-

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I TWENTY-8-EIGHT TOURBILLON GOLD

by DeWitt

gages the mainspring when it reaches 96 per cent of its maximum torque and re-engages when it drops below 92 per cent, thus the energy reaching the escapement is always ideally primed for optimum timekeeping.

The dead-seconds mechanism is also another interesting complication since the seconds hand moves once a second and not each time the escapement unlocks. In the Calibre DW8014, the dead-seconds complication is driven by the tourbillon carriage thus reducing the energy required to operate the complication to a minimum.

A STYLISH MOONPHASE One of the latest additions to the DeWitt collection is the Twenty8-Eight Full Moon. This eye-catching timepiece has a 43mm titanium case incorporating the brand’s imperial columns and is equipped with an automatic movement vibrating at 28,800 with a 42-hour power reserve. A partial skeleton silver dial re-

O TWENTY-8-EIGHT FULL MOON and TWENTY-8-EIGHT DOUBLE TIME GMT2 POETIC

by DeWitt

TCLASSIC QUANTIÈME and CLASSIC JUMPING HOUR

by DeWitt

veals the gold colour tone of the two gear wheels and makes a stunning contrast to the celestial infinity represented by two Goldfluss plaques (a gold flecked blue aventurine or synthetic glass, produced with copper and a special firing method using a very ancient process that dates back to twelfth century Venice).

The moon phase module, manufactured in-house, is positioned in the lower part of the dial. The moon, which symbolizes the cycle of life, is presented here in white mother-ofpearl appearing and disappearing as the days pass through an appliqué rose gold-coloured aperture and the moon phase function with its two moons offers a unique interpretation of the cycles of life. Rose gold coloured Roman and Arabic numerals add subtlety and poetry to the reading of time.

POETRY IN MOTION Another original this year is the Twenty-8-Eight Double Time GMT2 Poetic. Equipped with a self-winding mechanical movement with a power reserve of 42 hours, it has three complications: date, GMT, and day/night indicator for the second time zone.

The 43 mm round titanium case enjoys the 24 traditional DeWitt imperial columns and the in-house produced dial has a rosette pattern with various decorations: sunray brushing, beige mother of pearl half-moons, and Arabic and pink gold appliqué Roman and Arabic numerals. The upper section of the dial has an aperture at 12 o’clock, where the sun’s rays emerge at dawn and fade at dusk, and the second time zone is represented by a small hollow sword-shaped red hand.

Finally, a brief mention of two of last year’s successes. The Classic Quantième, a 40 mm rose gold watch with hours, minutes and seconds indications with days of the week in the aperture at 11 o’clock, months at 1 o’clock and the date via a central hand;

the Classic Jumping Hour in a 40 mm rose gold case with the hour indicated by a disk appearing through a large aperture at 9 o’clock and the minutes and seconds in two separate but intersecting off-centre dials. The hour change occurs instantaneously by a jump every 60 minutes. The dials are available in black, white and blue, enhanced by the contrast of the rose gold colour-tone appliqué with the radiating reflections of the background.

Because of the horological demands of building some of their multi-complication timepieces, DeWitt entrusts the work to a single watchmaker using the phrase One Man – One Watch – One Year. With their mechanical complexity, their majesty and their rarity, the addition of One Owner would not be out of place. p Discover more at www.europastar.BIZ/DeWitt

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GRANDES MAISONS

ULYSSE NARDIN, the joys of manufacture There have been some big changes at Ulysse Nardin over the past few years. First of all, following the death of the brand’s charismatic boss Rolf Schnyder, there was a move from a company centred around a single decision-maker to a collaborative type of management that was closer to that of a group. Second objective: the continuation of the considerable efforts towards industrial integration. This involved “digesting” the acquisition of the chronograph movement bought from Ebel and continuing the development of integrated in-house movements. The results are there for all to see, in terms of products – ingenious, efficient, easy to use – but also in terms of quantity. Ulysse Nardin now sells more than 25,000 watches per year. A remarkable result for high-end pieces. p (PM)

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I PERPETUAL MANUFACTURE The new Perpetual Manufacture is equipped with the legendary Calibre UN-32, which is considered to be one of the most evolved perpetual calendar movements and was developed by Ludwig Oechslin. The indications for the day, date, month and year are very easy to adjust using the crown, in both directions (which is far from being the case for all perpetual calendars). Furthermore, this watch offers a second time zone that can also be moved forwards or backwards using two pushbuttons at 4 o’clock and 8 o’clock. As an exceptional touch of mechanical refinement, the date indications synchronise automatically.

Here too, legibility determined the stylistic choices. On the “ocean white” dial, the hands and other indications are clearly structured and show a high attention to detail. The 43mm case has a plaque on the side bearing the serial number, with only 250 pieces available in red gold and 250 in platinum.

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I DUAL TIME MANUFACTURE Part of an iconic Ulysse Nardin collection, the new Dual Time Manufacture is today fitted with a self-winding movement, Calibre UN-334, which was conceived, developed and produced entirely in-house. It also has a big date with two windows that can be adjusted in both directions.

The Home Time is displayed on a 24-hour scale in a window at 9 o’clock. To set the hand to local time or the travel time, you simply need to use the two pushbuttons (+ or -) at 10 o’clock and 8 o’clock. The date function sychronises automatically, forwards or backwards.

The in-house calibre UN-334, which has a 48-hour power reserve, has an escape wheel, roller and spring in silicon. Ulysse Nardin is an uncontested pioneer in this technology, which requires no lubrication and offers exceptional resistance to wear.

The 42mm case in 18-carat gold or steel, which is water resistant to 30m, and the black or silvered dial, have been completely redesigned to allow the best possible legibility and the greatest possible wearing comfort. It is indeed one of the clearest dual time models in the industry.

Discover more at www.europastar.BIZ/Ulysse-Nardin

EXCLUSIVE

JACOB & CO celebrates new movement development partnership with the Astronomia Tourbillon Keith W. Strandberg MOVEMENT Calibre: Exclusive Jacob&Co manual winding JCEM01 Diameter: 40mm / Height: 15.9 mm / Components: 235 / Power Reserve: 72 hours / Frequency: 18,800 vibrations/hour (2.5 Hz) / Jewels: 42 / System: Gravitational orbital tourbillon / Finishing: Plate and bridges - polished and bevelled by hand, drawn flanks, circular graining, polished sinks, hand-polished screws; barrel - circular graining; pinions - wood grinding-wheel polished; balance spring: Philips curve; PE 3000.

CASE Diameter: 47mm / Thickness: 18mm / Material: 18-ct. rose gold and diamond microparticle polycarbonate fibre / Case back: 18-ct. rose gold / Bows: Winding and timesetting via 18-ct. rose gold lift-out rotating “bows” on case back / Skylayer front case: Aventurine goldfluss and 18-ct. rose gold / Crystal: Domed sapphire with anti-reflective treatment / Water resistance: 30m (ISO 2281)

Jacob & Co. has always been known for pushing the envelope of the possible, whether in jewellery or in watchmaking. Some of the wildest watches and complications have come from Jacob & Co., using different movement developers, proving that the American firm is not afraid to try new things and to think “out of the box.”

In order to solidify this direction for its timepieces, Jacob & Co. has entered into an exclusive arrangement with movement designer and fabricator Studio 7h38, with offices in the Vaumarcus Castle in Switzerland.

“We joined forces with Studio 7h38 and their chief watchmaker Luca Soprana, relying on their engineering expertise,”

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DIAL & HANDS Dial: Hand-engraved, lacquered indexes, diamond finish / Hands: Handfinished gunned blue STRAP & CLASP Alligator 18-ct. rose gold folding buckle Limited edition: 9 pieces

says Jacob Arabo, founder and chairman of Jacob & Co. “They are the new breed of watch calibre conceptors who allow creators like me to materialize technical and mechanical dreams. We share the same values: passion and excellence!

With us there is no limit to creativity. This is what built my success: to do things differently. I am really proud of my first multiple timezoners, they are, to this day, genuinely original.

At last year’s BaselWorld we launched the EPIC SF24 - developed with Studio 7h38 - which won us indisputable recognition by both the industry and our clients. And now we continue with the Astronomia Tourbillon.”

In most tourbillons, the cage rotates at a fixed rate (usually one complete turn in 60 seconds), but Jacob’s new timepiece features a three-axis tourbillon, fixed on one side only – the tourbillon cage rotates once every 60 seconds, but also revolves vertically once every five minutes. At the same time, the tourbillon, a round one carat round diamond, a miniature gold and enamel globe and the time display (with 12 o’clock always at the top, thanks to a specially-designed differential) is on an orbiting display with four satellites that rotates once every 20 minutes. In addition, the diamond and the globe each rotate once every 60 seconds.

With all these elements turning and spinning, above a stunning aventurine foundation, the display of the watch will never be the same each time the wearer looks at it.

The Astronomia Tourbillon will be manufactured at Studio 7h38 in the time-honoured Swiss way, with the key components made and finished by hand, then hand-assembled and regulated. Only nine pieces will be made of the Astronomia Tourbillon, and, as each watch is made by hand, to order, they are all de facto unique pieces and offer a number of opportunities for customization and individualization.

“The Astronomia Tourbillon is a mechanical marvel that transports you above time, as if above Earth,” Arabo says.

“It is the materialization of a mechanical dream of mine: a celestial timepiece like no other. The Astronomia Tourbillon is the illustration of my free spirit associated with Swiss mechanical forté.” p Discover more at www.europastar.BIZ/Jacob-Co

GRANDES MAISONS

The beginnings of the new ETERNA Interview by Pierre Maillard

Acquired in 2011 by Chinese group China Haidian (Ebohr, Rossini, Codex), Eterna has had its share of ups and downs over the past two years. The reins of the historic Grenchen firm were first handed to Patrick Kury, who left the company when China Haidian acquired another brand, Corum, last year. China Haidian then announced the appointment of Antonio Calce, who is also CEO of (and a minority shareholder in) Corum.

But in October 2013 there was an about-turn and a new CEO appeared: Bruno Jufer, who left the management of Antoine Martin to join Eterna on 1st January 2014. Europa Star met him recently, just a few weeks after he took up his post.

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Europa Star: What “road map” did China Haidian give you?

Bruno Jufer: The main tasks that the shareholders have given me is to build up a “new Eterna”. The first positive indication of this new era that is only just starting: Eterna is back at BaselWorld. And our location there, on the ground floor of Hall 5 with a 600 square-metre stand with imposing display windows that look directly on to the central square of the show will allow us to polish up our image.

Bruno Jufer

Had the image of Eterna suffered so much?

BJ: The image of Eterna on the markets is positive but perhaps a little dusty, like a sleeping beauty. But the heritage is there, it’s important and imposing. Eterna was a pioneer in a number of areas (editor’s note: ETA, the movement giant, was born from a separation from Eterna), a veritable inventor who marked the history of watchmaking in the last century. We need to breathe some modernity into this fantastic heritage and give it some renewed vigour.

How does this ambition translate into products?

BJ: As you can imagine, it is a little early, not even two months after I started the job, to make any big announcements in this respect. What I can tell you is that while there are some very beautiful products at Eterna, there are too many different collections. As a result, there is a certain amount of confusion that we want to remedy. Today we are working as a priority on the structure of our range.

This will be based around three pillars: the classic collection, which under the name Collection 1948, will take on, one-by-

THE CALIBRE 39 FAMILY WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE The “modular” Calibre 39 is a movement with 88 different configurations, all integrated. There are two basic possibilities to start with: self-winding, with central hours and minutes and small seconds, or manual winding.

From there, you can include a power reserve, GMT, moon phase etc. right up to an integrated column-wheel chronograph, with date, small seconds, hour, minute, instantaneous co-axial chronograph, flyback, 68 hours power reserve!

Samir Merdanovic, vice-president and technical director, explains that this is a real “Lego system: the modules are pre-assembled and you just need two or three screws to install them. Four years of development were required and more than 10 million Swiss francs of investment with the total support of China Haidian. The idea is to be able to make this movement available to third parties and to turn this mass production into a veritable profit centre under the name Eterna Movement Company AG. The high-level of industrialisation of this movement allows us to offer it at prices that are very attractive given its great qualities: 350 Swiss francs for all the different configurations, with the exception of the integrated chronograph, which will be sold for around 700 Swiss francs. It’s a bet on the long term because it is destined to be produced in volume, up to 100,000 units.”

one, our great inventions of the 20th century. In this collection we will introduce our Calibre 39 in-house movement. It is a brilliant modular movement, developed entirely in-house, which offers 88 different configurations. And by this I do not mean additional plates. The base plate has been designed to accommodate all these different configurations (see box).

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The second pillar, which is closely linked to the history of the brand, is the Kon Tiki collection. The story of this legendary raft is extraordinary and offers fantastic potential for a sporty and adventurous collection.

The third pillar is ladies’ watches. Here too, we have a wonderful history, for example with an ambassador such as Gina Lollobrigida in the 1950s and 1960s. Eterna was famous for its ladies’ watches and it will be again.

Calibre 39 is not just a mass-produced movement but a whole family of calibres whose modularity offers 88 different movement configurations on the same movement base!

But what will the price points for these new collections be?

BJ: We have to distinguish between the manufacture collections, which will be between 4,500 and 8,000 Swiss francs, and the “standard” range with ETA movements, which will be between 2,000 and 4,000 Swiss francs.

But we also want to launch a new quartz collection, with some pretty and well-finished models with mother-of-pearl and diamonds, which will sell for between 800 and 1,200 Swiss francs. We should not forget that we have total legitimacy in this area, because Eterna was one of the great pioneers in quartz.

And is distribution another big building site?

BJ: Indeed. Today, 60 per cent of our sales come from Europe. In Germany, for example, we have our own subsidiary and 50 points of sale. The Middle East is also an important region for us. As for China, we will target the country seriously this year. And we have a considerable advantage: China Haidian has its own distribution network, with around 2,000 points of sale that it owns, of which around 200 are suitable for Eterna.

Another region where we absolutely want to return is the USA, where we are currently in discussions.

What are your priorities in terms of communication?

BJ: Eterna has been too humble for a long time. We want to promote our considerable expertise in watchmaking, putting the accent on our products. So we are working on a new advertising campaign.

And what is happening with Porsche Design?

BJ: The decision was taken to establish a separate independent Porsche Design entity based in Switzerland. Eterna will supply the movements and there will be synergies in distribution, but the brand will operate independently. This is an advantage for Eterna as well as Porsche Design, because we will be able to concentrate solely on our own products.

I ROYAL KON TIKI TWO TIME ZONES Eterna 3945A in-house self-winding calibre with Eterna Spherodrive; 68 hours of power reserve; 28,800 vibrations/hour; 28 jewels; diameter: 30 mm (13 lines); height: 5.90 mm; two ball bearings; hours, minutes and seconds, second time zone; date. Case in polished and brushed stainless steel (42mm); bezel with five engraved grooves and five PVD treated screws; screw-in case back with opening in sapphire crystal; water resistant to 100 m (10 bars); diameter: 42 mm; height: 12.3 mm; scratch-resistant sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating; crown decorated with five bearings; PVD-coated crown protector.

Integrated black rubber strap.

At what rhythm will all these changes occur?

BJ: Oh, quite gradually. In 2014, we will put the emphasis on the Kon Tiki and its extraordinary saga. In 2015, we will show off our expertise and our movements. We already have a talking piece in preparation for 2015 that will demonstrate our expertise. We have a very broad scope for progress. We produce around 10,000 to 15,000 watches per year. With the arrival of China Haidian, we have already increased this to 20,000. And this scope for progress is all the bigger because we want to stay at the level of affordable watches. p Discover more at www.europastar.BIZ/Eterna

GRANDES MAISONS

CARL F. BUCHERER: Assertive but measured expansion Interview by Paul O’Neil

The Lucerne-based brand presents its new Patravi ScubaTec at BaselWorld. Europa Star caught up with the company’s CEO, Sascha Moeri, to talk about this new launch and the brand’s development.

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market is also beginning to bear fruit. We are very happy with the progress we’ve made in the Middle East, where consumers are big fans of the Patravi TravelTec but also tend to go for more traditional, classical models with sophisticated complications, like the Manero Tourbillon.

There’s a lot going on for Carl F. Bucherer, and the future looks very bright.

You “pre-launched” the ScubaTec in the US, which suggests that this market remains a priority. How was the new model received, and was it developed specifically with the US market in mind?

SM: We launched the ScubaTec in the maturing US market because there’s an enormous demand there for big masculine watches. The ScubaTec is an impressive timepiece with an outstandingly striking and sporty design, and American buyers went overboard about it. The response was incredible! To answer the second part of your question: no, it wasn’t designed with a specific market in mind, but to appeal to watch enthusiasts all over the world. So, this year, we’ll be making it an integral part of all our markets.

Sascha Moeri

Europa Star: When we spoke last year, 40 per cent of your sales were coming from Asia, but the biggest increase in sales was from Europe, and you were targeting the US market. How has the situation evolved since then?

Sascha Moeri: I won’t beat about the bush: we’ve been doing extremely well, and sales have exceeded all our expectations. Generally speaking, we’ve remained on course for assertive, but measured expansion. Asia remains a very promising market for Carl F. Bucherer products, and we have plans for additional stores and points-of-sale in various Asian countries, including India. We’ve also entered into a new cooperative agreement with Cortina Watch, a major distributor in Thailand, which has further consolidated our position in Asia. We remain strong in existing markets like Europe, thanks mainly to our own distribution network, and it is vital that we continue to build on our position here. I’m delighted to report that our strategy for building a stronger position in the U.S.

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Earlier this year you announced two new Indian ambassadors for the brand, both models. Does this mean we can expect a marketing and/or product offensive in ladies’ watches this year?

SM: We are naturally very honoured that these two wonderful women, Lisa Haydon and Puja Gupta, wear our timepieces. But it’s important to remember that Carl F. Bucherer already has a long and rich tradition in the creation of outstanding ladies’ timepieces that combine intriguing design with high-grade technology. Take the models in the Alacria line: they are examples of exquisite jewellery making skills and a perfect tribute to feminine grace and beauty.

The response to our ladies collection has been tremendous, and 40 per cent of the Carl F. Bucherer product range now consists of ladies’ watches.

This year, we will further consolidate our position in the ladies’ segment with the unveiling of the Pathos line: a totally new ladies’ collection featuring some breathtaking design.

Its appeal lies in the elegance of the filigree garland running

I PATRAVI SCUBATEC

by Carl F. Bucherer Stainless-steel case, 44.6mm diameter, with screw-in crown and automatic helium valve, sapphire crystal, unidirectional rotating bezel with dive time indications, luminescent hour markers and hands, self-winding CFB 1950.1 chronometer calibre with 38-hour power reserve, water resistant to 500 metres.

around the outside of the dial and the side of the case, and the reliable mechanical movement inside. We believe that our collection of fine ladies’ timepieces is very special, and a wonderful tribute to the jewellery maker’s skill.

As a tribute to our distinctive ladies’ watches, the theme of our library at this year’s BaselWorld is “Dedicated to the ladies”, and it will feature a display of many outstanding historic timepieces. They tell us a lot about our past, and it is amazing to see how much they have evolved over time. As different as the individual models may be, they all have one thing in common: they were always brilliant works of art.

Is the fact that both of your new brand ambassadors are Indian just a coincidence, or do you have strategic designs in this market for the future?

SM: Puja Gupta and Lisa Haydon are strong, independent women, who, like Carl F. Bucherer, go their own way with confidence. We are deeply honoured that they love our timepieces and wear them to express their own outstanding personalities. Their commitment helps strengthen our position in India, which is an enormously important market for us, and is developing very encouragingly.

What are your main objectives for BaselWorld this year and for 2014 as a whole?

SM: BaselWorld is the biggest event in the watchmaking calendar and lays the foundations for a successful year. It brings together most of the world’s great watch manufacturers, who report on the progress and advances they have made and define important milestones for the upcoming year. Participation at BaselWorld is crucial for us, and we attach enormous importance to presenting our new highlights in a way that expresses our brand values.

Carl F. Bucherer has come a long way in recent years. Our CFB A1000 calibre established our position within an elite and exclusive group of watch manufacturers who design, develop and produce their own movements in-house. We have raised brand awareness to unprecedented heights, and our sales figures go from strength to strength. In a hotly contested market, we posted yet another record year in 2013. And no matter what the future holds, you can rest assured that we will continue to uphold the values and qualities that define us: independence, technological leadership and progress in the art of watchmaking. p Discover more at www.europastar.BIZ/Carl-F-Bucherer

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MID RANGE

RAYMOND WEIL, the legacy of a unanimously respected gentleman Interview by Pierre Maillard

Mr Raymond Weil, founder of the eponymous brand, passed away on 26 January this year, at the age of 87. For the brand Raymond Weil, headed up by his son-in-law Olivier Bernheim, assisted by his two sons Elie and Pierre Bernheim, his death marks a turning point. It is undoubtedly a significant one, but above all it is symbolic, because Raymond Weil had not been actively involved in the brand for a few years. Europa Star met Olivier, Elie and Pierre Bernheim to talk about the legacy of this cordial and visionary man who was unanimously respected, as well as about the future of the family-run brand.

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From left to right: Pierre, Olivier and Elie Bernheim

Europa Star: With the passing of Raymond, a new page is turned, on a personal level, of course, but also for the brand…

Olivier Bernheim: First of all I would like to say that we have been touched by the messages of sympathy that we have received from all over the world, not only because of their number but also because of the incredible human warmth that we felt. What we saw in what the distributors, retailers and even individual sales people wrote is that they owe all their success to Raymond Weil. It is thanks to this man and his brand that they were able to grow. And they will not forget this.

Pierre Bernheim: He really was an exceptional ambassador and a visionary. For example, we received stories from sales staff at Macy’s who told us that they have been telling their customers about Raymond’s life for 30 years, that this was their main sales argument and that they had the impression that they knew him intimately.

Elie Bernheim: There was an identification between the brand and the person. His legacy is there, in this incredible network that he built up around the world, with sobriety, simplicity and kindness.

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OB: It’s true. He managed to get people to identify with the brand without ever pressuring them. Today, most people talk about “my brand”. This is a unique form of solidarity with retailers. The strength and solidity of this network are a colossal legacy.

Especially now, when we know the pressure that retailers are under…

OB: Vertical integration in retail is obviously a significant issue, but it has slightly less of an impact at our price point (editor’s note: the core range is between 1,000 and 3,000 Swiss francs). But a lot of retailers have lost brands from the groups and really need us in order to keep growing and make up the difference.

So you intend to keep on the same track and keep the family nature of the brand?

OB: Absolutely. This is our DNA, this passion that we share to make the brand blossom.

EB: We were brought up on Raymond Weil. For us it’s only natural.

I NABUCCO RIVOLUZIONE II Carbon, titanium and, for the first time, ceramic give and urbane and contemporary look to this all-black 46mm model, punctuated with crimson red details such as for the chronograph hands, the date and the stitching on the rubber strap. One of the emblematic features of the Nabucco collection, the figure 12, is the only numeral on the dial. Engraved tachymeter scale on the ceramic bezel, three counters at 3 o’clock (30 minutes), 6 o’clock (12 hours) and 9 o’clock (small seconds) and circular date window at 4.30. Delivered in a special box with Sennheiser audio headphones with unparalleled acoustics.

PB: I think I have always been doing this. Coming to work for Raymond Weil was quite simply normal, evident and… motivating.

EB: We who represent the third generation are strongly committed to keeping the brand in our own hands and developing this family legacy. But nobody knows to what extent we will be able to face up to the enormous pressure of the groups and continue to grow the business. What is certain, however, is that we will never be the “grave diggers” of the brand and that if we feel, one day, that too many clouds are building up, we will not destroy the brand by trying to cling on to it simply out of personal megalomania.

What are your main axes of strategy for the future?

OB: We should focus our efforts on the areas where we are strong. This is the first thing. We should not spread ourselves too wide, we no longer need to be present in 120 countries and we should instead concentrate on the regions where we are dominant, to respect what we are, the heart of our profession, Swiss watchmaking, with great elegance and unbeatable value for money.

PB: We have never claimed to be something that we are not.

We have never wavered from our main business, because this is where we bring productivity, traffic and growth for our retailers, with beautiful, chic, elegant and affordable products.

OB: “Stick to what you are good at,” is what Raymond always said. Our strength lies in what we are: a name recognised worldwide, a clearly defined positioning, elegant and affordable products. We are here and not elsewhere.

And, a key point, we have an extremely efficient customer service. Anything can be repaired, at any time, anywhere.

EB: Recently, someone said to us: your communication is beautiful, it looks like the watch in it is worth 25,000 Swiss francs! For us, this is a double-edged compliment, because we do not want to project an expensive image. On the

“88 rue du Rhône”, the small brand that is on the up Elie and Pierre Bernheim launched an elegant and contemporary brand in 2012 that offers retailers “something that is no longer available in the Raymond Weil range,” in other words a collection positioned between 300 and 1,000 Swiss francs. This horological start-up has already sold 25,000 watches in 18 months, in 500 points of sale in 34 countries. “A lot of the long-standing partners of Raymond Weil have supported us, like Macy’s, Tourneau and Selfridges, as well as independent retailers,” explains Pierre Bernheim, who is directly responsible for the brand. “The idea is for this brand to develop turnover in stores that needed a good quality Swiss watch at the entry-level price. It is also thanks to the knowledge we acquired from our grandfather and our father that we were able to create a collection that is so elegant and has such refined details but at a price that is unbeatable.”

contrary, we want to convey the message that our products are affordable, their beauty notwithstanding.

What can we discover at BaselWorld this year?

OB: A nice continuity. We also need to reassure the markets, some of which have been shaken – psychologically – by the death of Raymond.

EB: Among the new products we will have a new chronograph in the Nabucco collection. With a reworked case and interesting choices of materials – a ceramic bezel, titanium case, rubber and carbon fibre. One striking detail: in the box for this chronograph the customer will find a pair of Sennheiser headphones, one of the best manufacturers of professional audio headphones. All this for 4,500 to 6,500 Swiss francs depending on the model.

OB: But this is not our core range. We will also have another very nice chronograph in the Freelancer collection, our best-selling line, which accounts for 75 per cent of our sales.

Furthermore, apart from some new models and evolutions in our Maestro and Jasmine collections, we will also present a new collection, called Toccata. It is an entry-level quartz collection that will sell for 650 Swiss francs, with round cases and a very classic design, with a domed crystal, for ladies and gents. This is something that sells well. We always come back to this: Raymond Weil is there to create traffic at the retailer.

EB: And friends of the brand will also discover a limited edition of 100 watches dedicated to Raymond Weil. It will be a masterpiece in his honour, a 45mm COSC chronograph in a Maestro case in platinum. p

I From left to right: This new 35mm JASMINE combines diamonds, motherof-pearl, steel and rose-gold plated PVD. No less than 113 diamonds are set on the case and the lugs. Blued leaf-shaped hands that recall the blue sapphire dome of the crown point to Roman numerals. The date is highlighted by a red-gold ring at 3 o’clock. The two-tone steel and rose-gold PVD bracelet, which is also diamond set, subtly clings to the wrist.

Fitted with a quartz or self-winding mechanical movement, depending on the version.

Fitted with a quartz movement, TOCCATA combines affordability with quality. The round case comes in 29, 39 and 42mm sizes in steel and yellow-gold PVD. The clean lines of the case harmonise with the domed sapphire crystal, the signature element in this collection.

Here a model in steel with a sunbrushed silver-toned dial with a small seconds at 6 o’clock, both classic and contemporary.

Discover more at www.europastar.BIZ/Raymond-Weil

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MID RANGE

FRÉDÉRIQUE CONSTANT – Manufacture for the masses Interview by Paul O’Neil

The first thing you notice on entering the Frédérique Constant factory is something that goes against most watch brands’ philosophy of keeping any kind of figures a closely guarded secret. A computer screen trained directly towards the entrance door cannot be missed by anyone who enters the building and it displays for the factory’s 120 employees and any visitors the daily and year-to-date production figures. In this climate of openness Europa Star sat down with Aletta Stas, co-founder of the brand, to discuss the company’s health and its objectives for the coming year.

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Aletta Stas

Europa Star: What can you tell us about business in 2013?

Aletta Stas: In general it was very good. Growth was a little less than previous years but I think we will close the year up 8 per cent. We are present in 200 countries and I think it is very important to be spread evenly across the world.

We do 30 per cent of our business in Europe, 30 per cent in Asia, 14 per cent in the USA and 9 per cent in eastern Europe and Russia. So we are not too dependent on any particular region. Everyone knows that China is considered to be the Mecca at the moment and this will not stop but it only represents around 5 per cent of our sales, so if things slow down there it doesn’t have much of an impact on us.

Is this geographical spread the same for the Frédérique Constant and Alpina brands?

AS: It’s not exactly the same. Alpina sells well in Europe, the USA and the Caribbean and this is no doubt because we have some sportier watches, including diver’s watches, in the collection.

And what about the proportion of ladies’ and gents watches in the collection?

AS: Ladies’ watches account for around 35 per cent of sales.

This may vary slightly from country to country. It used to be around 10 per cent and we decided this was not enough so we decided to create dedicated ladies’ models which increased the share. But at the same time we have developed our own manufacture calibres that are geared more towards men, and we would like to keep this proportion.

Has the average price of your timepieces increased as a result?

AS: Yes, because we have been working on our manufacture movements for ten years now. In the first years we only sold a few thousand but over the past two years with the introduction of the Manufacture Classic, Manufacture

u U The Frédérqiue Constant factory in Plan-les-Ouates in Geneva

U CLASSIC MANUFACTURE WORLDTIMER

by Frédérique Constant One of the brand’s bestselling models, the Classic Manufacture Worldtimer is powered by the FC-718 in-house self-winding movement (42-hour power reserve) with date and world time function both adjustable from the time-setting crown.

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SECRET NO. 13

We are compelled to the invisible CLAUDE LEBLANC

3, chemin de la Marbrerie, 1227 Carouge/Genève Suisse commercial@apvv.ch +41 22 309 42 42

U SLIMLINE MOONPHASE MANUFACTURE

by Frédérique Constant This elegant 42mm piece in stainless steel comes with a dial in silver or navy blue and a stainless-steel bracelet consisting of seven links.

The hours, minutes, date and moonphase indications are powered by the FC-705 in-house self-winding movement, which has Côtes de Genève and circular graining decoration and offers a power reserve of 42 hours.

“Over the past two years with the introduction of the Manufacture Classic, Manufacture Worldtimer and the Manufacture Moonphase at BaselWorld last year we have seen a considerable increase in production that has, of course, had an impact on the average price.”

Worldtimer and the Manufacture Moonphase at BaselWorld last year we have seen a considerable increase in production that has, of course, had an impact on the average price.

Do you still use other non-manufacture movements?

AS: Absolutely. Our mission is still to offer accessible luxury.

The manufacture models are accessible, too, of course, but we want to stay in our price segment of between 8003,000 Swiss francs. Our manufacture pieces start at around 2,500 Swiss francs but we do not want only this. We also have some pieces with quartz movements. We use Selitta movements and we are good at adding our own modules to these movements.

A watch with a manufacture movement for 2,500 Swiss francs is almost unbeatable. How do you do it?

And do your customers understand the significance?

AS: We have invested a lot in production and we also achieve certain economies of scale thanks to the volumes we produce. Over the past couple of years we have done a lot of work to improve the efficiency of our production in

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order to allow us to offer such prices. As far as the customers are concerned, I think there is a growing number of younger people who are fascinated by watches and who are well informed about them thanks to blogs and the Internet.

This is our target customer and we hope that we can attract other younger customers through them.

What are your objectives for 2014?

AS: Obviously we want to keep growing, of course. We are targeting growth of between 15 and 20 per cent and we want to continue developing our manufacture lines.

In 2014 we will have the capacity to produce 24,000 manufacture movements. For comparison we produced 128,000 watches in total last year. We can’t afford to have delays of up to a year before we deliver to our distributors and retailers like some of our neighbours here [editor’s note: The Frédérique Constant manufacture is located on the industrial estate in Plan-les-Ouates that is also home to the likes of Patek Philippe, Piaget, Rolex and other luxury brands].

Is this because stock rotation is more important in your price segment?

AS: Definitely. We can’t afford to open all these points of sale and have the products just sitting on the shelves. This would be a ticking time bomb! p Discover more at www.europastar.BIZ/Frederique-Constant

MID RANGE

The discreet strength of ERNEST BOREL Pierre Maillard In the Swiss watchmaking landscape there are still some well-hidden “secrets” that are prospering away from the big media spotlights. Ernest Borel is one of them. Who among the learned “observers” of planet watchmaking, for example, knows that the Ernest Borel brand, discreetly located in Le Noirmont, in the forests of the Jura, sells almost 200,000 watches per year, all Swiss Made and a good half of them fitted with self-winding mechanical movements? By the same token, who knows that Ernest Borel has 850 points of sale in China (400 of which are joint shareholdings) and 70 in Hong Kong alone?

To better understand what lies behind the romantic logo of Ernest Borel (a couple of Belle Epoque dancers), we need to go back in time, to 1856, the year the company was founded by the young Jules Borel. Without going too much into the rich history of the brand, which was originally called Borel & Courvoisier, it’s important to note that it quickly went global, being present in Latin America from 1860 and in China from 1903.

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I RETRO COLLECTION I By revisiting the classics – inspired by the models of the 1930s – and bringing the classicism up to date, the Retro collection accentuates more than ever the values that are dear to the brand. The combination of classic details helps to merge traditional aesthetics with modern technology.

Self-winding mechanical movement, SOP 9335 calibre, Swiss Made, 28,800 vibrations per hour, 42 hours power reserve, 112 components, rhodium plated, with decoration and blued screws. Hours, minutes and seconds, 24-hour indicator at 6 o’clock, power reserve, date. Stainless-steel case, 42mm diameter. Sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating and transparent case back. Water resistant to 50m.

Stainless-steel bracelet with Ernest Borel folding clasp. Delivered with an interchangeable leather strap.

From a technical point of view as well, the brand was very soon recognised for the excellence of its products, taking first prize at the Neuchâtel Observatory in 1866, a gold medal in Paris in 1878 and radically innovating in the fields of pinions, gear trains and screws from 1898, the date when it acquired its current name of Ernest Borel & Cie. After Jules, then Ernest, the Borel dynasty of fathers and sons continued with the arrival, from 1927, of Jean-Louis Borel, who considerably modernised production. Between 1945 and 1958, the brand was awarded 4,172 COSC certificates, which was a considerable achievement at the time. At the end of the 1980s, Ernest Borel, which survived the quartz crisis, was owned by the Aubry Frères group. At the time, Steven Lam, a citizen of Hong Kong, was on the company’s board of directors. He is a wealthy man, having made his fortune in liquid crystals at the head of the Truly Group, a colossus in the high-tech industry with 18,000 employees. When he learned that the Aubry Frères group was being passed down to the owner’s son, he decided to withdraw but wanted to keep the Ernest Borel brand at all costs. He had a good, yet purely sentimental reason: his father wore an Ernest Borel watch!

So Steven Lam took over Ernest Borel, keeping only one salesman, Raphaël Boillat, who is today the chairman. From this point, growth on the Chinese markets achieved exponential

I JULES BOREL COLLECTION, in tribute to the company founder, consisting of classic COSCcertified chronometers.

Self-winding mechanical movement, SW300 calibre, COSC-certified, 28,800 vibrations per hour, 42 hours power reserve, Swiss Made, rhodium plated with decoration and blued screws. 40mm diameter solid pink gold case (18 carats). Sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating and transparent case back.

Water resistant to 30m.

Mississippi alligator leather strap.

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levels and the brand became one of the best known on this giant market but also strengthened its presence in the USA, the Middle East and in Europe.

In 2009, in order to meet this growing demand, Ernest Borel moved to Le Noirmont and set up a major assembly plant.

“JUST IN TIME” PRODUCTION It was in these premises that Europa Star recently met the new managing director of the brand, Renaud de Retz. Far from being unknown, Renaud de Retz, who started his career at TAG Heuer, was one of the two co-founders of Hautlence with Guillaume Tetu. But he left Hautlence and launched a fantasy jewellery brand – Réglisse – before taking up the reins at Ernest Borel. As a result he moved – not without a certain amount of delight – from a select high-end niche brand to a volume brand whose prices range from 500 to 2,000 Swiss francs.

The headquarters in Le Noirmont, which today employees around 40 people, is concerned mainly with assembly of all Ernest Borel timepieces. This includes quality control of movement deliveries, hand setting, dial assembly, the preparation of kits distributed to the assemblers (each assembler produces their watch from start to finish, regularly changing models), quality control etc…

Today the collection consists of more than 280 references.

The cases, dials and hands come from Hong Kong, while all the movements are Swiss. “We buy from everyone,” explains Renaud de Retz, “ETA, Sellita, Technotime, Dubois-Dépraz, Soprod. And after casing up we send the watch-heads to Hong Kong. This allows us to work almost on a just-in-time basis, reacting as quickly as possible to the demands of the markets.

We are the watchmaking collateral of our Chinese owners who want to be completely beyond reproach in horological terms.”

When asked whether he is concerned about future move-

I COCKTAIL COLLECTION The Cocktail Collection is an excellent example of an Ernest Borel watch series which already received patents for its unique appearance and structure in the 1940s. The plate has a unique three-dimensional design and polygonal cut diamond holder. The dial is set with six natural diamonds and built with moulded indexes. The attention to these details makes this watch a moving kaleidoscope of colour and pattern. Self-winding mechanical movement, Swiss Made, ETA 2671 calibre, 28,800 vibrations per hour, 38 hours power reserve, rhodium plated, with decoration and blued screws.

Renaud de Retz

O RETRO COLLECTION II Ernest Borel combines steel and leather in a collection that harks back to the inspiration of the 1940s and 1950s. Swiss Made quartz movement. Hours, minutes, seconds, date, chronograph, 60-second and 30-minute counter. 44mm diameter stainless-steel case.

ment deliveries, Renaud de Retz is nuanced: “We have been buying everything we can since 2010 and we have around one year of inventory for our principal movements. Having said that, for some specific movements, such as the small ETA 2671 ladies’ calibre that has no equivalent, we may be affected by delays in deliveries. But we are looking into alternatives …”, he says without giving further details.

Besides the powerful Chinese market, Ernest Borel has also been present in India since the end of 2012, with results that are “very encouraging, backed by a major marketing campaign,” as well as in the USA, with 50 points of sale and in Switzerland, with six points of sale in the main tourist centres.

Although the decisions on design are currently made in Hong Kong, things are about to change gradually with planned openings in new markets. Le Noirmont will thus regain some of its creative autonomy and manage the non-Chinese markets itself. This increase in strength will manifest itself from 2016 with the construction of a new production wing.

Stylistically, Ernest Borel watches are always pure, sober and classic. Although the watches may be very aggressive on price, Ernest Borel does not want to skimp on quality and finishing. “We pay particular care to our finishing, it’s very important,” explains Renaud de Retz, who dreams of giving his brand a new visibility. p Discover more at www.europastar.BIZ/Ernest-Borel

CHANGE. YO U CA N .

Hall 1.2 C02 www.ice-watch.com

MID RANGE

FOSSIL – the antithesis of its name Paul O’Neil It is a big year for the Fossil Group, and not just because the company celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. While its competitors have been loudly voicing their concerns over the changes to the Swiss Made legislation, from its headquarters in Basel, Fossil Group Europe, a subsidiary of the Dallas-based parent company, has quietly been building up an impressive Swiss Made production capacity for its numerous brands.

The group’s first move to secure its own movement supply came with the acquisition of Antima SA in 2002. At the time, Antima was part of a movement buying syndicate that had a supply contract with ETA. Unfortunately, this contract was not renewed when it expired in 2009 and the group was forced to look elsewhere for its movements. It quickly became apparent that only Sellita and the lesser-known PWP could produce the volumes that Fossil required.

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SA in Glovelier, in Switzerland’s Jura region. Production started here at the end of 2013 and is set to reach full capacity by 2015, when the factory will employ more than 100 people.

“We are targeting over 60 per cent Swiss content by 2015,” explains Frey.

STP1-11 - THE ACE UP THE SLEEVE After it was established in 2006 by a group of Swiss engineers led by Hans Ulrich Saurer, PWP produced its first series of 2,000 movements in 2010, with a second series following the next year. Series production started in 2012, which is the year Fossil acquired the company. Now operating under the name Swiss Technology Production SA (STP), it aims to produce 130,000 of its STP1-11 movements in 2014, rising to over 200,000 units next year.

Of the 4,000 people employed in the watch industry in Switzerland’s Ticino region, a mere 28 are currently employed at STP in Manno, just outside Lugano. They work on a production line that consists of five fully-automated benches to assemble the STP1-11 calibre, which is a self-winding movement with hour, minute and seconds and calendar display and a 44-hour power reserve. Production targets are high and the factory’s output is already reserved until the end of 2015, but as Hans Ulrich Saurer is keen to point out, quality comes before quantity: all the movements have a decorative finish with Côtes de Genève and circular graining, they are tested in five positions and must meet tolerances of +/- 15 seconds per day.

“We anticipate changes in the Swissness legislation and we want to be ready,” says Fossil Europe’s Managing Director Martin Frey. So in parallel, the group has also invested several million Swiss francs to build a case and components manufacturing plant for its subsidiary Swiss Technology Components

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THE POTENTIAL OF SWISS MADE This Swiss content is already being used in Fossil’s Swiss Made collection, which was launched in 2013, and the STP111 movement is also used in the Burberry City Line collection.

The Burberry timepieces are part of what Fossil Group calls simply “The Portfolio” – a collection of 12 brands that are operated under licence, in addition to the Fossil, Michele, Relic, Skagen and Zodiac brands that the group owns outright.

I STP1-11 CALIBRE

by STP This 11½ line self-winding movement with date offers a power reserve of 44 hours, uses over one hundred components and 26 jewels and has a circular graining finish on the plates and Côtes de Genève decoration on the oscillating mass.

U BLACK MAGIC COLLECTION

by Emporio Armani 42mm stainless-steel case with black IP coating; Swiss Made STP1-11 self-winding movement with date, sapphire crystal front and back, black sunray dial and black rubberised alligator leather strap; water resistant to 5 ATM / 50 metres.

U BRIGHT MESH COLLECTION

by Emporio Armani 28mm polished stainlesssteel case; Swiss Made Ronda 1064 quartz movement, sapphire crystal, white mother-of-pearl dial with 12 diamonds, polished stainless-steel mesh bracelet; water resistant to 3 ATM / 30 metres.

Martin Frey

Aside from synergies from the acquisition of Skagen in 2012 (the Danish lifestyle brand is the perfect complement to Fossil) and the introduction of the STP1-11 calibre into the Zodiac collection in the Astrograph model, the huge potential for development at the group is best evidenced by the new Emporio Armani Swiss Made collection that will be presented at BaselWorld this year. A total of 52 references will be introduced in a mixture of gents’ and ladies’ models with a choice of Ronda quartz movements or the company’s in-house STP111 calibre. The group has even secured a prime spot opposite the Hermès stand in Hall 1.1 to show off this new collection.

Diarmuid Bland, Senior Vice-President, Fossil Innovation Team, underscores the potential of this new collection: “Armani is the number one men’s brand and among the top

The Fossil Group in figures Sales (2013): 3.26 billion US dollars (of which 2.51 billion dollars for watches) 10-year Compound annual growth rate (CAGR): 15.7% (2012) Distribution of sales: Americas 53%, Europe 31%, Asia 16% Brands: Fossil, Skagen, Relic, Michele, Zodiac, Burberry, Emporio Armani, Michael Kors, Marc by Marc Jacobs, DKNY, Karl Lagerfeld, Tory Burch, Diesel, Armani Exchange, Adidas No. of Fossil stores worldwide: 543 No. of Fossil Group POS worldwide: 16,000 No. of watches produced (excluding Swiss Made): 35 million (2013)

five ladies’ brands in China. This is one of our fastest-growing regions for sales and the price point, which targets the country’s burgeoning middle class, is the key. It will also allow us to cover more bases for Chinese tourists visiting Europe who are looking to buy European brands.”

To put things into perspective, in terms of pure watch sales Fossil Group is among the world’s biggest watch groups, but it is difficult to pinpoint its exact position, given that the other big groups have watch and jewellery sales grouped together.

But having quietly put into place its Swiss Made production capacity, the group is now an even stronger contender in the industry. “We wanted to stay under the radar, then let the industry know we are here,” concludes Bland. Mission accomplished! p Discover more at www.europastar.BIZ/Fossil

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danish watch design by christian mikkelsen l a d i e s v165 ser ies

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EMILE CHOURIET A new manufacture on the horizon?

Paul O’Neil cle between 3 and 6 o’clock that hides the moon as it moves around the dial, thus indicating the phase of the moon. The complication module is fitted to an ETA 2892 base movement in a stainless-steel case and sells for a surprisingly reasonable 3,564 Swiss francs, mainly because the brand’s prices are benchmarked to those in the Chinese market.

Emile Chouriet had a good year in 2013 despite the slowdown in its main market, as Jean Depéry, CEO of the company, told Europa Star. “We did feel the impact of the slow-down but it was less than we thought it would be. But it’s a good thing anyway, because things were getting crazy. We had quadrupled production in four years.” The brand still expects a respectable 10 per cent growth in 2014 and hopes to open up new markets after gaining a foothold in Switzerland with 12 points of sale last year to follow the Chinese tourists. “We are a Swiss brand after all, so Chinese tourists expect to find the brand when they visit Switzerland,” explains Depéry.

Emile Chouriet, owned by Fiyta of China (which produces close to a million watches per year), presents a talking piece as the standard-bearer for its 2014 collection in the form of a sublime moonphase model with a case that features the distinctive winged lugs that are a hallmark of the brand. The classic elegance of the piece reminds us that China, and the classic tastes of its consumers, is the main market for Emile Chouriet.

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The moonphase module for this new model was developed in-house at the brand and functions using two sapphire discs, one that is metallised blue and fixed to an aluminium disc with inner asymmetric toothing and has a large motherof-pearl moon and stuck to it, and another disc positioned above it that bears the Roman numerals and a darkened cir-

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I MOONPHASE

by Emile Chouriet Case: 42mm stainless-steel case with sapphire crystal front and back, water resistant to 30 metres Movement: ETA 2892 self-winding movement with moonphase module developed by Montres Chouriet Function: hours minutes seconds and large moonphase Strap: leather with folding clasp Price: CHF 3,564

Expansion into further markets is limited not by the brand’s production but the availability of Swiss Made movements, especially since the proportion of quartz movements in the collection has dropped from 45 per cent just a few years ago to only 20 per cent today. “We want to expand further but we have to supply the Chinese market before we consider other markets and to do this we would need more movements,” says Mr Depéry. “We will continue to look for alternative suppliers, and some are now emerging, but this does not stop us looking into producing our own movement.

But if we did so it would be a manufacture movement at a higher level.”

Such a new movement would take at least two years to develop and would therefore not be on the market before 2016. But in the meantime the brand will have some other interesting new models to present at BaselWorld, including its first dedicated line for ladies’ (the existing collections are derivatives of gents’ watches) and the first divers’ watch in the collection. p Discover more at www.europastar.BIZ/Emile-Chouriet

March 27th - April 3rd 2014 Please meet us at : BASEL Meeting Room Ground Floor Radisson Blu Hotel Steinentorstrasse -254001, Basel, Switzerland.

Phone: +41 61 227 2727 +971 56 6038082

For more information : Tel 00971 4 7016900, Fax 00971 4 2221078 E-mail : info@westarwatches.com

MID RANGE

FOOTBALL TO FUEL ROTARY’S global expansion Interview by Paul O’Neil

Hublot may have been the first watch brand to partner with a football club but the landscape has since changed with the Swiss brand substituted as the official watch of Manchester United by Bulova. Two more top-flight clubs from the English Premier League have also recently secured new official watch signings: Arsenal has partnered with JeanRichard and Chelsea with Rotary. Europa Star talked to Victoria Campbell, Managing Director of Rotary’s UK-based parent company, the Dreyfuss Group, about the significance of this new partnership and the brand’s global expansion plans.

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Europa Star: What prompted the move into football sponsorship and why did you choose Chelsea in particular?

Victoria Campbell: We were looking for a major global marketing initiative that was capable of being a “game changer” and one that would genuinely travel across all of the markets that we are targeting. Once we started talking to some of the leading European clubs it quickly became clear to us that the English Premier League (EPL) can evidence a huge worldwide following. Chelsea FC immediately rose to pole position in our own selection criteria when we realised just how strong they are in Asian markets. Our objective is to grow the brand in Asian markets so Chelsea became the clear first choice for us.

Victoria Campbell

Rotary is the second “affordable” brand after Bulova to team up with a Premier League football team. Since Bulova replaced a luxury brand (Hublot), do you think we are seeing a shift away from luxury associations with the big-money world of Premier League football?

VC: Chelsea have never had a watch brand as a global partner before so it is very exciting to be breaking new ground with the team at Stamford Bridge. In addition, Chelsea were keen that their first watch sponsor should be a brand that was not out of reach of their core fan base and for that reason our affordable, Swiss Made market position was just the right “democratic” offer that they were looking to secure.

Despite Rotary’s Swiss heritage, there is also a very strong connection with the UK and your head office is in London. How important is the UK market for Rotary?

VC: We were founded in 1895 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland and four generations on the Dreyfuss family are still the driving force behind the brand. Very early on, the second generation of the Dreyfuss family came to London and set up an office which has become the sales and marketing and general management headquarters for the group worldwide.

For this reason the UK has always been a strong market for the brand and is still so to this day. That said our strategic goal over the next five years is to grow our international sales, hence the decision to invest in Chelsea FC sponsorship in order to accelerate our brand awareness and distribution overseas.

What other countries are important markets for Rotary?

VC: Outside the UK and our fast growing Asian business, where in the last 18 months we have gone from perhaps 10 points of sale to nearer 350 points of sale by the end of 2013 we are on over 45 countries worldwide and over 40 major airlines.

O THE CHELSEA FC SPECIAL EDITION WATCH by Rotary Individually numbered quartz chronograph with Chelsea FC embossed case back, blue lion crown, blue outer sapphire gasket and the Chelsea FC blue lion crest at 3 o’clock. Available with a stainless-steel bracelet or black leather strap.

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Who supplies your quartz and mechanical movements?

VC: We work with a wide range of movements from ETA and Valjoux. We always start with the design, with the white space in the market that we are seeking to fill, and then look for the most appropriate movement, not the other way round. Over the years we are seeing more and more interest in mechanical and automatic movements and therefore have increased the number we launch each year.

Many of the brands in the lower price segments are concerned about the changes to the Swiss Made regulations. Do you share these concerns and is there a worry that they could affect your prices?

VC: No we are not concerned about the proposed changes to the Swiss Made rulings. On the contrary we actively embrace them and recognise this is the best way forward for the industry.

Taking the lead in mid-range customer service Rotary offers a number of incentives that set it apart in the field of customer service. There is a lifetime guarantee on Rotary watches, providing that they are serviced at an official Rotary Service Centre every three years. This is a great way of motivating customers to keep their watches regularly maintained, but Rotary offers a further incentive with a new initiative: the chance for one lucky customer who sends their watch in for servicing to win a car.

I JURA CALIBRE R.1000.21 by Rotary This collection of skeletonised models is equipped with Rotary’s first-ever proprietary self-winding movement, which can be admired through the openworked dial and a transparent case back.

It comes with a choice of leather straps or a two tone metal bracelet.

I RESERVE DE MARCHE by Dreyfuss & Co. A refined collection of three models in stainless steel, PVD rose gold and combination PVD rose gold and steel add the power reserve function to Rotary’s high-end Dreyfuss & Co. collection. A discreet subdial at 12 o’clock shows the remaining power reserve (maximum 45 hours) from the calibre 1895-4 movement, while a date window at 6 o’clock completes the picture.

Can you tell us more about the Dreyfuss & Co. brand?

VC: The Dreyfuss and Co. brand sits above Rotary in terms of market positioning and was launched at Basel in 2005.

It is named after Rene Dreyfuss, and is a true legacy brand that not only celebrates the family watchmaking dynasty but also adds a retro classic feel to the range itself. It is sold by a separate sales team and run along the lines of an agency brand with a brief to actively cap the number of agencies we open in order to retain the exclusivity this brand commands.

How did business progress in 2013 and what are your expectations for 2014?

VC: Business was good for us in 2013 and we expect to be delivering group growth in the region of 11 per cent, our fourth year of consecutive double-digit growth, coming largely but not exclusively from overseas markets. 2014 will see further ambitious but achievable targets for the group with the Asia pacific region at the centre of our plans and the Chelsea FC sponsorship helping to drive the crucial consumer brand awareness in these regions. p Discover more at www.europastar.BIZ/Rotary

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FOLLI FOLLIE – Creating and housing fashion Interview by Paul O’Neil

The Athens-based Folli Follie Group operates in more than 28 countries and has a portfolio of brands that accompany a customer through all life phases. Europa Star spoke to George Koutsolioutsos, CEO of Folli Follie (FF) Group about business at the group, its brands and what to expect at BaselWorld.

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Europa Star: Revenue in your watches and jewellery segment increased by 10% in 2012. Did you enjoy the same level of growth last year?

George Koutsolioutsos: Though the 2013 financial results have not been announced yet, we believe that we will experience the same trend for the year that passed.

Overall this is a growth rate that we feel that is satisfactory, though we tend to believe in FF Group that the “sky is the limit”.

What percentage of your group revenues does the watches and jewellery segment account for? Are you happy with this split?

GK: The Jewellery, Watches and Accessories activity contributed 72 per cent of Group revenues and 91% of Group EBITDA in the first nine months of 2013. As this activity experiences the highest margin compared to our other mainly domestic activities, we are satisfied with this split. Jewellery accounts for about 50 per cent, watches 35 per cent and accessories 15 per cent of the specific segment’s revenues.

You also have a strong presence in distribution… and not just for watches and jewellery but for many other brands as well…

GK: We create fashion globally and we have established a strong presence with more than 850 points of sale worldwide and more than 4,700 employees worldwide. In FF Group we “create fashion” through our own brands – Folli Follie and Links of London, we “share fashion” through the distribution of globally esteemed brands such as Ermenegildo Zegna, Juicy Couture, UGG Australia, Guess, Nike, Converse, G-Star Raw, Franklin & Marshall, Samsonite. Moreover, we “house fashion” through our active involvement in the field of retail

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George Koutsolioutsos

T WATCHALICIOUS

by Folli Follie

with department stores and outlet stores, and we also “share beauty” via the exclusive distribution and representation of Procter & Gamble Prestige perfumes in Greece for brands such as Dolce&Gabbana, D&G, Gucci, Hugo Boss, Escada etc.

The dynamics of the Group and its global appeal can be underlined by the most recent developments in our strategic history. Folli Follie Group’s Fashion Business has gone international, with the recent announcement that it has assumed the exclusive wholesale and retail distribution rights for Juicy Couture in all Continental Europe, UK, Ireland and Cyprus. This is an important milestone in our corporate history as it paves the way for further expanding our international fashion portfolio.

Part of our global dynamic strategy is establishing our own brands’ (Folli Follie and Links of London) presence in the Asian and the European markets, focusing especially

Do you have any Swiss Made timepieces in the collection and if not is this something you plan to introduce?

GK: Links of London has introduced Swiss Made collections in the past. This year, we are very proud to present a new Swiss Made watch collection during BaselWorld 2014 with Links of London. The new Regent Watch Collection that has timepieces for both men and women in a variety of coloured leather straps, or bracelet, and with either a dual time or chronographs.

I From left to right: MPH WHITE DIAL and BROMPTON

by Links of London

in China, the UK and Spain. At the same time, a dynamic entrance and further establishment in the USA, South America, and Canadian market also form part of the Folli Follie strategy, in specific.

Being a main shareholder of the Swiss Dufry AG, the leading global travel retailer that operates almost 1,400 duty-free and duty-paid shops in airports, cruise lines, seaports, railway stations and downtown tourist areas in 45 countries, we wish to exploit our strategic partner’s insight and enter the South American market.

“Part of our global dynamic strategy is establishing our own brands’ presence in the Asian and the European markets, focusing especially in China, the UK and Spain.”

Where are the different functions such as design and production carried out?

GK: FF Group has an experienced design team that consists amongst others of Italian, Swiss, British and Greek top designers, who work together for the presentation of complete jewellery, watches and accessories collections.

Though the HQ for Folli Follie is in Athens and the HQ for Links of London is in London, the top management for both brands has its base in Athens. When it comes to production there is a small Jewellery production unit in Athens and the bulk of the production is carried out in our Hong Kong production unit.

Is the UK the main market for Links of London? Are you looking to expand elsewhere?

GK: Links of London continues to expand its distribution with particular attention on the UK, where it has recently opened new stores in Chester, Bristol and in Ireland within the luxury shopping outlet Kildare Village. This will give it 59 stand-alone stores and concessions in the UK and Ireland, and 282 points of sale and 48 concessions internationally in locations such as Europe, the Middle East, the Far East and the Americas.

What can we expect from Folli Follie and Links of London at BaselWorld and what are your objectives for 2014?

GK: At BaselWorld 2014 Folli Follie will focus on a collection that we truly believe will set the trend for the coming season. The Folli Follie Watchalicious Collection is an impressive palette of combinations that lead to an unmatched offering of timepieces, especially designed for those women that view fashion and style as a way of personal expression.

This will be the sixth time Links of London participates in BaselWorld and this year we are planning a very dynamic comeback in Hall 1.1. As designers of beautifully crafted timepieces, Links of London has established a reputation for quality craftsmanship and innovative design with a contemporary British twist. The watch offer currently encompasses 18 ranges with around 200 styles available. For Basel, four new collections will be unveiled: Brompton, Richmond, Greenwich and Regent, with each collection taking inspiration from the area of its namesake and reflecting the British brand values. Showcasing our range of newest collections that address equally the modern, sophisticated men and women, a visitor of the Links of London stand will get a good grasp of the prominent Links of London aesthetics and will be introduced to the famed British legacy of the brand. p Discover more at www.europastar.BIZ/Folli-Follie

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GOLD. STADT. PFORZHEIM.

We are looking forward to your visit!

With compliments of German Watch Industry

Our companies are worth their weight in gold.

Hall 2.0, Hall of Impressions, stand F61

MADE IN GERMANY

INDEPENDENTS

ARMAND NICOLET – Traditional Swiss watchmaking meets Italian design Paul O’Neil The brand’s limited-edition OHM collections (OHM meaning “Original Historical Movements”) feature vintage movements, including the famous Venus calibres produced by the company, that undergo extensive “tuning” to meet modern day aesthetic requirements and are decorated accordingly. The movements are therefore disassembled, catalogued, converted into 3D renderings on computer in order to plan technical improvements (the addition of Incabloc shock absorbers, for example) and decoration, then the individual components are refined and decorated before the movement is re-assembled by hand.

L14 is the latest model in this OHM collection and it uses a reworked version of the UT 600 calibre from 1958. This hand-wound movement operates at 18,000 vibrations per hour and offers 36 hours of power reserve. It is partially visible through a grey open-worked dial and can be admired in full through a transparent sapphire crystal case back. The technical look of the dial is framed by a black DLC-coated stainless-steel case with a matching black alligator leather strap with black DLC-coated steel buckle.

Armand Nicolet traces its origins back to 1875, when a certain Armand Nicolet, the son of a watchmaker, set up his own workshop in Tramelan in the Swiss Jura region. After his death in 1939, his son Willy took over the company and developed it into a major producer of watch movements as Tramelan gradually became one of the top three places in Switzerland in movement production in the 1950s.

In a story similar to that of Auguste Reymond (see the separate article in this issue), Armand Nicolet survived the devastation of the quartz crisis but emerged as a different operation, assembling watches on a much smaller scale and relying on its existing stocks of proprietary movements. But in 1987 Willy Nicolet met Rolando Braga, an Italian entrepreneur, who injected the Italian design into the collection, which was presented anew at BaselWorld in 2000.

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I L14 by Armand Nicolet

These collections are necessarily limited by the availability of the historical movements used in them. In the case of the new L14 this number is a convenient 499 and the individual number is engraved on to the back side of the mainplate, together with the year the original movement was produced, so that it is clearly visible on the dial. p Discover more at www.europastar.BIZ/Armand-Nicolet

INDEPENDENTS

AUGUSTE REYMOND, the discreet brand with a beneficent edge Paul O’Neil

The small family-owned and independent brand Auguste Reymond, based in the village of Tramelan in the Swiss Jura, has been in operation for over 100 years. The story started in 1898 when the first watches, low volume production runs produced by a handful of watchmakers, were commercialised under the name ARSA. By 1910 the company had grown into a small manufacture with a hundred employees working in the company’s own factory. One of the company’s most significant contributions to the Swiss watch industry was the development of the Unitas family of movements, which is recognised worldwide for its reliability and is still found in some of the brand’s modern watches (Aerowatch, Christopher Ward and Gustafsson & Sjögren, among others, have also recently produced watches equipped with the Unitas 6498 regulator calibre).

Auguste Reymond has since returned to its roots as an assembly workshop working to artisanal principles, with a dozen employees assembling the brand’s watches by hand, in what the brand refers to “the opposite of mass production”. The company’s main objective is to remain independent. For BaselWorld, Auguste Reymond presents a model whose name says it all: the Elégance. At 40.5mm in diameter, the case size is perfect for targeting universal appeal and its design is the epitome of a classic watch. Its simple round lines in pink-gold PVD-plated stainless steel frame an equally classic sun-brushed silver-toned dial with pink gold-plated hour markers, hour, minute and central seconds

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104 INDEPENDENTS / europa star

I ELÉGANCE AUTOMATIC

by Auguste Reymond 40.5mm diameter rose-gold PVD coated stainless-steel case, ETA calibre 2824-2 self-winding mechanical movement, sapphire crystal front and back, sun-brushed silver-toned dial with applied rose gold-plated hour markers, brown leather strap with alligator pattern and rose-gold PVD coated steel pin buckle.

JUMBO by ARSA Part of the ARSA range for visually impaired people, the Jumbo works on the simple principle of ensuring a good contrast between the dial and the hands.

I HI-TOUCH by ARSA This Braille watch is read by lifting a hinged cover on the watch case, which allows the wearer to “feel” the time using the relief hour markers. An especially robust system for fixing the hands means that the wearer can touch them to determine their position without affecting the watch’s operation.

Unlike the speaking watches, which are mainly made in China, the Hi-Touch allows a blind person to tell the time in a more discreet way.

hand and a date window at 6 o’clock. Apart from the company signature at 12 o’clock, nothing else is allowed to obscure the dial. A brown leather strap completes the piece, which is powered by the ETA 2824-2 calibre self-winding movement.

But there is an even more discreet side to Auguste Reymond that receives even less media attention. Under the original brand of ARSA, the company produces a range of timepieces for the blind and partially sighted. It was the first Swiss watch brand to do so and to this day has no Swiss competitors in the field. Using classic designs that cover all the main case shapes, Braille dials allow blind people to read the time by touch, while the models for the partially sighted offer dials with Arabic numerals in a large typeface to assist with the reading. Since the target customer for such timepieces has little cause to visit a conventional watch retailer, the company works together with charitable associations all over the world to market these specialised watches. Look out for prototypes of a whole new collection at BaselWorld. p

Discover more at www.europastar.BIZ/Auguste-Reymond

9015 : PREMIUM SLIM

JAPAN MADE

http://www.citizen.co.jp/miyota_mvt/

GALLERY – INDEPENDENT BRANDS

RUDIS SYLVA

MANUFACTURE ROYALE David Gouten, Marc Guten, Gérard Gouten and Alexis Gouten, all members of the same family and all well known in the watchmaking community (both as distributors and managers of high-end watch brands) recently took over the reins at Manufacture Royale, which was established in 1770 by Voltaire, not far from Geneva. Having disappeared during the French Revolution, the “new” Manufacture Royale was launched three years ago by par Arnaud Faivre, a major component manufacturer.

It made its mark at its launch with the Opera minute repeater with “bellows”. Now under the Gouten/Guten holding and backed up by the Arnaud Faivre manufacture (which produces all the components for the watches apart from the barrel and the escapement), it is starting to reveal its intentions and is presenting new versions of the Opera, as well as a Tourbillon Androgyne. But there will be more surprises in the coming months. See them at the Palace at BaselWorld. p

In 2009 at BaselWorld, Rudis Sylva, headed up by Jacky Epitaux, presented a genuine “horological revolution” with its Harmonious Oscillator, “the only mechanism in the world that instantaneously eliminates the effects of gravity in the vertical position.” Better than a tourbillon, therefore. The secret of this mechanism: the two toothed balance wheels in the watch are interconnected, which means that the symmetry and energy of the two springs that are constantly opposed allows an instant correction of the average in a vertical position. This very sophisticated design is produced in close collaboration with a partner factory that is one of Switzerland’s biggest component manufacturers. Only seven components come from elsewhere. For good measure, the finishing of the Harmonious Oscillator is extraordinary, in terms of the horological finish and the decoration, which includes sophisticated engine turning, engraving and grand feu enamel. p

I OPERA Manually-wound mechanical movement, minute-repeater tourbillon with silicon escape wheel and lever, 108 hours of power reserve. Folding case in 18carat gold (inspired by the Sydney Opera House) with a hinged case middle (60 hand-assembled components) that allows for a considerable increase in the volume of the repeater.

O ANDROGYNE Manually-wound mechanical movement with tourbillon and silicon lever and escapement, 108 hours of power reserve.

43mm case in black PVD steel with 52 components, polished 18-carat red-gold screws. Alligator leather strap. Water resistant to 30 metres.

106 GALLERY – INDEPENDENT BRANDS

/ europa star

I HARMONIOUS OSCILLATOR Manually wound mechanical movement with unique patented double toothed balance system. High-end finishing. Rose-gold, white-gold or titanium 44mm case. Hand-engraved solar dial in grand feu enamel. Hand engine-turned dial with progressive circular pyramids, hand engine-turned mainplate with degressive pyramids.

JAPAN

THE JAPANESE RACE for absolute precision It is almost as if the three big Japanese brands – Seiko, Citizen and Casio – had passed the word around: 2014 will be the year of the GPS watch, capable of displaying the exact time instantaneously, wherever you may be on the planet.

Seiko thus presents its new Astron GPS Solar, which

combines solar power and GPS function in a magnificent design; Citizen unveils its new Eco-Drive Satellite Wave F100 with a high-sensitivity antenna; and Casio launches its G-Shock GPW-1000, the first watch that is capable of receiving both radio wave and GPS signals!

New design for the SEIKO ASTRON GPS SOLAR Last year Seiko presented its Astron GPS solar at BaselWorld. This watch could automatically adjust to any of the different time zones around our planet. Furthermore, it uses solar power to do so. This technological breakthrough was made possible when the engineers at Seiko succeeded in simultaneously harnessing the signal from four or more satellites in order to determine precisely the position of the watch and immediately display local time, wherever in the world it may be. You simply have to press a pushbutton to activate the signal receiver.

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According to the brand’s executives, “in just a few months, this Astron GPS Solar has gained a big audience”. So this watch whose name “Astron” comes from the world’s first quartz watch, launched by Seiko in 1969, has been a commercial success.

At BaselWorld this year, Seiko presents a new design for this high technology piece.

u SPECIFICATIONS: Calibre 7X52 GPS-controlled time and time zone adjustment. Hour, minute and second hands, date, perpetual calendar correct to February 2100. Signal reception result indication. World time function (39 time zones). Daylight saving time function. Power saving function.

Accuracy: +/-15 seconds per month (without receiving a time signal and at temperatures between 5°C and 35°C) Case diameter: 48.1 mm, thickness: 18.1mm. Stainless steel, or stainless steel with pink gold-colour hard coating or with black hard coating. Screw-down crown and screw case back. Water resistance 10 bar, magnetic resistance 4,800 A/m Extra-strength silicon band with three-fold clasp with push button release or crocodile strap with three-fold clasp with push button release. Approximate recommended retail prices in Europe: Euro 2,300 to Euro 2,400.

europa star / JAPAN 107

Let us be clear: it is a brilliant success in terms of design. It is a design inspired by the view of the Earth from outer space: a blue sphere floating in space. The dome-shaped sapphire crystal that entirely covers the case middle, which does not have a bezel, gives a genuinely space-like impression. This complex sapphire crystal – 10 hours of polishing for each one – protects (like a thin atmospheric layer) a luminous dial marked by four large blue hour markers. Decorated by a representation of the Earth viewed from above the northern hemisphere at the centre, it has the codes of the towns and their time difference to UTC (Universal Time Coordinated), based on International Atomic Time (TAI). The different time zones, printed in bold on the edge of the dial, are perfectly readable, including on the side of the watch, thanks to the dome-shaped crystal.

A splendid success. p (PM)

Thinner, lighter, faster…

The new CITIZEN ECO-DRIVE SATELLITE WAVE F100 Citizen’s Eco-Drive Satellite Wave, launched in 2011 as a concept watch, was the brand’s first light-powered watch capable of synchronising with GPS satellites to display the correct time anywhere in the world. The first series-produced models using this technology were presented at BaselWorld last year in the form of the Eco-Drive Satellite Wave Air, with improved antennae sensitivity that ensured the world’s fastest signal reception speed, and the Eco-Drive Altichron Cirrus, with an altimeter function.

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Both of these models sported highly technical designs that reflected the enormous amount of research that had spawned the miniaturised technology beneath their dials. But the next generation of this technology, which Citizen is introducing this year, has understatement as its byword. Thinner and lighter, with a titanium case, the new Eco-Drive Satellite Wave F100 now captures the signals from GPS satellites orbiting 20,000 kilometres above the Earth in just three seconds (over twice as fast as the previous model) and its hands immediately adjust to display the correct time in any of the 40 recognised time zones around the world.

SPECIFICATIONS: F100 Eco-Drive movement with satellite timekeeping system with worldwide reception, world time in 40 cities, perpetual calendar and power reserve indicator; accuracy +/- 5 seconds per month; case diameter 45.4mm, thickness 12.4mm, in titanium with matching titanium bracelet.

europa star / JAPAN 00

Despite brimming with technology, the dial is a model of understatement, with a clear display of central hours, minutes and seconds and date at 3 o’clock in the most conventional of arrangements. The only other indications are the discreet “NO”, “RX” and “OK” around the top of the dial (RX indicates a that the watch is in reception mode, then OK will indicate that a signal has been received or NO will indicate that no signal has been received) and an offset subdial underneath for the day of the week and a new indicator, subdivided into seven increments, that shows the level of light that is shining on the dial for charging the watch.

The large angular facets of the 45mm case are a refreshing new design reminiscent of watches from the 1970s. The bezel

is flush with the edge of the case, which opens up the dial even more and adds to the clarity. The three-letter abbreviations for the world’s major time zones are etched on the outer edge of the crystal, which also aids with clarity.

What the Eco-Drive Satellite Wave F100 loses in weight and clutter, however, it gains in accuracy, since the new F100 Eco-Drive movement offers accuracy to within +/- 5 seconds per month – three times more accurate than the previous model. It will be available from autumn 2014 in three versions: with black and silver dials on the titanium case and, as a limited edition of 500, with a coated titanium case and polyeurethane/titanium bracelet. p (PON)

CASIO, “SYNCHRONIZED TIMEPIECES” The main theme chosen by Casio for BaselWorld 2014 is “Synchronized Timepieces”. It is best seen in two watches, a new double-synchronized G-Shock and an Edifice that can be connected to a mobile telephone using Bluetooth® v4.0 technology.

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The G-Shock GPW-1000, with an analogue display, is the world’s first watch to use a hybrid system that can receive GPS signals and combine them with radio wave signals. The latter do not cover the entire planet. They are transmitted by six different stations, covering the territories of China, Japan, the four time zones of the USA, Great Britain and Germany.

By combining the reception of these radio signals and the GPS satellite signals, the new G-Shock can display the exact time – regardless of changes between summer and winter time – anywhere on the planet. Technically speaking, the watch uses Multi-Band 6 technology to receive the radio waves in the areas covered by this system (which is in turn controlled by atomic clocks and relayed by powerful antennas) and automatically switches to GPS reception where the signal is no longer available.

The G-Shock PGPW-1000 is fitted with a very low-energy GPS LSI chip which has been specifically developed together with Sony for use in a wristwatch.

Another analogue and connected new watch, the Edifice EQB50, connects to your smartphone using Bluetooth® technology.

It has a Bluetooth® Low Energy LSI ML7105 chip developed

with Lapis Semiconductor Co. While displaying time information from a smartphone, the watch allows its world time and alarm functions to be set from the same smartphone.

Both concept models feature Casio’s unique Multi-Mission Drive, which enables each watch hand to perform multiple functions. They are also equipped with a new shape of solar cell and motors that are 26 per cent smaller than before. These advancements have allowed Casio to create high-performance devices in the form of classic analogue watches, while maintaining outstanding readability and ease of use. p (PM)

europa star / JAPAN 109

SPOTLIGHT

MTG-S1000 – CROWNING THE G-SHOCK EVOLUTION Casio’s toughest brand G-SHOCK – one of the few genuinely iconic digital watches – needs no introduction. But 30 years after its launch, the brand understands that those who grew up with the G-SHOCK in their youth may now be looking for a more prestigious timepiece with a more refined look. Enter the Casio G-SHOCK MT-G. The MT in the name means “Metal Twisted”, since this trio of new models employs a fusion of metal and resin in the case to offer an elegant design yet maintain the absolute toughness that characterizes all G-SHOCK models. The MTG-S1000 is a venture into the premium watch segment, and yet remains true to the brand ethos.

The collection features a model in stainless steel, one in stainless steel with black IP coating and a limited edition in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the G-SHOCK, in black IP with red accents throughout the watch.

SPOTLIGHT / europa star

Smart Access This proprietary CASIO system for analogue movements combines multiple motors with an electronic crown structure for joint operation of various functions. Once unlocked, simple operation of the electronic crown makes actions such as World Time city selection and alarm setting even easier.

Layered Composite Band The solid stainless steel band is layered on the underside with soft-touch, low-thermal conductance resin panels for a luxurious feel against the skin and further enhances the MT-G’s overall shock resistance.

Core Guard Structure The central portion “core” of the watch, which is resin, is sandwiched between upper and lower metal frames and secured with shared tension screws cushioned with Alpha GEL®. This new Core Guard Structure enabled MT-G to achieve its Triple G Resist toughness. Additional protection is provided by the extremely scratch-resistant sapphire glass with non-reflective coating.

High Quality 3D Index The watch face’s legibility has been enhanced by employing a three dimensional, layered dial structure featuring individually molded parts such as the time index and dial frame, ensuring clear visibility.

Construction: Triple G Resist (shock-resistant, resistant to centrifugal gravitational force and vibration-resistant).

Water resistance: 200 metres.

Radio wave reception: Automatic reception up to six times a day (except for use in China: up to five times a day); manual reception.

World time: 29 cities (29 time zones; daylight saving on/ off; daylight saving time (summer time) auto switching between standard time and Universal Time Coordinated.

Stopwatch: 1/20-second stopwatch; measuring capacity: 120 minutes; auto-start.

Countdown timer: Measuring unit: 1 second; countdown range: 120 minutes; countdown start time setting range: 1 to 120 minutes.

Other functions: Automatic hands correction; daily alarm; full auto-calendar; battery recharge warning.

Power source: Tough solar power system (solar-charging system).

Continuous operation: About 27 months with the power-saving function on after full charge.

Case dimensions: 58.6 × 53.5 × 15.5 mm.

Total weight: Approx. 188 g.

www.g-shock.eu/euro/mtg www.casio-europe.com/euro

ADVERTISER’S SPOTLIGHT

Electro-mechanical innovation from ORIENT Mr Jiro Miyagawa, President & CEO of The ORIENT WATCH Company, says that 2013 was a good year for business and that “in an environment where the global economy was not always steady, ORIENT heightened its presence in numerous markets.”

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As usual, the growth was spearheaded by the company’s mainstream mechanical watches, as customers around the world take to the uniqueness of the brand’s made in Japan timepieces. Sales of the top-of-the-range ORIENT STAR mechanical collection surged at home in Japan, too, and the brand has expanded its market in Southeast Asia and other emerging economies to improve its market position. The ORIENT STAR SKELETON collection launched in 2013 was well received and undoubtedly helped to boost sales in this line. Models featuring the company’s advanced technology of ORIENT SAR COATING (Super Anti-Reflective coating), which offer a better quality than conventional models, also proved

popular. The main brand ORIENT also developed an extensive collection of mechanical watches at affordable prices to expand its market share.

“ORIENT utilizes Japan’s traditional mechanical watch technology to produce hi-tech quartz watches, and takes advantage of its advanced technology to develop mechanical watches.”

“We believe that 2014 will be yet another year of significant advances for ORIENT,” confirms Mr Miyagawa.

“In 2014, the company will market ORIENT STAR in new regions, and strengthen its marketing operations to spread the appeal of a ‘made-in-Japan automatic watch’ to the global market.

One of the brand’s latest products is the SpeedTech collection, which was launched in late 2013 and developed

U ERS by ORIENT WATCH The ERS is the first model from ORIENT WATCH to feature the Energy Recovery System (ERS) that captures wrist movements to generate power to recharge the battery of the quartz movement. Inside the stainless-steel and aluminium case is the quartz caliber KQA400, which has a 1/5th second chronograph. The chronograph functions are clearly readable in the upper half of the dial, with a semi-circular 45-minute counter on the right and a seconds counter on the left.

A subdial at 6 o’clock displays the hour and minutes, which are always clearly visible, even when the chronograph is running.

according to a “Technology x Design” remit, pursuing a sports watch concept that combines ORIENT’s own technology with vibrant, dynamic designs. Alongside the familiar mechanical models, the collection also includes two chronographs: one with a 1/100th second quartz chronograph caliber and the other with the brand’s ERS (Energy Recovery System) technology, which uses a mechanical self-winding system to recharge the battery in the movement.

The design cues in this collection are taken from the SUBARU BRZ GT300 racing car. ORIENT has a longstanding relationship with SUBARU, which competes in the Nürburgring 24-hour race in Germany every year.

As Mr Miyagawa explains, ORIENT uses this collaboration to “make the market aware that ORIENT utilizes Japan’s traditional mechanical watch technology to proproduce hi-tech quartz watches, and takes advantage of its advanced technology to develop mechanical watches.”

In these and other ways, ORIENT will continue to utiutilize its highly reliable technological capabilities to take advantage of its strengths and establish its position in the market. Future developments include a revamp of existing features and further innovations in mechanical watches. p Discover more at www.europastar.BIZ/Orient

europa star / ADVERTISER’S SPOTLIGHT 113

AMERICAN SPIRIT

A M E R I CA N S P I R I T Keith W. Strandberg

The home of industrialized watch production is back at it – in many forms.

The American spirit is alive and well in watchmaking.

In the 1800s and 1900s, America was a pioneer in watchmaking, developing affordable watches for the masses (the famous “dollar” watches), creating supremely accurate timepieces for the railroads, pushing boundaries of design and the use of innovative materials and much more.

Then, the Swiss, Japanese and Chinese kind of took over and the bulk of watch production moved offshore.

Today, however, there is a renaissance of sorts going on, with American companies coming to the forefront.

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DEFINING AMERICAN For this discussion, we are going to use the loosest definition of the word “American”. Included in the discussion are American companies, whether or not they are producing anything other than their designs in the USA. This covers the complete spectrum, from companies like RGM, Kobold and Devon, who make as much as they can in the USA, to companies like Hamilton, Ball, Harry Winston and Bulova, who started life as American companies but are now owned by foreigners, all the way to companies like Ralph Lauren, the Movado Group, Reactor, Timex, Nixon and others, who are American companies that choose to manufacture the designs they have created in Switzerland or other places in the world.

Shinola, perhaps the highest profile of all these companies, currently, is another case altogether. A joint venture between Bedrock Manufacturing and

114 AMERICAN SPIRIT / europa star

Ronda, a movement manufacturer in Switzerland, all the parts are delivered to the brand’s Detroit-based facility, then assembled there, allowing Shinola to say “Built in Detroit.”

THE RENAISSANCE OF AMERICAN WATCHMAKING It’s good for the watch industry that American companies are strongly in play – bottom line, it brings more attention to watches in general.

“There is no question that the Americans are beginning to get more active in the watchmaking industry,” says Ehren Bragg, Devon Works. “There are a lot of great brands doing a lot of innovative and creative designs that are resonating with people all over the world. But I also see the watch industry skewing to a new normal that is moving away from pure timekeeping and more toward high technology, tradi-

I SOARWAY DIVER

by Kobold

T ROADMASTER

by Ball

tionally an American strong suit. When and if Apple launches a smart watch, this shift will likely be very rapid.”

Media awareness in the USA has never been higher. “A resurgence has been underway for many years, but only very recently has this been picked up by the mainstream press (Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, etc.),” says Michael Kobold, president, Kobold Watch Company. “Kobold has been an American brand since its founding in 1998 and we have been a leader in the efforts to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. since 2004. Today we manufacture cases, dials, hands and even some movement components inhouse on modern CNC machines.

“Our watches are considered American made because our cases are 100% made in USA and we are working on producing an in-house movement that is also Made in USA and does not rely on Swiss components at all. American watches are often more retro-styled, and Kobold is no exception to this. We

produce our Soarway line here in the U.S. and the core design characteristic of the Soarway case is its strong nod to the Bauhaus movement, where form follows function.”

End consumers are sitting up and paying attention. Shinola sold out of its first production run in no time, and other companies are struggling to keep up with demand.

“I see a resurgence, big time, from assembly plants in Detroit with entry level brands like Shinola to midlevel experiments with several brands making cases to high end watches as my

I Left to right: ALPHA MARINE

by DeepBlue CLASSIC CHRONOGRAPH

by RGM

T ICON EXTREME LIMITED EDITION CARBON

by Savoy

friend Roland Murphy makes, things are for sure happening,” says Jeffrey Hess, president, Ball USA. American watchmaking companies are here to stay. “Americans were at the forefront of watch manufacturing, historically, and our influence is still felt in the watch industry as some of the great brands are still around today,” says Stan Betesh, president, Deep Blue Watches.

“Today we are proud to have more companies who actually assemble in the USA than just 10 years ago. Every year there are always new American watch companies being established, it’s actually sustaining them that’s important.”

THE AMERICAN SPIRIT Truly, America is a special place, like no other country on earth. As a result, the watch designs created here are unique and instantly recognizable as American.

“Even though we are Swiss Made, our customers are really responsive to the fact that I live in Fort Lauderdale, and that our designs are created here,” says Pascal Savoy, president, Savoy Watches. “Our watches are influenced by and reflective of the American culture in that they are bold and for people who are willing to think differ-

ently and express themselves. Miami is a vibrant city and a melting pot of so many different cultures and customs while remaining truly American. The tagline for our ads is ‘Independent, Distinctive, Non-traditional,’ we feel that that is what America is all about.”

A company like RGM gets a lot of ideas and inspiration from America’s great watchmaking past, according to Roland Murphy, owner, RGM Watches.

“You can see that in the movements we make, like the click on the 801, or the bridge design, and the caliber 20’s Motor Barrel system just to name a few. Also, the finishing techniques we use like the big polished dish in the winding wheels.”

Hamilton is one of the earliest American brands and the brand’s American heritage continues to inspire its designs even now, when the company’s headquarters are in Bienne, Switzerland.

“The American Spirit is the daring, the exuberance, the willingness to try,” says Sylvain Dolla, president, Hamilton Worldwide. “We always keep this in mind in whatever we do. Our new campaign is ‘One Story, One Dream,’ playing on the American dream, which still appeals to a lot of people, and is part of our

u europa star / AMERICAN SPIRIT 115

O Left to right: JAZZMASTER VIEWMATIC SKELETON GENT AUTO

by Hamilton FLINTRIDGE GENT

by Hamilton KHAKI PILOT PIONEER CHRONO QUARTZ

by Hamilton

DNA. There is an energy and an emotion that you can only get in the US.” Very often, American watch companies are willing to take chances that more traditional brands are not. “I feel Americans are more comfortable with risk and far less constrained by what’s been done before,” says Devon’s Bragg.

“We like to rock the boat. And this brave entrepreneurial spirit pervades our decisions every single day, empowering us to push the envelope and constantly innovate. The original concept for our Time Belts occurred to our designer as he was helping a friend change

the drive belt on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle - it doesn’t get much more American than that. He saw some writing on the belt and thought it would be an interesting idea to have a message printed there that could be read when the belt was in motion. This creative seed eventually sprouted into what would become our Tread 1 watch.”

David Yurman is an example of a brand born in the US, with a focus on real American design. “There’s a real intersection of craftsmanship, art and technology in American design, and I think there is always an appetite for

that combination,” says Evan Yurman, chief design director, David Yurman.

“Not just in watchmaking, but in everything from the automotive industry to fashion. I like to think that we’re at the forefront of it all. The American design aesthetic is about lifestyle and ultimately, the brand-to-client relationship. It embodies a certain spirit - non-conformity and elegance, technology and heritage.

David Yurman clients identify with and appreciate that freedom of design. As a designer, your experience and the world that surrounds you are the guiding principles that inform your work.”

u O Left to right: TREAD 1 EXOSKELETON

by Devon TREAD 2 GHOST

by Devon

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BASELWORLD Stand J 50 - Hall 2.0 27 Mars - 3 Avril 2014

GAINERIE 91 11 rue Mercure 91230 MONTGERON • FRANCE Tel : +33 (0)1 69 03 21 53 info@gainerie91.com

www.gainerie91.com

remains paramount. We have the best of both worlds, as our designs are created in America and often inspired by American spirit – but we still maintain the integrity, quality and credibility particular to the watch industry - of being Swiss Made brand.”

Swiss Made is definitely a cachet in the watch industry, and we shouldn’t expect American Made to supplant that anytime soon, though American watches are coming on strong.

BUYING AMERICAN

From the beginning, American companies were most concerned about precision, as in the earliest railroad watches.

“I think in general American companies are more focused on the actual overall performance of the watch, not the complication of the movement,” says Jimmy Olmes, president, Reactor. “Reactor is highly feature/benefit oriented and we listen to our customers to see what they want in their timepiece. From a business model, we are true partners with our dealers – many of the Swiss brands focus on what is best for them, without considering what is best for their dealers.”

SWISS MADE STILL MATTERS For many American companies, Swiss Made is an important part of who they are. Savoy, Hamilton, Ralph Lauren, the Movado Group, Harry Winston and more are all Swiss Made, and push Swiss excellence in their marketing.

“I believe there is definitely an increasing appreciation in the US for products that are Made in America,” says Pascal Savoy. “A lot of brands benefit from their American identity and culture.

For Savoy and for the watch industry, however, the Swiss Made label

There is some validity to the thought that Americans (and other nationalities) will buy American simply because it is American. Shinola, with its emphasis on Detroit and the American nature of the product, is certainly benefitting from this view.

“I find that the best predictor of a person’s likelihood to buy an American watch is less about nationality and more about an independent spirit,” says Devon’s Bragg. “People who pay attention to what’s been traditionally accepted as a luxury timepiece are generally going to follow the herd. Others who are analytical thinkers comfortable coming to their own conclusions and less influenced by zeitgeist will love the fact that a watch is American after they fall in love with the design or some other key attribute.”

Reactor’s Olmes agrees, saying that “the most important part of a buying decision is style, closely followed by the brand, or in the case of the better known Swiss brands, the brand is more important than the styling,” he says.

“If the consumer is not a watch snob then he/she is focused on styling, construction, and performance (feature/ benefit) and naturally price.”

American watches, however the definition, are here to stay. Thank goodness. p

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O Left to right: THE CLASSIC® TIMEPIECE, STEEL & 18K GOLD, 38MM

by David Yurman CLASSIC JUMPING HOURS LIMITED EDITION PVD

by David Yurman

O Left to right: SPECTRUM

by Reactor VALKYRIE

by Reactor

Stand J 50 - Hall 2.0 27 Mars - 3 Avril 2014

PACKING 91 7 rue du MarchĂŠ CH - 2520 LA NEUVEVILLE SUISSE Tel : +41 (0)3 27 51 22 53 info@packing91.ch www.packing91.ch

www.gainerie91.com

NEWCOMERS

BELTONN watches, or the enigmatic Mr. Inthavanh Antoine Menusier

This 34-year-old man from Paris has set up a brand that he sees as the alliance between watchmaking and jewellery, his previous profession.

Is he superstitious, sensible, smart? Christophe Inthavanh does not want to show his face. He is 34 years old, of Laotian origin and rather good looking, but none of that really counts for much. This mysterious and agreeable young man is a novice in the world of watchmaking.

He has set up his brand, Beltonn, located on the the FaubourgSaint-Honoré in Paris, which is just waiting to take off.

“I found the identity of the brand,” he says with some relief. “It allies watchmaking and jewellery.” This is self-evident, given the professional background of Christophe Inthavanh. He entered the world of jewellery when he was only little. “I was 12 years old,” he explains, “I had a natural manual talent for it.”

Born in France, but with relatives in the United States, Christophe Inthavanh grew up in Belton, a town in Texas. This is where the name of the brand comes from, although he added an extra “n” to avoid the “on” sound in French, which isn’t very glamorous. He trained as a jeweller in Paris, from 1999, and then went on to work as a freelancer in the workshops on the Place Vendôme and the Faubourg-Saint-Honoré. In 2007, using up his savings, he bought himself the object of his desires: a very beautiful watch. “A Chaumet,” he says.

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120 NEWCOMERS / europa star

I ELLIPTIC GRADE AVIATOR, MARINE and N07 GRANDE ENVERGURE DIAMANTS

by Beltonn

T PT950 PLATINUM

by Beltonn

This purchase marked the start of a new era in his life: watchmaking, or rather designing watches, became his passion. It was then that he realised that “the world of watchmaking is even more closed than that of jewellery”. But in his head he kept hearing encouraging voices that urged him on. He started to look for suppliers outside France. That was difficult! It took him three years to group them all together.

“Professional relationships in this field are mainly based on trust,” he reveals. The young designer, who is not a watchmaker by trade, conceives and designs watch models: it starts with a piece of paper and a pencil, then the computer takes over. The virtual is turned into reality in Switzerland. “I work with an independent Swiss watchmaker, who I prefer not to mention by name because he has other customers,” he explains. Beltonn watches, which are all automatic, are assembled in Switzerland, which means that they have the Swiss Made label. The straps come from Italy, the cases are machined in Switzerland and Germany and the movements are produced by the Swatch Group.

The models are called, among others, “Platinum”, “Elliptic Grade, “No 8 Classic Chrome”, “No 1 Distinction”. Prices range from 900 to 3,600 euros and the main materials used are steel, platinum, gold plating and diamonds. From his jewellery background, Christophe Inthavanh has inherited the attention to detail, precision and a taste for the established, even if he doesn’t make the watches himself. A mould has to be produced for each model and is designed on a computer. “Each mould costs 4,000 Swiss francs,” explains the boss of the “Maison Beltonn”, which today has “five or six employees”.

In the future, if the money rolls in and the brand is a success, he will add some solid-gold watches to his catalogue.

Christophe Inthavanh will be launching a new ladies’ model soon, called “Female Art”. “There will be sculpted elements on the strap, a snake’s tail, diamonds,” he enthuses with stars in his eyes. Although his watches are only available from a single store on the rue Saint-Roch in Paris for the moment, they will soon be found in other stores in France and later on worldwide, in the Middle East and Asia in particular. He hopes to be at BaselWorld in 2015. Then things will really start to take off. p Discover more at www.europastar.BIZ/Beltonn

NEWCOMERS

BARBOUR: From the waxed jacket to the wrist Paul O’Neil footwear and accessories to its extensive range of jackets for ladies and gents, which are sold in over 40 countries worldwide, from the United Kingdom as far afield as Japan.

Building on its 120-year history, Barbour now launches a range of timepieces under the Barbour and Barbour International brands at BaselWorld 2014 that will be designed, marketed and distributed by UK-based Zeon Ltd., which is a whollyowned subsidiary of the Hong Kong-based Herald Group.

“Barbour is known across the world for its iconic clothing, accessories and footwear,” says David Godfrey, Barbour’s Global Licensing Manager. “Developing a collection of watches is a natural evolution in our brand extension as we work towards our goal of becoming the best British lifestyle brand worldwide. The watches we have developed with Zeon are smart, contemporary classics that include features which are unique to Barbour such as our exclusive tartans and Barbour studs.”

Quintessential British brand Barbour has been family owned through five generations and to this day is based in South Shields on the north eastern coast of England. It is thanks to this location, which was a booming port when John Barbour established his company in 1894, that Barbour has such a reputation for two unique types of clothing, both of which evolved from John Barbour’s trade in oilskins for the sailors departing from the port.

The first is the waxed jacket, with its unique waxed cotton finish, that has been the staple garment of Britain’s hunters for decades. The second, known under the Barbour International brand, is the oiled cotton suit introduced by Duncan Barbour, of the third generation of the family, which became a hit among motorcyclists and was worn by virtually every single British International Six Day Trials team from 1936 to 1977, when the company ceased their production.

With these two iconic garments as a foundation, Barbour has grown into a genuine lifestyle brand, adding a range of shirts,

Q

U Watches from the Barbour International collection

Although the collection includes Swiss Made movements, Richard Tibber, Managing Director of Zeon, is keen to point out that the collections will be “totally designed in Britain” and will feature exclusive straps crafted from rugged quilted leathers.

You can see the new Barbour and Barbour International timepiece collections at BaselWorld on Zeon’s stand in Hall 2.0, Stand A51, along with the company’s other brands: Ingersoll, Bench, Braun, Penguin, Paul’s Boutique and Vivienne Westwood. p Discover more at www.europastar.BIZ/Barbour

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B41/F76

B55/F82

B16

M628

M531

Unit D, 10/F, World Tech Centre, 95 How Ming Street, Kwun Tong, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2345 4466 Fax: (852) 2797 8409 ansonmfg@ansonband.com http://www.ansonband.com

Swiss Office La Place No.1, 1274 Grens, Switzerland Tel: +41-22 776 8670 Fax: +41-22 776 8671 swissoffice@ansonband.com

SPORTS WATCHES

Who is going TO BE A GOOD SPORT? Paul O’Neil After an Olympic Winter Games earlier this year that broke records in terms of its cost if nothing else and a World Cup on the horizon this summer in football-crazy Brazil, the number of new sports watches presented for this year’s BaselWorld seems a little disappointing. Maybe Hublot and the new entrants into the world of football such as Bulova and JeanRichard will surprise us with some new footballrelated models at the show? And maybe we will see some innovative new models from the brands associated with Formula 1? Until then, the pickings seem slim – unless you are a fan of pilot’s watches or you’re looking for an affordable new version of an iconic design…

A

LOOKS FAMILIAR? DWISS is not a name that trips off the tongue (it is an abbreviation of Design Watch Independent – Switzerland).

This relatively young brand, which is based in Lugano, in the Ticino region of Switzerland, was set up by Brazilian designer Rafael Simoes, who is based in Milan. There is more than a whiff of Hublot to the brand’s designs, which mimic the design of the Big Bang with a sandwich construction and a rubber strap that integrates directly into the case, as well as a bezel affixed with screws. But the brand is not without its own innovations, having produced the world’s first watch in Niobium (actually the alloy Nb1Zr, which contains 1 per cent zirconium), a naturally occurring mineral that is both hypoallergenic and shock-absorbing, in conjunction with the world’s biggest miner of the

mineral, the Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineração (CBMM).

After testing the waters by launching the brand first in his native Brazil, Mr Simoes will be taking orders for his first collection for the international market, the Emme, at BaselWorld. Just like the Big Bang, its sandwich-style construction lends itself perfectly to different combinations of colours and materials, as shown by the “Silver Black” model illustrated, which has a 43mm diameter stainless-steel case with a black PVD bezel and an integrated black rubber strap with a steel folding clasp. The timekeeping is provided by an ETA 2824-2 calibre self-winding movement, which offers a power reserve of 42 hours and the Emme is water resistant to 100 metres / 330 feet.

French brand Burel is another newcomer with a design that bears an uncanny resemblance to an existing, well-known

I Left to right: EMME SILVER BLACK

by Dwiss Stainless-steel case, 43mm diameter, bezel with black PVD treatment, black dial and matching black rubber strap with steel folding clasp.

Powered by the ETA 2824-4 self-winding movement.

CLASS CAPE by Burel Stainless-steel case, 45mm diameter, with black PVD treatment, carbon dial, ETA 6498-1 manually-wound movement, black sail-canvas strap with black PVD buckle.

luxury brand. Here it is the distinctive shape of the case and crown, as well as the wire-loop strap attachments, that seem to have been “inspired” by Panerai’s 60 year-old Radiomir design.

But like DWISS, Burel (the brainchild of Guillaume Burel), adds its own unique touch to the watch. For on this “Class Cape” model there are no hands at all.

In a configuration that was inspired by compasses used for marine navigation, the time is instead displayed by a single carbon disc that forms the dial, which completes one revolution in twelve hours. Graduations for the hours and 30 minutes allow the time to be read off against a discreet red indicator at 12 o’clock. It is, however, the distribution model for this new watch that is most intriguing, because it is being offered on the crowdfunding platform Indiegogo. “Early bird” purchasers could even benefit from a reduction of 370 euros on the recommended retail price of 920 euros.

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to activate numerous functions of the quartz movement – in the case of the T-Race Touch no less than 11 different functions, including chronograph, lap times and even a logbook function for the avid racer to keep track of their progress. The lightweight case comes in a variety of colours and a synthetic strap keeps the weight down even further.

RACING IN THEIR BLOOD Motor racing fans will immediately recognise the striking light blue and orange colours of Gulf Oil international on the latest model from French brand Bernard Richards Manufacture (BRM).

Gulf has been involved in the world of motorsport since the 1960s but it is only since 2011 that there has been an officially licensed timepiece bearing the distinctive colours thanks to the partnership with BRM. The BT6-46-Gulf model is limited to 100 and features the distinctive Gulf colours as a band that dissects the dial vertically and continues along the strap. This lightweight model in grade 2 titanium is powered by the ETA 2824-2 self-winding movement with 38 hours of power reserve.

Lightweight is also the order of the day with Tissot’s new T-Race Touch model in aluminium. The brand has a strong heritage in motorsports, in particular through its sponsorship of the MotoGP motorbike racing series. But Tissot also boasts a unique technological prowess with its tactile watch crystals (Tissot was the first brand to present tactile watches 15 years ago) that can be used

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I BT6-46-GULF by BRM Grade 2 titanium case, 46mm diameter, with black PVD coating, black dial with Gulf signature stripe, ETA 2824-2 self-winding movement, sapphire crystal front and back.

For BaselWorld this year, Tissot presents a further innovation with the world’s first solar-powered touchscreen watches. The Tissot T-Touch Expert Solar is yet another lightweight piece, with a titanium case with black PVD coating and a choice of different straps. Its quartz movement offers almost every conceivable function that one might require in daily life or various sporting activities: perpetual calendar with day and week number, two alarms (one for the week, the other for the weekend), two time zones, weather forecast with relative pressure, altimeter with difference meter, chronograph with lap and split times and logbook, compass, timer, azimuth, regatta function and backlight.

HEADS IN THE CLOUDS While the Swiss air force celebrates its centenary in 2014, the watch brand most associated with pilots and aviation, Breitling, focuses on the 50th anniversary of Switzerland’s Patrouille Suisse aerobatic team with a special limited edition of its Chronomat dual time model. Its distinguishing features are the flight team’s logo on the small seconds subdial at 9 o’clock and the central second time zone hand which has a red tip in the shape of the F-5E Tiger II plane used by the Patrouille Suisse (which is one of the rare aerobatic teams to fly supersonic jets).

A 24-hour scale with inlaid numerals T Left to right: T-RACE TOUCH ALUMINIUM by Tissot Aluminium case with different options for colour coatings, multi-function quartz movement, tactile scratch-resistant sapphire crystal, water resistant to 100 metres, synthetic strap with pin buckle.

T-TOUCH EXPERT SOLAR by Tissot Anti-magnetic titanium case with black PVD coating, solar-powered multi-function quartz movement with accumulator charge indicator, tactile scratch-resistant sapphire crystal, water resistant to 100 metres, rubber, leather or leather and fabric strap or titanium bracelet.

I CHRONOMAT 44 GMT “PATROUILLE SUISSE 50TH ANNIVERSARY” by Breitling Stainless-steel case, 44mm diameter, with bidirectional ratcheted rotating bezel, cambered sapphire crystal over onyx black dial; Breitling calibre B04 COSC-certified self-winding chronograph movement with second time zone display and 70 hours of power reserve; water resistant to 200m / 660 ft.

steel case with a sunbrushed grey dial.

Both models have typical oversized pilot’s watch crowns and the signature Alpina triangle applied at 12 o’clock on the dial and, in red, as a counterweight to the central seconds hand.

FOR THE MURKY DEPTHS in black rubber on the bi-directional steel bezel allows a third time zone to be read, while timekeeping is provided

by Breitling’s proven B04 calibre self-winding movement with COSC chronometer certification and over 70 hours of power reserve.

Alpina, the sister brand of Frédérique Constant, also builds on its history of supplying aviation watches to continental air forces with two new Startimer models, the Startimer Pilot “Black Star” and the Startimer Pilot Automatic “Sunstar”. Both names speak for themselves, with the former being a large 44mm piece that combines the traditional look of a pilot’s chronograph with the modern appeal of a “stealth” case in stainless steel with a black PVD coating and the latter having a more classic 40mm brushed

I STARTIMER PILOT CHRONOGRAPH “BLACK STAR” by Alpina Stainless-steel case, 44mm diameter, with black PVD coating, grey sunray dial with Arabic numerals and luminous quarter-hour markers and hands; self-winding chronograph movement with 46-hour power reserve, leather strap, water resistant to 100m / 330 ft.

Victorinox celebrates its 25th anniversary in watchmaking this year with a new chronograph model in its Dive

I DIVEMASTER 500 CHRONOGRAPH by Victorinox Grade 2 titanium case, 43mm diameter, in sandblasted matte grey, helium valve at 9 o’clock, screw-in crown and pushers, uni-directional grade 2 titanium bezel, titanium grey dial, ETA 2894-2 self-winding chronograph movement, titanium bracelet with folding buckle, water resistant to 500m / 1,650 ft.

Master 500 collection. This limited edition of 500 comes with a lightweight yet robust grade 2 titanium case and bracelet in sandblasted matt grey - a colour that continues on the dial to give a very masculine monochrome look. Head down to the murky depths of the ocean (the watch is water resistant to 500 metres), however, and the copious use of luminescent material on the hands, dial and bezel brings the indications to life against the dark background, with different colours for the indications that refer to the hours and minutes. A consummate diver’s watch, complete with screw-in crown and pushers, helium escape valve and a uni-directional rotating bezel with dive-time scale, the Dive Master 500 chronograph is also equipped for the first time with a mechanical movement: the ETA 2894-2, which is visible through a transparent case back.

Given the classic and vintage styling of many of these sports watches, it almost seems as though the trend towards classicism, simplicity and understatement that we saw at this year’s SIHH might be set to continue at BaselWorld. Time will tell. p

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SPORTS

BELL & ROSS B-Rocket Keith W. Strandberg

Several years ago, Bell & Ross made its first foray into custom motorcycles as marketing tools when they teamed with Shaw Harley-Davidson in the UK to build the “Nescafe Racer”. The bike featured Bell & Ross graphics and a BR-01 watch mounted in the fuel tank. Raising the profile of Bell & Ross among a new clientele, and helping Shaw Harley-Davidson at the same time, the motorcycle toured the world, entering custom bike contests and appearing at watch events (you might remember that it was on display in the Bell & Ross booth in 2012). It even won several custom motorcycle shows and got a tonne of press, especially in mainstream magazines, blogs and websites.

This year, Bell & Ross and Shaw have teamed up again with a clean sheet project, a motorcycle and watch inspired by the “Right Stuff” era of the ‘60s and ‘70s.

“We decided to do another project together, developing a special bike inspired by the Bell & Ross universe,” explains Bruno Bellamich, the designer manager of Bell & Ross. “The name of the bike is the B-Rocket – we wanted to design a bike like a plane. The lines of the bike are inspired by aerodynamics, speed bikes and planes from the ‘60s – it’s a neo retro concept. For planes, the most mythical period is the

S

126 SPORTS / europa star

‘60s and ‘70s, with all those experimental planes and radical concepts. It’s a timeless instant – you don’t even understand what it is – is it a future concept or a different planet? This era expresses innovation and man’s intelligence.”

For Shaw Speed & Custom, the goal of the B-Rocket was to build something unique, something stimulating to the eye, and to be able to show it to the motorcycle media and the motorcycle community and have them understand what it was built for. “It is a straight line bike, airplane meets motorcycle,” says Steven C. Willis, Team Principal, Shaw Speed & Custom. “I wanted it credited for the engineering rather than just being a bike that someone put their brand name on. We wanted it understood in the biking world - I wanted to make sure everything we did was backed up by mechanical works.”

Unlike the first collaboration, this project also includes matching timepieces that share the same inspiration as the B-Rocket motorcycle.

“The bike came first, and the watch is a piece of the bike,” says Bellamich. “In the bike, there is a counter and the graphic design of the counter is designed by us, and the watch is inspired by the outside of the bike and the counter.”

I B-ROCKET

THE BIKE The bike is gorgeous, evocative of the era of the daredevil test pilots, fast airplanes and pushing every envelope available. Built for the straight line of the Bonneville Salt Flats, the motorcycle looks fast just standing still. The motorcycle used the Harley-Davidson Softail Blackline FXS as a base, but everything was modified for the B-Rocket – the bike looks like nothing else that has come before it. Streamlined and aerodynamic, the B-Rocket is meant to go fast – using a jetlooking nose cone, a cabin protecting the pilot from the wind blast, the twin turbines and the fin at the back. The 1,584 cm V-Twin engine has a custom exhaust system that sounds, in a word, awesome.

“I love that we have captured this era of the 1960s and 1970s,” says Willis. “It was an exciting project in that we had to unlearn everything we knew and develop a bike as if we were standing in that era. The most exciting part for me is when the frame has the wheels and the engine in it, and it comes to life. I love working with the Bell & Ross brand. The first bike was pretty sensational for both of us and to beat that was always the task, and I think we’ve done that with the B-Rocket.”

THE WATCHES In companion with the B-Rocket motorcycle, Bell & Ross is launching two new B-Rocket inspired watches at BaselWorld; the BR01 B-Rocket (at 46mm) and the BR03 B-Rocket (42mm). The BR01 version is a chronograph with tachymeter scale and three, uniquely designed counters. The BR03 model has a large date window and a power-reserve indicator. The

I BR01 B-ROCKET and BR03 B-ROCKET

padded leather of the straps is directly inspired by the bike’s cushioning, where the rider lies almost completely prone to pilot the bike.

“I like how the watch fits into the overall design mission,” says Bellamich. “It’s the perfect mix between the plane and the bike. When you see it, you know it is a part of the concept.”

THE FUTURE “The motorcycle will travel around the world to special events, exhibitions, shops, to show our customers what can be done, to allow them to dream,” says Bellamich. “What I like in this concept is that it’s not just putting our logo on the bike or a car, it’s the demonstration of our creativity applied to a motorcycle. It’s evident when you see the bike – you see the motorcycle, the plane and the Bell & Ross watch.

“This motorcycle and the watches are a window onto our know-how and it really helps us develop brand awareness,” he continues. “We will get a lot of exposure. To be completely honest, more people know Harley-Davidson and bikes than know Bell & Ross.”

You can expect to see the motorcycle and the watches in the Bell & Ross booth at the BaselWorld show (Hall 1, A33). Ask them to fire up the B-Rocket so you can hear the engine roar! p www.shawspeedandcustom.co.uk Discover more at www.europastar.BIZ/Bell-Ross

europa star / SPORTS 127

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SERVICE, PLEASE!

SERVICE EXPERIENCES WHERE THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD at the retail level – part 1 Keith W. Strandberg For some time, we at Europa Star have been following the service issue with our special section, “Service, Please!” We have profiled brands and their after sales service efforts, we have talked with end consumers and focused on how retailers handle their after sales service.

In this issue, for BaselWorld 2014, we bring you the first article in a two-part series that goes directly to the source to find out what key retailers around the world think about after sales, what their memorable experiences, both good and bad, have been, and how their business has been impacted by their service experiences.

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HERE’S WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY: Lisa Lyons, Graduate Gemmologist GIA, Clarkson Jewelers (Ellisville, Missouri, USA): I must say that I can’t quote a specific after sales experience on either instance – good or bad. I can tell you with confidence that Rolex has the very best after-sales customer service of any watch brand that we represent. Their take-in procedure is the most thorough, containing a very detailed description of the watch, history of service and more, and their service estimates are easy to understand and relate to a client. The repair turn-around time is very quick – four weeks from the time

it is received, and that includes return shipping via USPS registered mail! They also have the most liberal warranty repair I have seen – I have personally seen them cover a repair under warranty when it is outside of the two-year warranty by almost 12 months! They also give price considerations quite often if a client is just too far outside of the warranty. All of these things make it very easy for our sales associates to stand behind this brand and have confidence in the product.

With all of this being said, it is hard to compare other brands to them – it almost isn’t fair. I can say, far and away, that the worst service we receive is from Victorinox Swiss Army.

Considering that the watches are typically quartz, 12 weeks for a repair is absolutely ridiculous. The pricing is always appropriate, but their turn-around time is abysmal. Also, the staff they have taking calls is generally clueless.

Joachim Ziegler, president, Les Ambassadeurs (Switzerland): After Sales Service is for us a key component. A few weeks ago, a client came to collect his watch, after servicing by our internal watchmaker Erik Schurink. The client highly appreciated our very professional services.

The mentioned watch has a profound emotional value for him, as it was

“Customer expectations have never been higher than nowadays and it’s a daily challenge to not just meet these expectations, but to exceed them. ” Joachim Ziegler a gift from his grandfather when he was a little boy. Sharing his grandfather’s passion for watches, the client mentioned his grandfather’s dream watch, a rare timepiece by a famous brand. Since we always carry a very large selection of watches, we had exactly this particular model in store and the client’s dream came true. He bought the watch! Just another watch sold? No! Sharing our client’s passion for watchmaking and combining emotions with professionalism, these are the moments we live for at Les Ambassadeurs.

As part of our services we accept any watch for servicing, regardless whether we offer the brand or not. In some particular circumstances it may occur that servicing an external brand

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INTERNATIONAL TRADE SHOW

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might take longer than expected.

Long waiting times are not what Les Ambassadeurs stands for. Accordingly, we are constantly trying to improve our connections with third brands and watchmakers, to reduce delivery periods and enhance the collaboration.

Customer expectations have never been higher than nowadays and it’s a daily challenge to not just meet these expectations, but to exceed them. Our watchmakers share their experiences in After Sales daily with our sales staff and help them to further improve their knowledge and the experience for the customer.

Customer satisfaction leads to customer loyalty and After Sales Service plays a key role in this. A client sharing his positive experiences is a priceless advertisement. We are proud to have several master watchmakers in all our stores, ready to share our customers’ passion and to ensure their satisfaction long after a watch has been bought.

Every watch we sell and service has its own story, and Les Ambassadeurs is proud to be part of this special bond.

Alon Ben Joseph, Ace Jewelers (Amsterdam, The Netherlands): As the major groups consolidated the distribution (read: take over wholesale activities from independent wholesalers), the brands obviously also took over local after sales service. After some years, as publicly listed companies do, they needed to cut costs, which resulted in centralized after sales centres.

In some situations it worked to our benefit: Richemont does it for seven North-West European countries in Amsterdam, 100 metres from our flagship boutique; for us, a blessing, for a colleague in Norway, though, a headache. Swatch Group decided

to centralize all after sales activities in Brussels for all accounts in the BeNeLux region. LVMH decided to cater to all dealers from Germany.

In general, they all try to maintain a turn-around time of 21 working days, but this is more often an exception rather than the rule. Someone that has been guaranteeing these deadlines is Breitling for over 20 years in The

“Brands should not focus so much on other watch brands, but benchmark with other industries.

I refer to after sales service in the IT industry for example.” Alon Ben Joseph Netherlands already. They really invest in their local after sales centres. We hear this about Breitling from all our colleagues and consumers in Europe, and even US and Asia!

Our worst experience is a generic one that goes for all of us in the industry: We as an industry do not take after sales service serious enough and don’t see this as a part of marketing. In our industry we are much too focused on sales and not focused enough on after sales service. Brands should not focus so much on other watch brands, but benchmark with other industries. I refer to after sales service in the IT industry for example. We all know what well-oiled after sales machines Apple, Dell and Vodafone are, for example.

They all have four hour replacement services, they work with RMA (real time & online) tracking numbers on consumer level and have turn-around times of seven working days on average (more the rule than the exception)! We are losing ground to these guys and not to other brands in our own industry. We really need to wake up! And, I don’t think this is exclusive for the IT industry, same goes for the car industry, they really improved their after sales service and communication on consumer level on this subject!

Jewellers have come into a catch-22 situation: On the one hand brands stopped supplying original spare parts, so jewellers have to send in watches to the brand’s service centres. On the other hand, the barriers/demands/rules and investments are so steep to set up an in-house repair centre, it is nearly impossible to accomplish for family owned business with approximately five points of sale or less. The result is that jewellers are 100% relying on brands, but in the EU, retailers are by law responsible for every item they sell, their hands are tied when there is a dispute with an after sales issue. On top of that the brands have jacked up prices drastically and screwed down profit margins for jewellers to sometimes less than 10%. The impact of this

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situation is a triple lose situation: the consumer loses faith in his watch and the brand (lost consumer faith); the jeweller does not only lose money, as the 10% margin brands permit is never enough to cover shipping, handling, insurance and sales activities (as a consumer never accepts a price quote in one go today, image lost for jeweller); and, finally the brand faces negative goodwill (reverse effect of marketing).

To answer the question how important after sales service is for our business is very simple. Our father always told us: to gain a customer is very easy!

To retain one is very difficult. So, our business philosophy is to do whatever it takes to solve an issue with a

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consumer and retain their faith and business. Hence after sales service is a pillar in our operations and important part of our turn-over, but I need to emphasize that it is a negative ROI factor. Hence, we treat it as marketing, as it costs money and we see it as an investment in our customer base.

Denis Asch, owner, L’Heure Asch (Geneva, Switzerland): One of my best experiences was with Greubel Forsey. When I received the ordered piece, I called the client and he came in to pick it up at my store.

Because I knew my client well, I made a special Macassar ebony custom-made

watch box that had space for 12 pieces.

He came in the store and when he saw the custom-made box he was really surprised. He told me, “Normally all the stores I go to, they abuse and take everything for granted, as if it was normal that I’m spending money. This is the first time that a store has showed such generosity. And how did you know that the Macassar Ebony was my favourite

“What will make the difference is the personal touch, the service that will make you UNIQUE.” Denis Asch wood?” He was so overwhelmed by what we did that he bought another tourbillon from another brand!

My worst experience was when a client had to make a deposit to the brand in order to pre-book a complicated model from a niche brand. After more than two years after the promised deadline, the client asked for his money back.

The brand didn’t have that money anymore, so I had to sue the brand to get the money back for the client.

This bad experience is a bad image for the brand and the store, even if in that situation I’m not responsible, the client will always blame the store indirectly.

You can lie only once to a client, and if you don’t take good care of him, he will forget you very quickly. Now that you can find anything on the web, more and more clients know more than you know about the watch. Too many stores are fooling them or taking advantage of them.

In after sales service the most important word is “Service”. Clients have more and more choice to buy their watches. Even for niche brands. What will make the difference is the personal touch, the service that will make you UNIQUE. It can be a service before sale

or after sale. Some people don’t care about discounts, the service makes the difference, like organizing a manufacture visit with a chauffeured car or with a helicopter. Details will keep him coming back, like remembering a birthday or a wedding anniversary, for example.

I had another client who wrote me to thank me for his purchase. When he first came he was very badly dressed with dirty clothes. He said I was really badly dressed and you treated me like a king. The lesson is don’t judge the client by the way he looks, we have to listen to him very carefully first!

Chiara Pisa, CEO, Pisa Orologeria (Milan, Italy): My best experience relates to a pocket watch from the 1800s that we received for service – this was a piece of high cultural and historical value. The owner, who was a passionate collector, was desperate to fix the damage as this timepiece had been passed on in his family from one generation to another. It was an historical watch, char-

acterized by interesting complications such as a chronograph, hour-minute repeater and perpetual calendar. Pisa’s laboratory, thanks to its competence, managed to repair this priceless watch in just 15 days.

My worst experience relates to an historical dive watch from the 1960s.

This important timepiece, carefully analyzed by us, was brought in to replace the dial, which was worn out,

“Our passionate technicians are always ready to manage different customer needs thanks to a passion that originated through a path of study and technical knowledge of watchmaking.”

Chiara Pisa as often happens after such a long time. Unfortunately, the original dial design was out of production and the manufacturer sent it back with a brand new modern dial that granted a perfect functionality but deprived the watch of its historical value. The

hardest part was to inform the client of the technical choice made by the manufacturer.

Our after sales service increases the value of products we offer – our passionate technicians are always ready to manage different customer needs thanks to a passion that originated through a path of study and technical knowledge of watchmaking. Thanks to this, our customers have the opportunity to receive a quality service that can preserve and keep the value of their precious timepieces. In fact, such valuable items that are passed on through generations need to be taken care of and sent in for maintenance every four or five years for a complete check-up.

For us, after sales service is very important because it allows us to provide the client with a total assistance that begins with the sales but does not end there. (…)

You can read the second part of this article on the best and worst of customer service in the next issue of Europa Star.

europa star / SERVICE, PLEASE! 135

SERVICE, PLEASE!

The customer’s perspective GHITA RAMDHIANSING Keith W. Strandberg

Ghita Ramdhiansing is a coach and trainer in Amsterdam, specialising in organisational and personal development. She started her love affair with watches early and she made a deal with herself when she was young that one day she would have a Breguet, which she considered the crème de la crème of watches.

She now has two.

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Ghita Ramdhiansing

A serious collector, Ramdhiansing has visited the Breguet manufacturer, as well as the A. Lange & Söhne facility in Glashütte.

“I feel that watchmaking is art,” Ramdhiansing says. “I have seen watchmakers working on my own watch, which is a real treat. When you know something about watches, you appreciate each brand for what it is. For me, the appeal of watches is a combination of the appearance and the history behind the company. People don’t expect me to wear a fine watch, so most don’t pay much attention, but those who recognise that I am wearing something special on my wrist, I have an instant connection with them.”

Owning a wide range of timepieces, from the simple to the complex, means that Ramdhiansing has had both good and bad service experiences, though the negative ones tend to

“The complaint that I hear the most is the time that it takes to have a watch serviced or repaired. If the brands are up front and honest, at least you know what to expect.” stand out more. “In after sales, the problem with the big brands in general is that once you have purchased a watch, if something happens, it always takes months before you get your watch back,” she details. “I have even had the experience where my watch was lost in after sales service – they found it finally, but come on! I didn’t even get a proper explanation.

“In after sales service, there aren’t many brands I know that are doing it well,” she continues. “The complaint that I hear the most is the time that it takes to have a watch serviced or repaired. If the brands are up front and honest, at least you know what to expect. But the long timeframes are unacceptable. A friend of mine has been waiting for her watch

136 SERVICE, PLEASE! / europa star

for more than one year. With jewellery, I have personally had pieces disappear for a year or more.”

Ramdhiansing puts the responsibility on the retailer first, because they are the intermediary between the brand and customer. “When you buy something, everything is possible,” she says with a wry smile. “They put a lot of effort into selling the watch to you, but when after sales service comes, they are often indifferent. I have never had any problems with my jeweller here in Amsterdam -- ACE Jewelers -- it’s always a pleasure to work with them. They are always helpful, open and honest.

“I had a big problem with Bertolucci, for example,” she continues. “It took me three months to get an estimate, and it took another five months to get the watch repaired and returned. That’s really unacceptable. There are some complicated watches that require a longer time for a complete service, but if there is just a small thing to be done, it should be done much quicker.”

Ramdhiansing definitely considers her past after sales service experiences before she buys her next watch. “Once I bought a bracelet from a Richemont Group brand and I had a problem with the clasp, and it took me 14 months to get it repaired,” she remembers. “To this day, I think twice before I buy something from the group.”

Like most collectors, Ramdhiansing is in contact with people like herself and they share their experiences.

“When people around me have a bad experience, we all hear about it and it impacts our decision making,” she says. “If the after sales reputation of a brand is not good, I will not pay big money for a watch that will have problems.”

Retailers and brands have to pay a great deal more attention to after sales service and do everything possible to reduce the waiting time and improve communication to the end consumer.

Ramdhiansing knows how amazing the watch companies are when it comes to designing and manufacturing fine watches.

To satisfy collectors like her, they need to be equally as amazing when it comes service and repair.

Many thanks to Ghita Ramdhiansing for candidly sharing her experiences and her thoughts. p

WORLDWATCHWEB

DEMAND FOR SWISS LUXURY WATCHES CONTINUES TO GROW Laetitia Hirschy, International Intelligence & Communications Manager, Digital Luxury Group

1. Despite a slowdown in sales in Asia, global consumer demand for luxury watches grew by +5.7%.

2. The Chinese luxury market is not dead: Interest in all luxury watch categories continues to escalate, led by Omega, Cartier and Rolex.

3. The Brazilian market fails to deliver amid high expectations (-2.9%) ahead of an important year for luxury watch brands in the market (World Cup and Olympic Games in 2016).

4. Cie. Financière Richemont SA is the fastest growing conglomerate (+13.08% in online demand).

5. Ladies’ watches rise in popularity (+7.5%) led by China and Swatch Group brands.

6. Mobile Revolution: Instagram is the most engaging social media platform among watch aficionados with nearly three times Facebook’s average engagement rate, while in China searches for Haute Horlogerie brands using mobile phones increased by +120%, according to exclusive data shared by Baidu.

For the 10th consecutive year, Digital Luxury Group releases the WorldWatchReport™, the leading market research in the luxury watch industry. After the release of the Haute Horlogerie Preview (18 brands) of the report in January at SIHH, the complete 2014 BaselWorld edition (62 brands, 20 markets) is now available.

Despite a slowdown in sales in Asia, global consumer demand for luxury watches grew by +5.7%.

Global demand was fuelled once again by BRIC markets with the highest year-to-year increases in China (+59.4%), Russia (+20.4%) and India (+12.0%). Historically established mature markets such as Germany (-9.2%), the United States (-7.9%), and Japan (-5.5%), experience single digit demand decline, whilst Italy (+8.8%) and the United Kingdom (+3.1%) see growth in interest versus 2012.

The Chinese luxury market is not dead: Interest in all luxury watch categories continues to escalate, led by Omega, Cartier and Rolex. Š Digital Luxury Group, DLG SA, 2014

Global consumer interest for luxury watches grew +5.7%

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138 WORLDWATCHWEB / europa star

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(Jan.2013 – Dec. 2013)

Though sales at home may have declined, Chinese thirst for luxury watches is not showing any signs of slowdown, according to exclusive data shared for the first time by Baidu, China’s leading search engine, for Digital Luxury Group.

The Brazilian market fails to deliver amid high expectations (-2.9%), ahead of an important year for luxury watch brands in the market (World Cup and Olympic Games in 2016).

Despite growing international attention and key events driving important brand related investments, the market predicted to become the next big thing, fails to deliver on its promises. Will upcoming events such as the FIFA World Cup and the summer 2016 Olympics finally help the luxury watch category take off in Brazil?

Cie. Financière Richemont SA is the fastest growing conglomerate (+11.2% in online demand).

Richemont’s Maisons’ focus on Haute Horlogerie and Watch and Jewellery brands in its portfolio benefited the group, thanks to rising interest in the categories globally (+13.2% and +13.0% respectively) but especially among Asian markets and Chinese luxury travellers.

Ladies’ watches rise in popularity (+7.5%) led by China and Swatch Group brands.

The United States accounts for over one quarter of all demand for ladies’ watches but the category is booming in China, with

an increase of +145.5% versus the previous year. Brands benefiting from the highest year-to-year growth are: Omega (+88.3%), Vacheron Constantin (+66.2%) and Chopard (+18.9%). The segment however, remains dominated by far by Rolex, accounting for over one quarter of all interest (26.5%).

Mobile Revolution: Instagram is the most engaging social media platform among watch aficionados with nearly three times Facebook’s average engagement rate, while in China searches for Haute Horlogerie brands using mobile phones increased by +120%, according to exclusive data shared by Baidu.

Acquired by Facebook for $1 billion in 2012, the fastest growing social media platform in 2013 (+23% increase in active users vs. -3% for Facebook1), Instagram was the most engaging social media platform among watch aficionados with nearly three times Facebook’s average engagement rate. Among the 3 million luxury watch fans (not taking into account Couture category brands such as Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Dior, which ben10 efit from recognition from other segments and Tiffany & Co.), Audemars Piguet generated the highest engagement with an 8 average of 5.7% whilst Hublot led with the highest number of 7 fans (117K by the end of 2013). Meanwhile, in China, searches 6 for Haute Horlogerie brands using mobile phones increased by +120% according to data shared exclusively with DLG by Baidu, China’s largest search engine. p 1

GlobalWeb Index report, January 2014

62 Brands Tracked Haute Horlogerie: A. Lange & Söhne, Audemars Piguet, Blancpain, Bovet, Breguet, De Bethune, Franck Muller, GirardPerregaux, Glashütte Original, Greubel Forsey, Jaquet Droz, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Parmigiani, Patek Philippe, Richard Mille, Roger Dubuis, Ulysse Nardin, Vacheron Constantin.

Watch and Jewelry: Bulgari, Cartier, Chaumet, Chopard, Harry Winston, Jacob & Co., Piaget, Tiffany & Co., Van Cleef & Arpels. Couture: Chanel, Dior Watches, Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Ralph Lauren. Prestige: Breitling, Corum, Hublot, IWC, Omega, Panerai, Rolex, TAG Heuer, Zenith. High Range: Baume & Mercier, Bell & Ross, Bremont, Carl F. Bucherer, Concord, Ebel, Eberhard, Frédérique Constant, Graham, Longines, Louis Erard, Maurice Lacroix, Montblanc, Perrelet, Rado, Raymond Weil, Romain Jerome, Sinn, TechnoMarine, Tudor, Vulcain 20 Markets Analyzed Brazil, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States

europa star/ WORLDWATCHWEB 139

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EDITORIAL & ADVERTISERS’ INDEX 88 Rue du Rhône 81 A Ace Jewelers 132, 136 A. Lange & Söhne 136 Alpina 125 Anson Band 122 Antima S.A. 90 Armand Nicolet 102 ARSA 104 Ateliers Pascal Vincent Vaucher 77, 85 Audemars Piguet Renaud & Papi (APRP) 59 Auguste Reymond 104 B Ball 114 Barbour 71, 121 BaselWorld 6, 23, 24, 27, 32, 36, 42, 79, 125 Bell & Ross 126-127 Beltonn 120 Blancpain 18, 40 Braun 75 Breguet 40 Breitling 125 BRM 124 Bulgari 54, 56 Bulova 43 Burel 123 C Carl F. Bucherer 19, 78-79 Cartier 18, 20 Casio 109, 110-111 Certina 41 Chanel 4-5, 20, 58-59 China Haidian 27, 74, 76 China Watch & Clock Fair (CWCF) 133 Citizen 108 Clarkson Jewelers 130 Corum 74

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D David Yurman 118 De Bethune 16-17 DeepBlue 115 Devon 116 DeWitt 68-69 Digital Luxury Group 8, 138-139 Dior 57 Dubois Dépraz 15, 88 Dwiss 123

E Emile Chouriet 6061, 94 Emporio Armani 90-91 EPHJ 131 Ernest Borel 37, 87-88 ETA 15, 27, 34, 41, 88, 90, 97, 123, 125 Eterna 27, 74, 76

K Kobold 114

F Folli Follie 55, 98-99 Fossil 90-91 Frédérique Constant 84, 86 G Gainerie91 117, 119 Girard-Perregaux 62, 64, 65 Glashütte Original 42 Gucci 18, 62, 64 H Hamilton 116 Hermès 13, 18, 57 HKTDC 137 H. Moser & Cie. 66 I Ice-Watch 89 Ingersoll 63, 67 J Jacob & Co. 72 Jaeger-LeCoultre 2-3

L La Joux-Perret 15 Les Ambassadeurs 130 L’Heure Asch 44-47, 134 Links of London 53, 99 Longines 14, 40 Louis Vuitton 11, 18 LVMH 12, 18, 132 M Manufacture Royale 106 Maxell 141 MB&F 6 Mido 41 Miyota 105 Moscow Watch Expo 142 N Nobel Watch 143 O Obaku 92-93 Ogival 49 Omega 18, 38, 39, 62 Orient Watch Company 112-113 P Patek Philippe COVER I, 28-31 Pforzheim 100-101 Pisa Orologeria 135 Porsche Design 27 Promotion SpA 103 R Raboud Group 128-129 Rado 40 Raymond Weil 80-81

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EUROPA STAR HBM

Europa Star HBM SA, Route des Acacias 25, CH-1227 Carouge/Geneva - Switzerland Tel +41 22 307 78 37, Fax +41 22 300 37 48, contact@europastar.com • www.europastar.com Publisher: Philippe Maillard EUROPA STAR EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief: Pierre M. Maillard • pmaillard@europastar.com International Editor: Keith W. Strandberg • keiths821@aol.com Senior Editor: D. Malcolm Lakin • mlakin@europastar.com Editor China: Jean-Luc Adam, Woody Hu • watches-for-china@europastar.com Editor Spain: Carles Sapena • csapena@europastar.es Art: Alexis Sgouridis • asgouridis@europastar.com Editorial Consultant: Casey Bayandor • cbayandor@europastar.com Asst. Publisher: Nathalie Glattfelder • nglattfelder@europastar.com CONTRIBUTORS • France: Antoine Menusier • Australia: Martin Foster • Italy: Paolo de Vecchi • Germany: Gerhard Claussen, Timm Delfs • Russia: Vyacheslav Medvedev • Portugal: Miguel Seabra MARKETING & CIRCULATION PRINT/E-MEDIA Marketing & Circulation Director: Nathalie Glattfelder • nglattfelder@europastar.com Marketing & Circulation Manager: Jocelyne Bailly • jbailly@europastar.com ADVERTISING / INTERNATIONAL SALES DIRECTORS Switzerland / Italy / US: Casey K. Bayandor Tel: +41 22 307 78 37 Fax: +41 22 300 37 48 • cbayandor@europastar.com Europe & International: Nathalie Glattfelder Tel: +41 22 307 78 37 Fax: +41 22 300 37 48 • nglattfelder@europastar.com Spain: Carles Sapena Tel & Fax: +34 93 112 7113 • csapena@europastar.es Asia: Maggie Tong Tel: +852 9658 1830 Fax: +852 2527 5189 • maggietong@europastar.com Ukraine: Julia Mostovenko Tel: +38 044 205 4088 Fax: +38 044 205 4099 • jmostovenko@karavan.ua PUBLISHING & PRODUCTION PRINT/E-MEDIA Advertising Manager: Laurence Chatenoud • lchatenoud@europastar.com Editorial, Production & Advertising Coordinator: Talya Lakin • tlakin@europastar.com MANAGEMENT / ACCOUNTING Business Manager: Catherine Giloux. Tel: +41 22 307 78 48 • cgiloux@europastar.com Credit Manager: Alexandra Montandon. Tel: +41 22 307 78 47 • amontandon@europastar.com MAGAZINES Europa Star - Europe - International - USA & Canada - China Latin America / Spain - Ukraine, Europa Star Première, Bulletin d’informations, Eurotec, CIJ International Jewellery Trends & Colours WEBSITES www.worldwatchweb.com, www.europastar.com, www.watch-aficionado.com, www.watches-for-china.com, www.horalatina.com, www.europastar.es, www.europastarwatch.ru, www.CIJintl.com, eurotec-online.com E-newsletters: www.europastar.com/newsletter MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTION One year 6 issues, CHF 100 Europe, CHF 140 International.

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LAKIN@LARGE

This could leave A BITTER TASTE IN YOUR MOUTH D. Malcolm Lakin What did Thomas Prescher, Menton, oranges and lemons have in common in February this year? The answer is … Jules Verne.

Thomas, who launched his eye-catching creation Nemo Sub I, a steampunk submariner mechanical watch with an automaticwinding bi-axial tourbillon and triplepiece case that is produced mostly from precision machined synthetic sapphire crystal, was inspired by Jules Verne’s Nautilus from his 20,000 leagues under the Sea. 18 carat red gold and palladium are used for this highly original watch case which is divided into three main pieces including a large central tube and two smaller tubes on the sides which indicate the hours and minutes as they are connected by a discreet gear shaft to the cylindrical mechanical movement that is placed inside the larger main tube.

The movement has a half-cylinder-shaped automatic rotor that winds in each direction powering the bi-axial tourbillon movement that turns on two axis points in 60-second rotations. At the rear of the main case is a second gyroscopic-style automatic rotor that Thomas Prescher says is used for ‘purely whimsical purposes’: its function is to power the propellers’ shafts located in each of the side tubes which exist to complete the submarine fantasy in the world of Captain Nemo.

Whilst this science fiction-styled timepiece was being lauded by horological aficionados, Menton was holding its 81st Fête du Citron amidst plaudits by admiring agrarians and, by sheer coincidence unless Thomas has sway with the powers that be on the Côte d’Azur, the theme was Jules Verne’s 20,000 leagues under the Sea.

W

144 LAKIN@LARGE / europa star

For two weeks flotillas of charabancs and coaches arrived in a murky haze of exhaust fumes which left many an asthmatic’s life expectancy shortened through carbon monoxide poisoning and changed the decorative orange trees in the streets into what looked like a new coal-bearing arborial genus. From the panoramic point of view, the normally sedate palm treelined seafront between the old town and the Italian border where the motorized armada was parked was turned into an eyesore that resembled a monstrous mechanical graveyard.

Apart from some 18 carat gold that could be seen around the necks of the fur-coated Italian and German ladies who arrived on a daily basis along with the fresh fish and the newspapers, similarity between the Nemo Sub I and the Fête du Citron ended with the exception of the human tourbillon that was created during certain hours as visitors turned in contemplative circles around the massive exhibits of Captain Nemo playing his organ, the Nautilus, Atlantis, an enormous whale, a giant crab and a gigantic octopus, all

The Nemo Sub 1

by Thomas Prescher Captain Nemo without a watch.

The entrance to the Fête du Citron display.

The rubber band technique.

of which were depicted using enough oranges and lemons to supply Queen Elizabeth II with enough marmalade for breakfast for the foreseeable future.

To create those fruity displays, 75 cubic metres of braided boxwood was used for the basic frames, 100 tonnes of citrus fruit made up the exhibits - around 30 kilos of fruit per square metre – and another 10 tonnes were used to replace any damaged or decomposing fruit during the two weeks of the Fête, a process that we safely describe as lemon-aid.

Finally, the thousands of oranges and lemons were held in place by some 500,000 elastic bands and the entire displays, including the floats that are paraded through the town five times during the fortnight, took appropriately 20,000 hours of work to complete.

Which, not unsurprisingly reminds me of the sad tale of two close friends, an orange and a carrot, that were walking down the street when a car completely out of control mounted the pavement and hit the carrot. The orange rushed him to the local hospital and after a lengthy wait a doctor with an ominous look came into the waiting room and said to the orange, “I’ve got some good news and some bad news.”

The orange asked for the good news first, and the doctor replied, “Your friend is going to live.” “Thank goodness for that. And the bad news?” asked the distraught orange.

The doctor lowered his eyes and said, “I’m afraid he’s going to be a vegetable for the rest of his life!”

Well you’ve got to laugh haven’t you? p

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