Watch
EDITORIAL EXAMPLES
J EWELRY
Ode to Joy
Fawaz Gruosi
CEO of de Grisogono Interview by Claudia Trimde // Photography by Stephane Chiche
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n 2013, Fawaz Gruosi celebrated the 20th Anniversary of de Grisogono. Since the brand’s creation, he has raised it to the rank of one of the most famous international luxury brands of its generation with passion, creativity and innovation. de Grisogono has been loyal to its unique elegant, graceful style continuing to do so by introducing new innovative models at Baselworld 2014.This year de Grisogono focused all of its new products on the feminine segment with the arrival of the Allegra timepiece, a collection complementing the already existing jewelry line. Fawaz Gruosi, founder and president of the brand, tells Le CITY deluxe what to watch out for this season.
APR-MAY 2014
Tell us what de Grisogono is going to dazzle its clients with this year? As usual, we released 5 new collections, along with 2 existing ones with some new added models. This year we didn’t release any watches for men so attention is all on the ladies. We have made two models of exquisite women’s timepieces. The first watch is a part of the Allegra collection. It’s an incredible watch which we believe is going to be very successful, and then we have another timepiece which is quite expensive. It is surrounded with a lot of diamonds, emeralds and sapphires. Moreover, as expected of the brand, we have something totally insane.There is a watch which is quite big and in shape of a skull. It’s going to be covered in white diamonds and black diamonds.
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Why does your focus lie solely on the ladies? Why not appease both genders this season? I love women. But the main reason why we
have shifted our attention is because our men’s collection is already quite extensive and so I thought this year we’d do things differently. I think the new models are going to be quite trendy and unexpected, because people usually expect the same from me. This line was not very obvious. Next year we will release something for men.
“This year is focused much more on the creative execution”
You are notorious for utilizing black diamonds in your pieces. Are we going to see a lot of that this year? There are no specific stones, as I am working with materials that are available in the market. What you will see this year is focused much more on the creative execution rather than just a specific material. It’s not easy to find material that have not been used, but by the end of this year we will come up with something using a material that has not been widely put to use. Baselworld is a great event to meet your customers from all over the world. In which market do you think you will be more in demand? de Grisogono has been very fortunate to have customers from all over the world, so when we
are present at Baselworld, we have noticed that people from different countries come to view our collections. Be it United States, Russia, Turkey, Kazakhstan. All of those clients are at Basel where they make an order for the next 12 months. Moreover, each country is different and has different demands. It’s hard to compare these markets because their requirements are very unique. For example, you cannot compare Moscow to Rome, since transactions taking place are not the same. Russians tend to purchase more expensive lines, while the Italians and French acquire lines with a more modest price tag. Since you have recently opened a boutique in Miami, share your thoughts on the Florida market. What has your experience been like? It is hard to evaluate the market with the newly opened boutique. The first three months have been challenging, however in September of last year the sales have exploded and our South Florida store has outdone many others. Who purchases more in South Florida: Locals or tourists? Locals do purchase but there are also a lot of foreigners from South America, Arab Emirates, Russia. The whole world comes to Miami. de Grisogono’s prices are the same throughout the world, what’s different are the taxes in each country, so some people would prefer to do a purchase elsewhere just for that reason
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WATC H ES
Fashionably Prompt BaselWorld 2014 came to a close and once again succeeded in bringing together over 150,000 attendees. It has underlined itself as the most important trend-setting event for the world’s watch and jewelry industry. Here are some highlights of the most couture timepieces from this year’s blockbuster event.
Men
Hermès Dressage L’heure masquée Issued in gold or steel limited series of 500 and 1,000 respectively, this playful stage-setting is orchestrated by the ingenious interaction of the rack, pinion and gear trains. Manufacturemade composition, self-winding calibre H1925 is equipped with an exclusive patented module enabling it to play this uniquely personal musical score
Men
Graff Diamond GyroGraff
TUDOR GRANTOUR
APR-MAY 2014
This year, TUDOR is giving a new dimension to the Grantour line, its collection devoted to passion for motor sports, by redesigning its Grantour Date and Grantour Chrono models and introducing a new model : the Grantour Chrono Fly-Back. This most recent addition to the collection allows consecutive time intervals to be measured rapidly thanks to its on the fly chronograph reset and instant restart functions
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Men
The perfect union of watchmaking and jewellery, this new timepiece from Graff shines the spotlight on a gyroscopic moon phase and a double-axis tourbillon, no less. The bezel is embellished with a mosaic of diamonds in a stunning and patented invisible setting, the work of the jeweller’s master craftsmen using a technique which took one year to perfect
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FENDI Crazy Carats In its Italian workshops, Fendi takes fur towards peaks that have not been explored for almost a century. Bearing testimony to this longstanding tradition, the new Crazy Carats watch is fitted with a precious strap in two-tone mink, while the watch itself features a number of White diamonds Â
Women
Savoy Single Time 35mm Icon Light The Swiss watch brand presents watches with diamonds stainless steel 35mm strap with stainless steel inserts and pearly white leather. It is a modern woman’s watch with a great design details. As a material they are using stainless steel and impact resistant glass and sapphire scratch
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BVLGARI Catene
APR-MAY 2014
It is as much a jewel as a timepiece, a showcase of watchmaking magnificently sculpted in gold. This most famous of wristwatches bears the hallmarks of the celebrated Italian jeweller whose heritage has shaped each of its new models, including Catene with its chain links. Assembled into the legendary bracelet that coils twice around the wrist, a favourite signature of the brand, they interweave with deceptive simplicity
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SEPT-OCT 2013
WATC H S P E C I A L
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Watch Special
MEET THE CEOS Of ZEnITH, ROgER DubuIS, & MIAMI’S ERnST bEnZ Le City Deluxe had the pleasure of meeting the driving forces behind Zenith, Roger Dubuis and Ernst Benz
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e City Deluxe USA is thrilled to launch the third edition with an extraordinary Watch Special: a series of exclusive interviews with the CEOs of the world’s most luxurious watch brands. During BASELWORLD, The World Watch and Jewelry Show in Switzerland, Le City Deluxe had the pleasure of meeting the driving forces behind Zenith, Roger Dubuis and Ernst Benz amongst others. While the three timepiece companies are very distinctive in their own notable ways, they share a mutual passion for the craft of watchmaking. Each one vows to deliver quality and style to the watch enthusiasts. Zenith watches have come a long way since their first manufactured chronograph in 1899, but to this day, it continues its legacy of excellence which can be especially noted in the five of its luxury collections. Zenith’s original pilot watches are crafted during complex processes in which over 2,500 operations are preformed
by over 300 pairs of highly qualified craftsmen’s hands. Each watch is truly a work of art that shows the intense but delicate process each piece goes through to be created. Similarly to Zenith, Ernst Benz is renowned for its ability to innovate a timeless classic. Inspired by the vintage chronographs from the Second World War, the namesake of the company began producing aviation watches. Since its first conception in the 1970s, the piloting chronograph, has become a guiding light for the company’s contemporary models. Unlike its counterparts, Roger Dubuis is a fairly new company, but that doesn’t reflect on the caliber of their creations. The Swiss watchmaker is the only manufacturer that has the Hallmark of Geneva which to the company, signifies a starting point on its odyssey for eminence
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JEanFrEdEriC duFOur ZEniTh CEO
Timeless Trends and Innovation Passion is what helped us build a new brand identity around the new image that we have at Zenith.
SEPT-OCT 2013
Biography
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Jean-Frederic Dufour has been the Chief Executive Officer and President of Zenith Manufacture of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton since June 2009.He graduated from the University of Geneva where he studied Commercial and Industrial Sciences.
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TExT Claudia TrimdE & mady GErard PhOTO david maTThiESSEn
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had been up in the air. The watch gave them the distance calculations they needed and also the autonomy. The pilots needed to know precisely when to fly back, so the watch was very instrumental to their line of work. It obviously needed to be very accurate. The pilot collection that we have this year is completely inspired by the very first wristwatches from the very beginning of the 20th century. This collection doesn't look like any others, it's very unique and it has a strong sex appeal. The product is not only alluring to people who are rapt by manufactured watches, but also to those whore are interested in the aesthetics and the size of the product. What is your favorite Zenith piece? I love all of them. I am heavily involved in the creative aspect of all the Zenith models. It is very difficult to select which one I like best because I never release a watch that I personally don't like. However, the El Primero is a watch that means a lot to me. It’s an iconic piece from 1969. It has such strong legends surrounding it that it makes it quite unique. So, from the new collection I really like the El Primero. Was the ladies line a challenge to create? The ladies line is a challenge, but its worth it because we are seeing that there are more ladies than ever looking for manufactured watches. We are not trying to compete against brands that are producing jewelry watches, but we also truly believe that modern women are looking for a different type of product. Now they don’t just want a quartz watch with diamonds on top, so we offer in our collection the same value that only men are able to find in some other brands. The new collection contains really nice watches that will last forever. Women today are looking for something that will last for a long
time, that is of strong quality and that is really state of the art. How receptive are the watch aficionados of America to the Zenith brand? In America, people have a very strong emotional bond to their purchases. For most of them it’s all about the experience. The key to success in the United States is to find the right partner, because it’s all about the retailers. Zenith has only recently come back into the market in the United States. We used to sell our brand there until the Second World War but we started back up again in 2000. The interest and the brand are both growing slowly, but the size of the brand is not quite what we would expect for an established international brand such as ours. I know that if you do it well in the United States you usually get it right and for now we are really doing well, we are going by the book to make it happen. I think that in two or three more years we will really start to see growth in America. How involved is Zenith in the Florida region? Florida is great, not in only Miami, but in a lot of locations. There is a strong sense of retail not only with locals, but also with the South American community that is always traveling to Florida. We offer them a chance to check out our collection. We are also currently working on developing a project which would include a boutique in Florida, but it’s too early to talk about it. Florida is definitely a place where we can see ourselves. People from all over the world, and all corners of America travel to Florida. It is the ultimate holiday destination. It’s an interesting state and the it place for a luxury brand
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enith, the brand lead by JeanFrederic Dufour prides itself on the creation of the world’s most precise chronograph, El Primero. Each watch in Zenith’s collection is uniquely exquisite, but El Primero is both stunning and incredibly intricate. It is a marvelous example of a fine watch. “Follow your own star,” is Zenith’s adage, and this luxury brand has certainly followed its star which lead them to the successful creation of magnificent timepieces. Mr. Dufour, what was the key element that helped you bring Zenith back to its roots? It was an amalgam of many things, but most importantly it was the passion that gave me the energy to travel 120 days out of the year and the strength to visit all the countries around the world in order to gain a better understanding of what was expected of the Zenith brand. Passion is what drove the development of a new collection that stemmed from more than 120 different references, which ranged from very classical to very complicated.Passion led to work on the distribution of the brand, to the closing of around 200 shops, but then opening 100 new ones and the building of 13 boutiques. Passion is what helped us build a new brand identity around the new image that we have at Zenith. But in the end, it’s also very important to be surrounded by the right people because alone you cannot do everything. Since Zenith owns the patent on pilot watches, please explain how the company conceived the concept of a pilot watch? The very first pilot watches that we created were similar to pocket watches which pilots wore on top of their shoes.The watches were the only technical tools that they had at their disposal during flight to know how long they
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S History of tAG Heuer 1860 · Edouard Heuer, the great-grandfather of Jack William Edouard Heuer, founds TAG Heuer 1958 · Jack Heuer joins the family business and gives the watches a modern twist 1969 · The Company creates the world’s first automatic chronograph 1977 · TAG-Heuer produces the Chronosplit Manhattan, an electronic wrist chronograph with analogue reading of the time and digital reading of the stopwatch function 1982 · Jack Heuer launches IDT (Integrated Display Technology, Ltd.) in Hong Kong, which today employs over 9,000 people
THOMAS HOULON
JACK HEUER
2012 · Jack Heuer celebrates his 80th birthday
TAG HEUER Continues to Impress Irrespective of Product www.tagheuer.com
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JAN · FEB 2013
o matter if it is a wristwatch, mobile phone or eyewear, when the product in question is used regularly, it is important the users are happy. If a company invests time and effort into the product, irrespective of what it is, and focuses on customer satisfaction, the product will please. At TAG Heuer, regardless of what they are developing, they strive to give their customers the utmost benefit in terms of both style and practicality. Le CITY deluxe sat down with Thomas Houlon, Innovation Director for TAG Heuer, and honorary Chairman Jack Heuer himself.
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Is it true you haven’t always worked in the watch industry? TH: I actually spent the first 12 years of my career in eyewear. Designing glasses consisted of just not sticking a logo on the frame, but giving the glasses themselves real value. After ten years, it had become absolutely massive, even though our models were quite pricy. We managed to give customers the utmost benefit in terms of style, which, while pure and simple, was extremely
practical. I then started working in watches, as the innovation manager for all watches, and I’ve been working on innovation ever since.
“IT ALL COMES DOWN TO CRAFTSMANSHIP AND FOCUSING ON THE BASICS” (THOMAS HOULON) Are there any other new products in the works for TAG Heuer? TH: I also helped launch our first mobile phones three years ago. Today we are presenting a new mobile phone called Racer. We are trained to transpose new product categories, and today, Tag Heuer’s DNA is so strong, it is becoming even more popular.
What is so special about this phone? TH: It all comes down to craftsmanship and focusing on the basics. In our opinion, today’s technology sometimes goes too far and is too complicated. And while we want to revert to something simple, it is also technologically fantastic and, first and foremost, beautiful. How will you celebrate your 80th birthday this year, Mr. Heuer? JH: I’m a product man, and I’ve designed a watch to commemorate my 80th birthday. I’ve signed the back and stamped it with the family’s 15th century coat of arms, which I find quite interesting. It is a limited edition of only 3,000 models, and numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4 are reserved for my 3 children and me
S HistoriA of tAG Heuer 1860 · Edouard Heuer, el bisabuelo de Jack William Heuer Edouard, funda TAG Heuer 1958 · Jack Heuer se une a la empresa familiar y renueva los relojes con un toque moderno 1969 · La compañía crea el primer cronógrafo automático del mundo 1977 · TAG Heuer produce el Chronosplit Manhattan, un cronógrafo de pulsera electrónica con función de lectura analógica de la hora y lectura digital del cronógrafo 1982 · Jack Heuer lanza IDT (Integrated Display Technology, Ltd.) en Hong Kong, el cual actualmente da empleo a más de 9.000 personas 2012 · Jack Heuer celebra su 80 cumpleaños.
Sigue impresionando independientemente de su producto
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o importa si se trata de un reloj de pulsera, de un teléfono móvil de unas gafas, cuando este producto se usa con regularidad; es importante que los usuarios estén contentos. Además del producto en sí mismo, si una empresa invierte tiempo y esfuerzo en un producto, y se centra en satisfacer al cliente, el producto gustará. En TAG Heuer, más allá de aquello que estén desarrollando, se esfuerzan por dar a sus clientes el máximo beneficio en términos de estilo y funcionalidad. Le CITY deluxe tuvo la oportunidad de dialogar con Houlon Thomas, Director de Innovación para TAG Heuer, y con el mismísimo Jack Heuer, presidente honorario de la firma. ¿Es cierto que no siempre han trabajado en la industria del reloj? TH: En realidad, los primeros 12 años de mi carrera me dediqué al mundo de las gafas. El diseño de gafas no consistía solo en pegar un logo en el marco; las gafas tienen un valor real en sí mismas. Después de diez años, nuestros modelos se habían convertido en algo realmente masivo, a pesar de que eran bastante caros. Nos las arreglamos para dar a los clientes el máximo beneficio en términos de estilo, que, aunque puro y simple, era muy práctico. Entonces comencé a trabajar en el mundo de la relojería, como el director de innovación para todos los relojes, y he estado trabajando en la innovación desde entonces.
“TODO SE REDUCE A LA ARTESANíA y CONCENTRARSE EN LO BáSICO” (THOMAS HOULON) ¿Qué tiene de especial este teléfono? TH: Todo se reduce al trabajo artesanal y a centrarse en las cosas básica. En nuestra opinión, la tecnología de hoy en día va, a veces, demasiado lejos y es demasiado complicada. Nosotros queremos volver a lo simple. El teléfono es hermoso y tecnológicamente, fantástico. ¿Cómo va a celebrar su 80 cumpleaños, Sr. Heuer? JH: Yo soy un hombre productivo, y he diseñado un reloj para conmemorar el día de mi 80 cumpleaños. He firmado y he estampado en su reverso un escudo de la familia del siglo XV que me parece muy interesante. Se trata de una edición limitada de sólo 3.000 unidades, y los 4 primeros ejemplares están reservados para mis hijos y para mí
INTERVIEW CLAUDIA TRIMDE
JAN · FEB 2013
¿Está trabajando TAG Heuer en nuevos productos? TH: También ayudé a lanzar nuestros primeros teléfonos móviles hace tres años. Ahora mismo
estamos presentando un nuevo teléfono móvil llamado Racer. Estamos capacitados para incorporar nuevas categorías de productos, y hoy en día, el ADN Tag Heuer es tan fuerte, que se está haciendo cada vez más popular.
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WATC H ES Interview Claudia Trimde // Photo David Matthiessen
Guillaume Tetu 21st Century Creative Watchmaking
DEC- JAN 2013/14
// CEO Hautlence
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"We are with people who have the knowledge and the respect from this industry"
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Which is the most precious piece that you have in your collection right now? The HL2. The HL2 is the piece that we have here, and it is a concept watch that we launched in 2011. It is a masterpiece. We have three patents on this and we have 550 pieces at the moment. We have been working on the development of this watch for more than four years. It’s really exciting to work on the HL2. We are planning to do more editions of this watch with diamonds and will continue to make it really unique. It is quite exciting. The former CEO of Audemars Piguet recently joined Hautlence. How important is his involvement in the company? When you have a partner like Georges-Henri Meylan who’s the former CEO of Audemars Piguet, a family owned company, it's pretty important. Now we are with people who have the knowledge and the respect from this industry. We are all committed to the vision and we thank him for the doors he has opened up all over the
world. Now there is trust in the brand, people were excited about Hautlence before, but that excitement had limits. Now we have made a real connection with these people. Is your brand currently present in the US? Currently we have one point of sale in Florida, and only have two points of sale in the USA. One is the on the West Coast and the other is in Naples, Florida. People in the US and Florida like the brand. We know that we have a lot of interest on the coast of Florida, so we are in the position now to open one or two more points of sale. What do you have in store for the future? The years 2012-2013 were monumental for the brand. We have been clarifying the strategy; we have been creating new architecture, creating a new picture and a new universe. Now everything is clear in my mind and everything is clear with my partners so we can go ahead to continue to develop the brand. As of now we are a brand that serves 250 people a year. Our goal is to reach 800 to 1000 people a year. I think this is very attainable with the new collection, the new partnership movements and the continuation to develop amazing masterpieces. In parallel we also need to be consistently working on the design and development of the network to expand our institution
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autlence watches are some of the most beautiful and intricate watches in the world. The company which is based in Neufchatel, Switzerland, was formed by Guillaume Tetu and has recently been acquired by MELB Holding SA, which is propelling the brand to further success. With limited numbers and limited collections the brand is not only luxury, but also exclusive. The breathtaking designs speak for themselves and are climbing to similar status of luxury watch brands that have been around for hundreds of years. Guillaume Tetu, it’s a great pleasure to meet you. Could you tell our readers what is the essence of your brand? HAUTLENCE is a brand made of architecture and design. We created the brand in 2005 around this frame of mind, and we wanted to create something of inspiration that was new on the watchmaking market. Are Hautlence timepieces mainly marketed to men? Historically Hautlence watches are very mechanical and the design is strong. We have developed a lot of our products for men, but on the other hand we have many women who are now looking to purchase from our brand. I would say about five percent of our customers are women, it seems small but that is still good percentage of women. We have done designs that are dedicated to women, they are beautiful designs with diamonds and they are really elegant.
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Perfection Though History
DEC- JAN 2013/14
Interview Claudia Trimde // Photo David Matthiessen
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Biography
Pierre Jacques
Jacques holds a Master’s Degree in International Relations and in 2000 he co-founded GMT magazine. Since January 2010, he had been serving as Branch Manager of Les Ambassadeurs Genève, and he also headed the Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix as director of the organizing company.
CEO of De Bethune
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No. I became the CEO of De Bethune in March 2011. David Zanetta, President of the Board of Directors and the co-founder, Denis Flageollet, Director of Productions, appointed me as the Chief Executive officer.
"The essence and value of the brand is to create the best watches possible with quality finishing." What is the typical De Bethune clientele? The typical client of De Bethune is someone who knows his or her watches. Someone who knows what the craft of watchmaking is about. A collector, or someone who appreciates good quality timepieces. Where in South Florida can De Bethune timepieces be purchased? In South Florida, De Bethune watches could be purchased in Boca Raton, in a retail boutique called Les Bijoux
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t is through drawing inspiration from centuries of history as well as artistic and horological culture that De Bethune uses state-of-the-art technologies to create timepieces in which aesthetic and technical aspects merge into a unique whole, and form meets function. All in pursuit of a subtle balance between simplicity, readability and chronometer-worthy precision. Le City Deluxe had the pleasure of interviewing the Chief Executive Officer of De Bethune, Pierre Jacques: What is the essence of you company? The essence and value of the brand is to create the best watches possible with quality finishing. What does De Bethune mean? The reason that the company is named as such is because De Bethune was a famous watchmaker of the 18th century. Chevalier de Bethune was a nobleman who is credited with inventing several mechanisms in watchmaking. He was rich enough not to work for a living and lived solely to create watches. This is how we want to run our company. We want to make watches not for the sake of earning money.That is why we do not mass produce. Have you been with the brand since the beginning?
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S INTERVIEW CLAUDIA TRIMDE
Andy Sogoyan
CEO of IceLink
A passion for diamond watches and continuous innovation
JAN · FEB 2013
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ndy Sogoyan began his incursion into the jewellery world at a tender age, working in his uncle’s jewellery shop, until years later, in the 1980s, he founded his first company, CA Links, Inc. Drenched in Hollywood swagger, sophistication and lustre, as well as a fervent longing to share his passion for diamonds, he managed to find a market comfortable with his creations and an enthusiastic clientele for his exclusive products. Necklaces, crucifixes, chains... jewels inspired in the A Team, Mr. T and ‘80s hip-hop. His business success helped CA Links, Inc become one of the world’s primary wholesalers of urban jewellery. Andy’s untiring passion for perfection and quality, as well as his pursuit of innovation and trends, coincided with a spiking public interest in high-end watches, giving birth to his next company: IceLink, which opened up to the world of Swiss watchmaking in 2007. That same year he attended Baselworld for the first time. Confronted with a traditionally elitist watch market, Andy Sogoyan showed why his models are the watch of choice for a large number of celebrities. Since then, he has worked unabashedly. As he once remarked, “Somewhere, somehow, there
will always be someone looking for extraordinary things only my company can provide”. Could you explain a bit about the new models you have recently released? It is a very unique watch. Actually it is the first watch with a mechanical moment for 5 time zones, which work together simultaneously. It took me two and a half years to develop this movement, which is an IceLink Swiss-made movement. You mainly create watches for men, but do you do so for women as well? Of course we also have watches for women. Last year we produced 50 percent for men and 50 percent for women. As you can see, we now have a lot of diamond watches, so our watches are now 70% for women and 30% for men. What is your main market? Is Los Angeles or the US the market where you sell the most? No, as a brand, we are also in the Middle East, Russia, Ukraine and now Asia is quickly becoming a strong market for us
From a family of jewellers, Andy Sogoyan represents this exclusive brand, a passion for diamond watches and the continuous innovation that makes it a favourite among successful artists, singers, djs and athletes the world over.
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Pasión por los relojes de diamantes y continua innovación
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¿Podría hablarnos brevemente acerca de los nuevos modelos lanzados recientemente? Se trata de un reloj único. En realidad, es el primer reloj con maquinaria mecánica para 5 zonas horarias, que funcionan juntas de forma simultánea. Me llevó dos años y medio desarrollar esta maquinaria, una maquinaria IceLink de fabricación suiza. Usted principalmente crea relojes para hombres, ¿los hace también para mujeres? Por supuesto, también tenemos relojes para mujeres. El año pasado producimos un 50 por ciento para hombres y un 50 por ciento para mujeres. Como puede ver, ahora tenemos muchos relojes de diamantes, por lo que nuestros relojes son ahora un 70% para mujeres y un 30% para hombres. ¿Cuál es su mercado principal? Es Los Ángeles o los EE.UU. el mercado donde venden más? No, como marca estamos también en Oriente Medio, Rusia, Ucrania, y Asia ahora se está convirtiendo en un mercado fuerte para nosotros
Procedente de una familia de joyeros, Andy Sogoyan no sólo es el representante de esta marca exclusiva sino también es un fiel representante de lo que significa la pasión por los relojes de diamantes y la innovación continua, características hacen destacar a esta empresa como la favorita entre artistas de éxito, cantantes, djs y atletas de todo el mundo.
www.icelinkwatch.com JAN · FEB 2013
mpapado de arrogancia, sofisticación y brillo en Hollywood, así como un deseo ferviente de compartir su pasión por los diamantes, Andy Sogoyan se las arregló para encontrar un mercado a gusto con sus creaciones y una clientela entusiasta para sus productos exclusivos. Collares, crucifijos, cadenas... joyas inspiradas en el Equipo A, Mr. T y el hip-hop de los 80. Su éxito comercial ayudó a CA Links, Inc. a convertirse en uno de los principales mayoristas del mundo en joyería urbana. La pasión incansable de Andy por la perfección y la calidad, así como su búsqueda de la innovación y las tendencias, coincidió con un creciente interés del público en los relojes de alta gama, dando lugar a su siguiente empresa, IceLink, que se abrió al mundo de la relojería suiza en 2007. Ese mismo año asistió a Baselworld por primera vez. Frente a un mercado de relojería tradicionalmente elitista, Andy Sogoyan demostró por qué sus modelos de relojes son los elegidos por un gran número de celebridades. Desde entonces, ha trabajado incansablemente. Como comentó una vez, “En algún lugar, de alguna manera, siempre habrá alguien buscando cosas extraordinarias que sólo mi compañía puede ofrecer”.
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BIO Jean-Marc POntrOué He was the director of givenchy in Paris Sales and an Executive Vice President of Product Strategy and Development of Montblanc in Hamburg. He is currently the CEO of roger Dubuis.
JEan-MarC POnTrOué CEO rOgEr DubuiS
Codes of Excellence SEPT-OCT 2013
inTErViEW CLauDia TriMDE
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If Ferrari can’t be Ferrari without its engines, then Roger Dubuis doesn’t exist without proper movement. All of our deve- lopment capacity and innovation are going to influence the SIHH13 gala, a new caliber, which will be the first on the watch market.
www.rogerdubuis.com
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he main challenge of Roger Dubuis has been international development. At a rapid rate it became one of the top five High Class Watch brands in the world. And this has a lot to do with Jean-Marc Pontroué, the CEO of the Geneva-based manufacturer. A company that has become famous for their ability to arrange product strategies and capturing the needs of individual countries.
The motion. If Ferrari can’t be Ferrari without its engines, then Roger Dubuis doesn’t exist without proper movement. All of our development capacity and innovation are going to influence the SIHH13 gala, a new caliber, which will be the first on the watch market.
What are your most important product concerns at the moment?
What is the main market for Roger Dubuis? Hong Kong, Macao, Japan, and the United
Valencia is considered a unique market in Spain. How did it come to be such a successful location? In Valencia we are partnered with the jewelry firm Rabat. I’m not sure if it would work without our partners at the local level. Whether it’s Rabat in Spain or Swiss Union in Barcelona and Madrid, we become able to attract a clientele likely to understand our product. What is the current status of Roger Dubuis on the market? Although we cannot give exact specifics, the brand has prospered in all countries. In the market of Spain in particular, Roger Dubuis had an increase in sales by 48% last year SEPT-OCT 2013
What would you like to highlight most about Roger Dubuis? Most importantly, the watches have been manufactured with the codes of excellence in mind. A pioneering brand that targets connoisseurs of Haute Horlogerie with all the manufacturing involved in the very heart of Geneva.
Roger Dubuis contains four product lines. What are their main features? We relate our four products to the universe. We are able to cater our four product lines based on four types of potential customers categorized in hypothetical archetypes: the player, the warrior, the adventurer and the diva. So far, apart from having product lines where there is no competition, no brand has gone so far as to have a fantasy world model for their product lines.
States; in addition to all emerging countries.
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Ernst Benz Master Craftsman
SEPT-OCT 2013
Interview with Leonid Khankin, Managing and Creative Director
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InTErvIEW ClaudIa TrImdE PHOTO davId maTTHIESSEn
We build the idea of the sprit of travel and the art of watchmaking, the ideal version in a modern way of the classic watch.
I
want to be in power. I am an artist who wants to leave tomorrow better than it is today. Is that the key to your success? I don't hold it to success; I hold it to an ongoing privilege to be able to work in this field. If I am allowed to do watches tomorrow than that was the success of today. I am not successful I am just getting started. Is there a sense of power in the watch industry in general? I think today there is definitely a sense of powerfulness in the watch industry because of the scope that we have. You travel the world from Paris to Moscow, from New York to Mexico City, the watch industry is everywhere. There are powerful men who run the companies of watchmakers, but watchmakers are the craftsmen who give a service to the men of power. Artists have always been in service to people of power. We work for the people who decide that we are talented enough that they are entertained by the things that we do. Where’s Ernst Benz headed in the future? The future of Ernst Benz is very interesting. In the first eight years we produced watches on a smaller scale. Then cut to this collection, and we’re distributing to the greatest stores in the world. We have an audience to which we get to teach the art of watchmaking. So now the future: new calibers, new production, new stories, new designs. It’s a very exciting time for us. After eight years in the business, it feels like
day one. I feel like I am just getting started. Is it more about the limited edition watches or more about the lower line to just get it out there? It has never been about mass production. We produce exclusively mechanical collections that are 100% built in Switzerland. The company makes 4000- 5000 watches in a year so everything is limited. The core collection is quite limited in itself, but limited edition for us is not better than our regular watches. Limited edition is just an opportunity to tell a special story, while full production tells our company’s story. Limited edition is the watch with Mario Batali, the famous chef from New York. From this limited collection we donated 500,000 Euros to the Food Bank of New York. For us, limited edition serves different purposes: additional creativity, collaboration, and sometimes interesting charity projects where you have a watchmaker who gets to leave the world a better place than he found it. What is your connection to Miami, Florida? I actually discovered Miami by chance while celebrating the new Millennium with friends. For the brand, Miami serves as a hub between North America and South America. After I took charge of Ernst Benz we started to distribute a lot in the Caribbean and Latin America, I found myself frequenting Miami with our agents. It’s a very interesting place. Miami is where the whole world somehow connects
SEPT-OCT 2013
n 2005, Leonid Khakin took the driving reins from the namesake founder of the watch company Ernst Benz. Just as his predecessor, Khakin has been a total success at spearheading the timepiece enterprise. Mr.Khakin, give me a bit of the the background? How did you end up managing and creating products for Ernst Benz? Ernst Benz was established 50 years ago by the namesake founder. For 20 years the company produced aircraft instrumentation, which inspired Benz to create the pilot’s watch, a vintage style chronograph from WWII. I grew up doing restoration on such pieces. My forte is chronographs and restoration, so I was chosen by the company to develop the most complicated watch for Ernst Benz. By 2001, I started developing products for the company. Later, I became Managing & Creative Director of Ernst Benz, producing a few hundred watches a year. Fast forward eight years, we’re now producing nearly 5,000 pieces annually with a collection over 300 basic models. For us, the dream was never to run the watch company it was the dream of the watchmaker to build the watch. What we build now is this idea of the sprit of travel and the art of watchmaking, the ideal version in a modern way of the classic watch. So do you consider yourself as one of those power managers? No. I consider myself a watchmaker. I don’t consider myself to be in power, businessmen
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S P O RT WATC H ES
Sport Watches SEARCHing fOR THE bEST TimE
The spirit of sportsmanship and adventure is the main feature in the top manufactures. High precision, exclusivity, and quality mechanisms accompanies users when playing their favorite sports.
TEXT RAquEl RAbAdĂĄn
www.rolex.com
Rolex Submariner
Yacht-master Rolesium de 35 mm
The quintessential dive watch is adorned to strengthen its already recognizable personality. Its redesigned box is similar to the historical model launched in 1953
SEPT-OCT 2013
Men
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Created in 1992 it was one of the first luxury watches that combined robustness of a sports watch with the elegance of a luxury watch. One can say it’s a partner to practice sailing with
Women
S www.iwc.com
IWC SChaffhauSen Portuguese Yacht Club Chronograph Edition. A special edition in honor of the famous race, “The Volvo Ocean Race 20112012”
Men
Women
Jean RIChaRd Aquascope
Designed for the adventurous woman looking for glamour at a depth of 300 meters www.jeanrichard.com www.corum.ch
CoRum
Admiral’s Cup Challenger A call to adventure! An invitation to travel! Lightweight and strong, this model is a beacon
Men
Admiral’s Cup legend 38 fiancée All the requirements for elegance that preserve the lineage and philosophy of the collection with a box of 12 sides and 12 nautical pennants
SEPT-OCT 2013
Women
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S www.rogerdubuis.com
RogeR dubuIS Pulsion Cronograph Titanium Manufactured technology which combines perfectly harmonious aesthetics and performance for a perfect day of running
Women
Men
ulySSe-naRdIn lady diver
www.ulysse-nardin.ch
Sporty and refined, contains a mechanism ideal for diving
www.omegawatches.com
omega
Constellation The watch accompanies world renowned golfer Michelle Wie on all her shots. Femininity, power, and technique
Seamaster Aqua Terra “golf�
Women
SEPT-OCT 2013
Men
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This watch with its distinctive green field element is in keeping with the latest fashion within this worldwide sport
S www.frederique-constant.com
www.bulgari.com
bulgaRI
fRedeRIque ConStant Vintage Rally Collection
diagono White diamond
Wearing this model will make you feel like a real Studebaker Commander!
The latest update of the model presented in 2008 with a much stronger design. Inspired by the statue of the discus thrower, it’s specifically designed for boating
Women
Men
www.tagheuer.com
tag heueR Aquaracer 500m Ceramic Made for diving, this watch is the best evolutionary improvement with premium detail. Aquaracer’s 500m depth range was demonstrated at the Baseworld 2009
Women
haRRy WInSton Ocean Sport Chronograph
Men
Safety on your wrist from dive resistance to 100 meters SEPT-OCT 2013
www.harrywinston.com
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