ALPHA WATCHMAKING

Nicola Andreatta, the CEO of Geneva-based Roger Dubuis, is swiftly responding to the growth of the luxury market within the Middle East and further East

Our approach has always been that of representing a credible alternative to the classic ne watchmaking world,” says Nicola Andreatta, CEO of Swiss watchmaker Roger Dubuis. e operative phrase within that statement are the words “credible alternative”, for it isn’t that a fair number of manufacturers have eschewed classic watchmaking in favour of avant-garde, but there are only a handful who get it right – consistently. To reinforce that positioning, Roger Dubuis has built its being around the patented term of ‘hyper horology’. “ e word comes from

Greek and it means ‘beyond’. We like to say that our purpose is to go beyond, always. We challenge the boundaries of our industry, and we challenge the boundaries of everything we do,” declares Andreatta. e demand for Swiss watches remains robust. From

January-October 2022, Swiss watch exports stood at CHF20.4 billion, an 11.9 per cent year-on-year increase, according to the

Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry. Roger Dubuis, which is part of the Richemont group, doesn’t disclose production gures or its nancials. But what Andreatta did let on is that the Covid-pandemic has resulted in the brand deciding to narrow its focus to the very top-end category of watchmaking.

“We just prepared our plan for the next ve years and we do not plan to increase [production]. We actually decreased quantities following [the start of the] Covid pandemic. I decided to stop with our entry-level – whatever was below Eur45,000 – because we were not competitive [in that space]. It’s not what we do best,” says

Andreatta in a frank admission of the brand’s strengths.

“What we do best is hyper horology, and so we needed to give the time and space to our incredible engineers and watchmakers to develop these timepieces. We will make fewer pieces, but these will be more complicated.”

ere are several timepieces where you can see that strategy of ultracomplicated unfold for the brand. Take for example the Knights of the Round Table, which was unveiled at Watches and Wonders 2022 in Geneva. ere are 12 knights – each representing an hour marker – sculpted in pink gold, all of whom look on to the rst central tourbillon movement timepiece for Roger Dubuis. en there was the new 42mm Excalibur Monobalancier made with patented Eon Gold alloy.

As far as material innovation goes, earlier this year, the brand debuted a Excalibur Monobalancier Platinum Edition. Platinum is a very rare metal – Roger Dubuis says that 15 tonnes of ore return only as much as 30 grams of platinum, which is three-six times harder than gold. is speci c 42mm piece is a Middle East edition and can be found only within the brand’s agship boutique in Dubai Mall. “Our agship boutique in Dubai is the biggest one we have in the world today. We have 33 mono-brand boutiques around the world, and roughly between 100110 active doors, in terms of partners that distribute Roger Dubuis in multi-brand stores. ere are a few regions or markets where we want to invest and expand more – and de nitely, the GCC is one of them. We are present in Kuwait and Bahrain with a partner and we are working to soon open a presence in Saudi Arabia too. e team is investing more within the region, and in the next few years we will be able to have a much better presence locally [within the region],” says Andreatta.

He adds that the importance that Roger Dubuis is placing on this region is the reason it debuted the latest platinum Middle East model. “ e Monobalancier, as a

ABOVE: Roger Dubuis’ Dubai Mall boutique

BELOW LEFT:

Nicola Andreatta OPPOSITE PAGE: The Excalibur Monobalancier Platinum Edition which is only available at the Dubai Mall boutique

ABOVE: Chinese artist Liu Wei BELOW: Excalibur Liu Wei Monotourbillon movement and as a collection, is a restyling of our Excalibur – the original Excalibur was launched in 1995. is is a speci c one we created for Dubai. ere is also a speci c colour green to it and we chose that speci c tone of green which is very particular to Roger Dubuis.” Despite the current geopolitical and in ationary pressures worldwide, the demand for luxury isn’t waning. e world’s Top 100 luxury goods companies generated revenues of US$305 billion in FY2021, up from US$281 billion in FY2019 (before the impact of the pandemic set in), according to the Global Powers of Luxury Goods 2022 report by Deloitte. Andreatta is bullish about growth in the Middle East, as much as he is about growth further East. He says that estimates suggest that the luxury market in Asia will grow 5 per cent over the next few years, while that of the western world will grow only 3 per cent. “We will be opportunistic, but also strategic,” says Andreatta. “China is a key market for Roger Dubuis. China was the only market which was open during a few months in 2020 when all other markets were closed. At the start of the Covid pandemic we had only two boutiques [in China]. We now have six boutiques in China. What’s interesting today is that you don’t have Chinese tourists, but you have a domestic Chinese market which is developing. You don’t have the phenomenon of Chinese owing through Dubai, Paris or other European cities, which is good because that also allows us to further develop our local markets instead of relying on tourists.”

While the pandemic may have given Roger Dubuis a chance to expand in China and focus on domestic markets, it’s also thrown up a set of problems that Andreatta refers to with the acronym of VUCA – volatilities, uncertainties, complexities and ambiguities. “ e only way to face this kind of context is by becoming more agile, more antifragile, and thrive in a situation of disruption rather than being a ected by it. You must learn how to move faster between di erent initiatives and how to allocate resources where you need those resources to be. is is easier for smaller brands like ours.”

Of all the watchmaking collaborations struck, Roger Dubuis’ partnerships with Lamborghini and Pirelli are among the most high-pro le ones. Last month, the Excalibur Spider Huracán Sterrato MB, which combines inspirations from both, was unveiled. Limited to only 28 pieces, its 45mm case is made from SMC carbon which is nine times lighter than gold. Powered by an RD630 calibre, the automatic winding timepiece has a power reserve of 60 hours. e inner strap of this timepiece is made from black rubber with a pattern similar to a Pirelli Super Trofeo R tyre. Separately, to mark Pirelli’s 150th anniversary, Roger Dubuis also showcased the new Excalibur Spider Pirelli Monotourbillon with a 60-second ying tourbillon that also comes with three “kits” which allows you to instantly change the bezel, crown and strap. Like most of Roger Dubuis’ watches, this too is a Hallmark of Geneva-certi ed piece. Cementing its connection to motorsports, additionally, Roger Dubuis signed up as the o cial timekeeper of the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Beyond motorsport, art is a relatively new area that the watchmaker is now striving to break into. “Besides motorsport, we have a second territory of expression which we call urban culture that we launched in 2021. It has to do with contemporary art. We collaborated with three major contemporary artists: Doctor Woo is probably the most famous tattoo artist in the world, Gully is a French gra ti artist and Hajime Sorayama is a Japanese graphic designer and architect. We have already lined up a series of new artists who we will collaborate with over the next few months. We’re going to develop further this ‘urban culture’ territory.” at direction has seen the brand recently release the Excalibur Liu Wei Monotourbillon in collaboration with the Chinese artist. e dial features engraved lines manually lled with UV paint. Only eight pieces are available, each priced at US$150,000.

Much of Roger Dubuis’ product strategy will be dictated by three main shi s that Andreatta has observed. is includes a younger demographic of clients, an omnichannel approach to retail with a focus on digital initiatives for clients in the discovery phase of their watch purchase, and also one eye on emerging Asian economies which can become big markets for luxury in general. However Roger Dubuis chooses to navigate these shi s, hyper horology will be an inseparable component of the brand.