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In 1839 Vacheron Constantin created several machines, among them the famous pantograph, a mechanical device which meant that for the firsttime in history principal watchmaking components could be reproducedwith total precision, raising the quality of its timepieces once again. This invention carried the brand into the future and would revolutioniseSwiss watchmaking.

Fai thful to the his tory for which i t i s renowned, VacheronConstantin undertakes to maintain, repair and restore all watchesit has produced since its foundation: a sign of excellence andconf idence wh ich s t i l l today g i ves the manufac ture i t s reputation.

Malte Small Seconds Caliber 4400 AS18K 5N pink gold, Power reserve of approximately 65 hours,

Hallmark of Geneva, Hand-wound mechanical movement,Silvered dial, sand-blasted, Applied hour-markers in 18K goldRef. 82130/000R-9755

410x265_Malte_ANG_Mise en page 1 30.11.12 12:51 Page1

6 EDITORIAL europa star

RPierre M. Maillard Editor-in-Chief

Children are not the only ones wholike to play at being scared. These daysthere are so many examples, in bothfilm and literature, of post-apocalyptictales that it seems as though every-body likes to scare themselves.You onlyhave to listen to all the rhetoric aboutthe Mayan calendar predicting the endof the world (scheduled, we remindyou, for 21 December 2012, just as thisissue is published) to see this. The endof time has, in fact, become a very lucra-tive market.

The watch industry is no exception. Forseveral months, the darkest prophe-cies have been mounting. Everyone—including us—was saying that China’sappetite for watches would wanedrastically. With the rest of the worldin intensive care, we would see whatwe would see. And, then bang. At theend of November, the Federation of theSwissWatch Industry, basing their pre-dictions on an expected increase inexports, announced that “2013 will bea record year”. We don’t know whichway to turn.In September, everything seemed toindicate that the prophets of doom were

right. Swiss watch exports did indeeddecline for this month.The fact that thisdecline was minimal (-1.5 per cent)doesn’t really change anything. Formany observers, this first decline wasindeed a sign that the downward spiralhad begun. But then in October exportsrebounded considerably, up 13.2 percent to CHF 2.1 billion.This pushes theprobable total for 2012 beyond theCHF 19.3 billion reached in 2011, arecord year in itself.So, we might again think that all iswell in the best of watchmaking worlds.Unfortunately, however, this is not thefeeling among subcontractors, whose

order books, which logic dictatesshould be overflowing, are far fromfull. Undoubtedly, the reason for thisdisparity is the increase in the averagesales price combined with a decline involume.The drop in volume, at 2.7 mil-lion pieces, was 3.4 per cent in October.But over the same period the valueshot through the roof, up 17.1 percent for watches selling for more thanCHF 3,000. All together, the averageunit price at export for a Swiss watchincreased from CHF 590 in 2011 toCHF 680 in 2012. During the month ofOctober, the watches that decreasedmost by volume (down 10.3 per cent)

were the less expensive pieces, thoseselling for under CHF 200.

What do we conclude from this jungleof mixed signals?First of all, that no one is a prophet andthat the worries resulting from the fearsof a catastrophe, so apparently appre-ciated by our civilisation, are often thefruit of our own projections. We mustalso realise that the gradual abandonof the low and even mid-range cate-gories by the Swiss watch industry isunavoidable. But this abandon may notbe as painless as we might think. Overthe medium term, we could actually

see a weakening in the Swiss indus-trial fabric. Worse still, these forsakenlands will not remain fallow for long.Want an example? The (Sino-)BelgianIce-Watch has just provocatively openeda flagship store in the heart of Geneva.A crime of lese-majesty? We hear thatthe watches are flying off the shelves…

Mixed signals

Editorial612_Editorial612 30.11.12 08:42 Page2

27567-Diver-SP-PAM372_205x265-Europe.indd 127567-Diver-SP-PAM372_205x265-Europe.indd 1 20/11/12 15:3620/11/12 15:36

RO_67651OR_410x265_m.indd 1RO_67651OR_410x265_m.indd 1

TO BREAK THE RULES,

YOU MUST FIRST MASTER

THEM.

FOR 2012 THE ROYAL OAK REINVENTS ITS

HERITAGE AS THE ORIGINAL RULE-BREAKING

HAUTE HOROLOGY SPORTS WATCH. THIS ICONIC

PIECE CELEBRATES THE PURPOSEFUL ROYAL

OAK STRONGBOX ARCHITECTURE, AND THE

ARTISANAL FINESSE AND ELEGANCE OF THE

ENGINE-TURNED “GRANDE TAPISSERIE” DIAL.

THE USE OF 18 CARAT PINK GOLD CREATES A

DISTINCTIVE PRESENCE, AND IS OFFSET WITH A

CROWN OF DIAMONDS OF ULTIMATE PEDIGREE.

EACH STONE IS INTERNALLY FLAWLESS AND

PERFECTLY MATCHED, AN ALLURING MASTERY

OF BOTH WATCHMAKER’S AND JEWELLER’S ART,

AND SIGNATURE AUDEMARS PIGUET.

ROYAL OAKIN PINK GOLD WITH

DIAMOND-SET BEZEL.DIAMOND SET BEZEL.

21.11.12 13:1621.11.12 13:16

EDITORIAL6 Mixed signals

COVER STORY12 Chanel – When watchmaking and jewellery combine their

effects

ARTS & WATCHES 18 Introduction: Is watchmaking an art?20 The cultural track – A discussion with Franco Cologni 24 Vacheron Constantin – Creating a dialogue between art

and artisanal 26 Handing down talent and experience – The Rolex Mentor &

Protégé Arts Initiative 30 Girard-Perregaux – Paying tribute to Le Corbusier32 Hermès – Imaginary time 34 Greubel Forsey – Microscopic art36 MB&F’s M.A.D. Gallery38 Cultural patronage: miraculous manna41 Cinema Paradiso: Watches and cinema

SIHH51 Audemars Piguet: Interview with François-Henry Bennahmias53 Cartier’s new manufacture chronograph54 Piaget’s strident voice from a slender body55 Richard Mille’s support for road safety56 Roger Dubuis leads the way in self-sufficiency

GALLERY58 Geneva shows previews

SIHH (continued)59 Panerai’s celebration of classic yachting60 Baume & Mercier’s seaside odyssey continues

GALLERY62 Geneva shows previews

SIHH (continued)63 Ralph Lauren’s Sporting World Time in steel

NEW SECTION: SERVICE, PLEASE!65 Introduction 66 Reinventing customer service at Piaget69 Letter from China: Customer Care in China71 Opinion: Patek Philippe 72 Letter from France: The Chinese salesgirls at Galeries

Lafayette

WORLDWATCHWEB®74 An updated look at the Chinese luxury watch market in 2012

RETAILER PROFILE76 BTC, Egypt

78 EDITORIAL AND ADVERTISERS’ INDEX

LAKIN@LARGE80 The face of adversity

10 CONTENTS europa star

www.europastar.com

N° 316 6/2012 DEC./JAN.

Europa Star HBM SA25 Route des AcaciasP.O. Box 1355CH-1211 Geneva 26SwitzerlandTel +41 (0)22 307 78 37Fax +41 (0)22 300 37 [email protected]

© 2012 EUROPA STARAudited REMP / FRP 2012

The statements and opinionsexpressed in this publication arethose of the authors and notnecessarily Europa Star.

PREMIERE TOURBILLONVOLANT by ChanelThe 28.5mm by 37mm PremièreTourbillon Volant model fea-tures a case constructed on twolevels that allows for numerouspossibilities of precious stonesetting. The minute attention todetail paid to this piece can beseen in the delicate diamond-set hands and the diamond-setcabochon of the camellia flowerthat rotates once every minutein the 6 o'clock position. This ismounted on a flying tourbillonpowered by a manually-woundTDC10 movement with 40 hoursof power reserve. The exception-al level of finishing on the move-ment includes hand chamfered,drawn and circular-grained com-ponents as well as Côtes deGenève decoration.

CHANEL Place Vendôme 18 75001 Paris / France Tel. +33 (0)1 40 98 50 00www.chanel.com

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RPierre Maillard

TThe Première Flying Tourbillon offers a spec-tacular and poetic example of the preciousfusion between fine watchmaking and highjewellery. The 228 diamonds (approximately7.7 carats total weight) that are set in the 18-carat white-gold case and bezel underscore,in a brilliant and vivid manner, the clean linesof the case of the Première collection, inspired,as we know, by the geometry of the PlaceVendôme and the famous stopper of theCHANEL No. 5 perfume bottle.

In this jewellery version, however, its stylisedgeometry is seen on two levels. The middlecase is surmounted by a bezel that majesti-cally frames the black ceramic dial. The cor-

ners have been truncated, conferring uponthe piece additional dynamism and lustre. Thecase’s two-level architecture allows for a mul-titude of stone-setting variations. Thus, forexample, the lower part of the case can be setwith vertical, rectangular baguette diamondsalong the entire edge, except in the cut-offcorners that are highlighted by square-cutdiamonds, while the side of the bezel can beset with round diamonds. Or, alternatively, thebezel can be set with baguette diamonds,with or without coloured stones that, by mix-ing their fiery brilliance, come together to cre-ate new harmonious combinations. The possi-ble variations and combinations are endless.On the edge of the case, a large crown is alsoset with baguette and round diamonds.

This rigorous magic of jewellery allows thelight fully to play its role in highlighting thefloral sculpture that rotates on the dial. It is aflying tourbillon in the form of a camellia

whose interlocking petals are carved in metal,while its diamond-set heart is surrounded bya semi-transparent lacy net, giving the flowerits delicate texture. This ethereal camelliamakes one rotation per minute and the petalsindicate the passing seconds. The hour andminute hands are placed slightly off-centre,higher on the black dial, and are also set withdiamonds. This in itself represents quite a featgiven the size of the diamonds and the slen-derness of the gold hands.

COVER STORY europa star

When watchmaking and jewellerycombine their effects…CHANEL’s approach to watchmaking relies on intangible stylistic codes originally set down by MademoiselleChanel. They are at the heart of its profound identity involving simplicity of forms, rigour of colours, and authenticityof materials. When these pure architectural forms, these clean colours favouring black and white and these uncom-promising materials combine with diamonds and precious gemstones, the exceptional results speak for themselves.Diamonds and precious stones reinforce the architectural purity of the form, illuminate the richness of the colour,and emphasise the boldness of the material. Watchmaking and jewellery seem to come together, not in an artificialmanner, but rather in a natural combination that results in one remarkable and, therefore, timeless object.

CoverStory612_CoverStory612 30.11.12 08:40 Page2

12

europa star COVER STORY

The timepiece evokes high jewellery, of course,but it also represents a wonderful example ofprestige watchmaking. This poetic and myste-rious camellia is a flying tourbillon whosecage—devoid of an upper bridge, but con-taining the regulating organ of the watch (inother words, the escapement, balance, andbalance spring)—seems to twirl aroundweightlessly. It is a true timekeeping exploit,developed in collaboration with the Swissconstructors, engineers, and master watch-makers at Renaud & Papi (APRP), the advancedresearch and development unit of the AudemarsPiguet manufacture.

With the Première Flying Tourbillon, CHANELoffers women a true mechanical timekeepingcomplication and demonstrates that the rigourof its stylistic approach also works well withthe most luminous poetry.

An interplay of materialsAnother fascinating fusion of two materialsthat would, at first glance, seem unlikely is theunion of high-tech ceramic and diamonds. Themarriage of this high-tech composite mater-ial—which is hard, silky, and resistant to harsh

environmental conditions—and carbon trans-formed into diamond over the mists of time,produces an exceptional effect. With the J12,CHANEL’s cult timepiece (and the first to givehigh-tech ceramic its letters of nobility), the useof diamonds and precious stones only enhancesthe well-balanced architecture while accentu-ating its easily recognisable design.

The J12—whether simply set with diamondson its bezel or radiant when fully paved withdiamonds—clearly demonstrates the extentof the piece’s versatility. Always different, yetstill the same, the new watch increases theseeffects due to the unchanging design of its caseand bracelet that lend themselves perfectly tothe new and rich unions that marry ceramic,white gold, yellow gold, round or baguettediamonds and precious coloured gemstonessuch as emeralds, rubies, and sapphires.

An example of this type of union is the newversion of the J12 that combines 18-caratwhite gold, cognac (or pink) sapphires, andhigh-tech titanium ceramic. The unique colourand glow of this highly scratch-resistant tita-nium ceramic is obtained by adding titaniumto the ceramic itself, which is then polishedusing diamond powder. The result is a specialluminosity, whose soft and subtle reflectionscombine perfectly with the delicate radianceof the 36 cognac (or pink) baguette-cut sap-phires, set all around the bezel (for a totalweight of approximately 6.1 carats). On thedial, twelve diamonds mark the passage ofthe hours. Powered by an automatic mechan-ical movement, this J12 is available in casesmeasuring either 38 mm or 33 mm in diame-ter. Water-resistant to 50 metres, it has a caseback and a triple fold-over clasp in titanium.Another subtlety is the 18-carat white-goldcrown that is set with a cognac (or pink) sap-phire cabochon. [References: H3125 for pinksapphires and H3295 for cognac sapphires]

Another jewellery version of the J12 is an 18-carat white-gold model that is fully paved with

1,018 diamonds (~ 11.9 carats). An amazingexample of brilliance and sparkle, the full-dia-mond pavé-setting dramatically emphasisesthe strong and clearly defined lines of theJ12’s case, bezel, dial and the links of its sup-ple bracelet.

The black dial is surrounded by diamond pavé,while twelve black diamonds make up thehour markers. Its crown is set with 12 dia-monds (~ 0.07 carat) and is surmounted witha pointed onyx cabochon.

Water-resistant to 50 metres, this supremelyjewellery version of the J12 is equipped with ahigh-quality quartz movement and is avail-able in the three sizes of 38, 33 and 29 mm indiameter. [Reference: H2919]


13

COVER STORY europa star

Exploring the secret ofMademoiselle PrivéInspired by the plaque that was on the doorof the private workshop of MademoiselleChanel, “Mademoiselle Privé” is the namethat CHANEL has given to a new collec-tion of pure and essential watches thatlend themselves to the creation of majesticdials evoking the highest level of creativitypossible.

Highly classical, the perfectly round case ofthe Mademoiselle Privé is thus devoid of lugsand is mounted on an integrated strap. Withits clean lines, this disc is perfect for snow set-ting, but it also permits a variety of otherexceptional work to be carried out on thedials of this new collection.

The best example of this decorative work hasbeen inspired directly by the famous andsumptuous Chinese Coromandel screens thatstill decorate the apartment of MademoiselleChanel. The person to whom the Frenchhouse turned for the difficult task of repro-ducing some of these particularly refinedCoromandel screens in grand feu enamel isAnita Porchet, the most reputed specialist inthe field of enamelling on watches. Porchetworks on a finely engraved base, which isthen covered with an exceptionally deep andrich black enamel. The task requires not only agreat level of artistic skill but also demandsan intimate knowledge of the secrets of grandfeu enamelling. This work means that shemust apply one colour at a time, since eachcolour needs its own firing time and tempera-

ture, as the colours change during the opera-tion. At each step, all of the hard work runsthe risk of being compromised due to a mis-take in the firing.

Each timepiece is thus unique, inspired by adifferent scene drawn from the Coromandelscreens, whose name is engraved on the goldcase back.

Surrounded by a case entirely set with snow-set white diamonds, which gives the piece asilky look, mounted on a black Mississipiensisalligator leather strap, the dial of theMademoiselle Privé is surmounted by twosimple open-worked hands. The result is amagnificently highlighted dial that befits itsstatus as a true work of art.


14

europa star COVER STORY

A mind full of symbolsThe perfect circle of the dial of the MademoisellePrivé lends itself to all sorts of variations inpoetic and jewellery design. Constellations,comets, stars, camellias, feathers… So manymotifs directly inspired by MademoiselleChanel’s mind full of symbols, so much savoir-faire finding a unique expression, so many dif-ferent approaches to highlight the preciousartistic skills involved in this collection thatreveals the entire mindset of CHANEL.

In this manner, La Plume pays homage tothe “Bijoux de Diamants” collection ofMademoiselle Chanel, a collection born in1932 out of a visionary look at freedom andmodernity. It was in this collection that thefeather motif appeared for the first time, inthe form of a sumptuous brooch.

At the same time detailed, open-worked, volup-tuous, and ready to fly away, La Plume offers

an infinite level of creativity, like the most dar-ing of precious pieces. In this case, it is anenchanted feather that is designed on theblack enamel dial of the Mademoiselle Privécollection. Sculpted in relief in 18-carat whitegold, the feather motif is decorated withgrain-set and invisible-set diamonds and pinksapphires that create a subtle gradation ofcolour. The pink lacquer applied to the tipsof the feather underscore its delicacy. The37.5-mm 18-carat white-gold case is coveredin snow-set diamonds and pink sapphires.Powered by an automatic mechanical wind-ing movement with a 42-hour power reserve,the Mademoiselle Privé Plume is mounted ona black Mississippi alligator strap with a dia-mond-set fold-over clasp.

The favourite flower of Gabrielle Chanel,the camellia, is honoured in another creationthat elegantly combines stone setting with amother-of-pearl sculpture. Composed of a

dozen different elements, it is a true carvedmother-of-pearl flower, with hand-sculptedpetals that are each a different shape.Assembled as a very delicate inlay, thesepetals make up a camellia that marvellouslyevokes the smoothness and softness of theoriginal flower.

This splendid camellia blooms on a black onyxdial set with seven diamond hour markers,and evokes subtle reflections that breathe lifeand femininity into the watch. Two floral-shaped hands, entirely cut out, complete thisexquisitely refined painting, a work of artenclosed by an 18-carat white-gold case setwith diamonds and driven by a high-precisionquartz movement. This Mademoiselle Privé ismounted on a black satin strap and a buckleset with diamonds. O

For more information about Chanel click onBrand Index at www.europastar.com


15

for the new emperors

Montres DeWitt SA - Geneva - [email protected] - www.dewitt.ch - +41 22 750 97 97

revolutionary by tradition

IIs watchmaking an art? Is it the 12th Art, aswas ceremoniously proclaimed during the lastGeneva Watchmaking Grand Prix?

It all depends on the definition attributed tothe word “art”, a notion that changes overtime. During the Middle Ages, the seven “lib-eral arts” taught in the centres of higher learn-ing were grammar, dialectics, rhetoric, arith-metic, geometry, astronomy and music.Amongall these disciplines, only music is consideredtoday to be an “art”, or more precisely, a fineart, whose definition is to “to produce some-thing for its aesthetic value”.

- Without a doubt, watchmaking is “fine”, butis it also one of the “fine arts”?- Yes, if we accept that the result is “fine”.- No, if we consider the conditions under whichthis “art” is practiced.

As Franco Cologni reminds us in an interviewgranted to Europa Star, the essential principleof art is the freedom of a creator. An author,

painter, sculptor, musician and dancer are, inprinciple, free to act or create as they wish,without being concerned with anything otherthan their own expression. Yet, we must qual-ify this definition. Not only has this freedomnot always been the rule (consider, for exam-ple, the painters of the Middle Ages, whosesubjects had necessarily to be religious) andstill is not universal even today, but we mustalso not forget that art, so praised for its free-dom, is itself also dependent on a market, inthis case, the art market. Its freedom is a man-aged freedom. And if the recognition of the“market” is a long time coming, the artist,without any audience, is reduced to creatingin the shadows. This freedom is even morerestricted in the case of the architect, who canonly create to order, and the filmmaker, who,even before creating, must convince his finan-cial backers.

The line between what is Art and what is not(or not entirely) depends on the use that wemake, or will make, of the created product. Apainting, a poem and a piece of music haveno other object beside themselves. They arethere to be seen, felt and heard. A watch, on

the other hand, as beautiful as it may be, asclose as it may be to an “objet d'art”, main-tains its essential practical function, which isto tell the time. If it is sometimes “nearly” anobjet d’art, it is nonetheless still a slave to thefunction that it was designed for. Herein liesall the difference.

Still, in a thousand different ways, watchmak-ing seeks to approach the status of an artisticactivity. This may mean employing still more“artists”—the famous Métiers d'Art—bymoving further away from the single essentialfeature of the watch (see, for example, themechanical sculptures of MB&F in this issue)or by moving closer to the art market thanksto the spectacular auctions that are trying toestablish veritable market values for timepieceslike those for artists. In this regard, does therecent sale by Sotheby's of the SpaceTraveller'sWatch by George Daniels, which went for morethan double its highest estimate to reach therecord sum of more than CHF 2 million, givethe English watchmaker the status of an“artist”? In other words, does an object reachthe status of art when its value is discon-nected from its use? O

18 ARTS & WATCHES europa star

IS WATCHMAKING AN ART?A S P E C I A L A R T & WA T C H M A K I N G S E C T I O N

Introduction612_Intro612_2 30.11.12 08:46 Page2

Get in touch at www.tissot.ch

The winner timepiece of the International Timing Competition, “Tissot Le Locle”, portrays the innovative and traditional values of the brand. It pays tribute to the people of Le Locle who allowed Tissot to begin their exceptional journey nearly 160 years ago, providing them with the experience and skills they have today. This prize is therefore dedicated to all of those who contributed to the expertise that remains unique to Switzerland.

1st Prize in the Classic Category

Tissot Le LocLe AutomAticchronometer

Classic watch with an automatic COSC certified movement, 316L stainless steel case, scratch-resistant sapphire crystal

and water resistance up to 3 bar (30 m / 100 ft).

IN TOUCH WITH YOUR TIME

RPierre Maillard

G“Guru of Haute Horlogerie”, “Cardinal of theRichemont Group”—the description of therole(s) played by Franco Cologni in the vastreorganisation of Swiss watchmaking areindicative of his very special place in thegalaxy of personalities—or characters—thatmake up the watchmaking landscape. Contraryto many others, Franco Cologni does notcome from the world of finance, trade or engi-

neering, the breeding grounds for watch com-pany managers. He hails from the theatre andthe university, Milan University to be precise,where, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, hetaught “The history of theatre and the per-forming arts”, covering everything from Greektragedies to Broadway. At the same time, hewas a journalist for a major daily newspaper,writing reviews for films and the theatre. Atthat time, there was nothing to indicate thatCologni would become the éminence grise ofthe world’s second largest luxury group,which he largely helped to build. As a studentof the theatre, however, he learned, in his ownwords, that “there is no show without an

audience. And, that even if the audience isresponsible for a show’s success, it can onlybe achieved with a team effort. And, theatreis a team effort. This is exactly what we find inthe métiers d'art [artistic craft professions],which together contribute to make an excep-tional object.”We asked Franco Cologni if he believes watch-making to be the twelfth art, as people aresaying. His response was quite direct:“Watchmaking is not an art per se, but ratherart that is applied to watchmaking. That is thedifference. The ‘artist’ enjoys creative freedom,while the ‘designer’ works in a sort of controlledfreedom, forced to respect the rules—rules of


The cultural trackA DISCUSSION WITH FRANCO COLOGNI ON THE RELATIONSHIPBETWEEN ART AND WATCHMAKING

Cologni612_Cologni612 30.11.12 08:35 Page2

europa star ARTS & WATCHES 21

the product and rules of the brand. His ‘art’ isclosely tied to the predetermined function ofthe product. He may stray from this function,but he cannot forget it.Also, a designer does not‘sign’ his work like an artist does.A designer’swork is collective and does not belong to him.If watchmaking is an art, you could say that itis a minor art.”

Three livesFranco Cologni has several lives, which retro-spectively shed light on his words from otherperspectives.After the theatre and the univer-sity, in a booming Italian economy, he becamean entrepreneur without, however, deviatingfrom his aesthetic preoccupations. He begantransforming “beautiful quality objects intoluxury goods: watches, pens, leather goods,and cigarette lighters”. Thus, Cologni createdJohn Sterling, the flattest lighter in the world ona “base”, as we would say of a movement inwatchmaking, of a Dupont, Dunhill or Cartier.

“Cartier!” He succeeded in making Italy theworld’s second largest market for Cartierlighters, an endeavour that did not go unno-ticed by Robert Hocq and Alain-DominiquePerrin, who had just launched the famous col-lection of Les Must de Cartier. In 1973, FrancoCologni was invited to come aboard. We allknow the rest… or do we really?“What did I bring to the table?” he muses.Before answering,while collecting his thoughts,he says, “I brought together luxury and cul-ture,” then continues more specifically, “a

luxury product is, by the nature of things, acultural object. It has a tangible value and anintangible value because it is the fruit of aculture, of a particular sensibility, that hasdeveloped over time, taking on one face here,another there. It is a product constructed ofcultural layers.This is its intangible value.Whatcan best express this value if not know-how, ifnot the artisans who work on it, with a deepknowledge passed down over generations.”

The cultural trackWhen Cartier and Alain-Dominique Perrinpassed into the fold of Richemont, FrancoCologni was asked to work with the brandsand their respective cultural concepts. “Onlywith the CEOs who accepted this culturaltrack,” he explains quickly looking you straightin the eye with his blue “serial-killer” (as hesometimes likes to call himself) gaze and acat’s grin. “Often the problem is not so muchthe brand but the person who manages it. His

or her intimate understanding of the brand’sessence is central because a brand is a cul-tural entity, an enduring entity…”With the brands that listen to him—or some-times are forced to listen to him, for their owngood—Franco Cologni reveals his “system”.It basically consists of two words: long term.“If I am a ‘guru’ of anything, it is only of thelong term. This allowed me to propose to thebrands long-term strategies based on luxury,and adaptable to the precise codes of eachbrand”. His work with Vacheron Constantin,

for example, represents “the ideal case—amagnificent history, preserved knowledge, andparticular affinities with the cultural world”.In the framework of this cultural strategy,Cologni returned to his first loves—writingand publishing beautiful books featuringthe historic heritage of the brands. And, veryimportantly, he started the SIHH and foundedwhat would become the current Fondation dela Haute Horlogerie.At the same time and whatis lesser known, he also started the CreativeAcademy inMilan,which belongs to Richemont,and launched the “Fondazione Cologni deiMestieri d'Arte” [Cologni Foundation forArtistic Craft Professions].

Towards a new RenaissanceBorn in 1995, the Foundation is a “non profit”organisation, and Cologni is the president. Hisgoal is to encourage a “new Renaissance” inthe métiers d'art, which he refers to as “theintelligence of the hand”. Even if it is all about

passing on and perpetuating know-how, thisfoundation is not at all a conservatory. Itsscope is wide. To the traditional skills that weknow in watchmaking, jewellery and hautecouture, Cologni adds the chef, photographer,vintner, editor, typographer and the designer,among others. “The intelligence of the hand”is in perpetual evolution. It may be nourishedby past practices, but it is also open to newways, seeking to preserve its vitality whilemaintaining the sense of its history and thedepth of its roots. The programmes are many,

“The ideal case—a magnificent history, preserved knowledge, and particular affinities with the cultural world”



and include teaching, training, research,demonstrations, conferences, exhibitions andpublications, as well as a beautiful series ofbasic works on these various professions (seewww.fondazionecologni.it).“Everyone is coming over to the artisanal,” heobserves, happy to have been the first torealise this. He sees a turning point in societyoffering new economic opportunities. “Thenotion of artisanal, of the métiers d'art, fineworkmanship and the quality of the productare returning to front and centre. In the vastgame of redistribution that is globalisation,Italy—although aging and crisis ridden—hasan enormous role to play in this domainwhere it has deep and ancient cultural roots.Against the flow of the run-of-the-mill, wemust create beautiful objects, justified by theirgreat quality. When the painters of the 18thcentury came to make their ‘grand tour’ inItaly, it was as much to see the beauty of thelight as it was to return with small artistictreasures in their trunks. Passing on this his-toric intelligence of the hand is also an eco-nomic responsibility for the future of younggenerations, for their employment, and for thefuture prosperity of a nation. In 2013, theFoundation is thus launching a major project:‘100 apprentices for 100 master artisans’.Wewant to bring generations back into contact.”

Slow FoodIt is not surprising then that the CologniFoundation for Artistic Craft Professions col-laborates with the Italian movement calledSlow Food. Far from restricting itself to be asimple reaction to Fast Food, the Slow Foodmovement advocates a change in civilisation,which could very well start with the stomach

and with the art of eating together. “Take thechef,” explains Cologni. “This is an artful pro-fession that, like all the others, is a collectiveendeavour. Eating bread starts with thefarmer, followed by the miller, then the bakerand finishes with the person who puts it onthe table. The same is true for wine. Food isenergy for life. So, eating good, simple, localfood, that is to say made with selected ingre-dients that come from the area, involves achain of artistic craft professions. It is theopposite of fusion. I hate that,” he adds witha smile. “We need to have the authentic, thewell-made and the real. It was Pope Paul VIwho used to say that ‘beauty is the splendourof truth.’”Still discussing our definition of what is andwhat is not art, we ask Cologni if the idea ofaesthetics necessarily encompasses that ofethics. Isn’t the latter term included in thefirst? “Yes, since being truthful is being ethi-cal. Being real is being correct. The problemis that, today, there are no ethics becausethere is no truth. The truth is dissolved in amultitude of subjectivities. All the aestheticsare mixed up because all the ethics aremixed up.We need to look for the splendourin the real.”

The Salière by CelliniAs its symbolic emblem of promoting the“real” values of artisans in all domains, of giv-ing rise to new vocations, of encouraging thepassing on of knowledge, and the entrance ofyoung people into the artistic professions, theFoundation chose a work of art that is at thecrossroads of art and the artisanal, the Salièreby Benvenuto Cellini. A magnificent and pre-cious object, this salt holder was created

between 1540 and 1543 by the famous sculp-tor and goldsmith, Benvenuto Cellini. Twosymbolic figures are placed on either side ofthe salt and the pepper. Pepper represents thefood of creativity, the piquant that stimulatesthe body and the mind. Salt is a useful food-stuff that flatters the aesthetic, serving as apreservative for food while also giving it taste.“The Salière by Cellini sums up our objective,”continues Cologni. “Cellini himself was botha great artist and a ‘designer’, a goldsmith.Not only that, but he also had a boutique andsold his pieces directly to his clients. Celliniwas the beginning of what eventually becamethe luxury industry. Today, this industry musttravel the road in the opposite direction; itmust rediscover its own roots. Doesn’t thissalt holder, evoking art and the artisanal,answer your question?”Art or artisanal? Isn’t the question a little hol-low, after all? As Franco Cologni reminds us,“I said at the beginning that the artist wasfree. This statement is not really as true asthat.The freedom of an artist is also limited—in olden days, by his patrons, whether theprince or the church, today by the galleryowner and the piece’s market value. For anartisan, the limitations will be the brand forwhich he works and the use of his ‘work’. Butin both cases, the value of an object, whetherart or artisanal, will be the result of a relation-ship between the creator and the customer. Itis the desire of the latter to obtain the piecethat will determine the price. It is the clientthat determines the value in the marketplace.So, from this point of view, there is no differ-ence between art and artisanal.” QED, as wesay when, after the conclusion of a demon-stration, it returns to its starting point.O


RPierre Maillard

BBorn in 1755, well before the era of industri-alization, in Geneva, a city well known for theexcellence of its precious jewellery artisans,Vacheron Constantin is certainly well placedto talk about the Métiers d'Art so closely tiedto its genetic patrimony.And, it is a patrimonythat the quartz crisis of the 1980s threatened,but one that was revitalized starting in 1992with the launch of a series of collectionsdevoted to promoting excellence in the arti-sanal crafts.Confining itself, in the beginning, to the tradi-tional skills of enamelling and engraving,these dedicated collections later became the-matic collections involving a more direct dia-logue with the world of art. They are aboutcreating a “dialogue”—the word is now outthere—between art and the artisanal, betweenart and watchmaking.To learn more, Europa Star met with JulienMarchenoir, who manages the marketing, com-munication, product strategy, and the patri-mony of the Geneva manufacture.

Mutual enrichmentOne of the best and most fruitful results ofthis dialogue between art and watchmakingis unquestionably the Les Masques collection,introduced in 2008. Too often, watch compa-nies act as if they are incorporating art into theirpieces by merely reproducing a pre-existingwork of art on the dial. In Les Masques, theapproach goes much farther because it toucheson not only the decorative aspect, but it alsorequires careful reflection as much from a tech-nical point of view as from a design standpoint.“We often speak of the dial as the face of thewatch,” explains Julien Marchenoir, “and thuswe wanted in the beginning to literally baseour approach on ‘faces’ that were works of art.We then discovered the exhibition, L'Hommeet ses Masques, organized by the Barbier-Müller Museum, in Geneva, dedicated to theso-called ‘primitive’ and tribal arts. Impressedby the beauty and power of these masks, rep-resenting so many civilizations, we decided toengage a real dialogue between this ‘primi-tive’ art and the artisanal crafts that we prac-tice today. We wanted to go beyond a merereproduction, and create authentic objects of

art drawing from and mixing various sources.The masks that we selected (twelve in all,spread over three years in three collections offour masks—from Asia, the Americas, Africa,and Oceania—each in a limited series oftwelve watches) were meticulously and sump-tuously reproduced, using noble materials, inthree dimensions to be identical to the origi-nal, including the cracks and patina. Theywere placed at the centre of the dial. To freeup this centre, we eliminated the hands andpositioned the time indications in off-centredwindows, thus at the same time innovating interms of the mechanical movement. In addi-tion, we reproduced, on the sapphire crystaldial, texts drawn from Michel Butor’s book, LaVoix des Masques. Mechanical timekeeping,artisanal art, tribal art, and literature thus cometogether to create a unique object, one that istotally original, whose objective is to incitethe most intense artistic emotion possible.”

Quality and depth of emotionThe aroused emotion, or more precisely, thequality of this emotion (the word itself, tar-nished, is used in all types of marketing efforts)


Creating a dialogue between art andartisanal

Julien Marchenoir

LES MASQUES

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is undoubtedly one of the most obvious signsthat an artisanal work can achieve the statusof a work of art. In this regard, the experienceof the enamel expert, Anita Porchet, is partic-ularly instructive as to the depths that thisdialogue can reach.“We are patrons of the Paris Opera since 2007,”says Julien Marchenoir, “and we wanted tomeet a challenge: to recreate, in miniaturepainting on a miniscule dial of a few squarecentimetres, the 200 square metres of theOpera’s ceiling and its 180 figures painted byMarc Chagall. The ceiling was meticulouslystudied for a month and a half, and thenAnitaPorchet got to work, which lasted more thantwo months, working seven days a week. Theenameller studied the paintings of Chagall soclosely that she virtually became on intimateterms with the painter. She wanted to uncovereven the particular vibration of his strokes,going so far as to discover a form of anxiety,transmitted directly by the artist’s brush. Thisintimate and deep understanding of the workis felt in the piece that exudes, in its own turn,an emotion that is truly artistic.”And, the work on the case magnifies thepainting on the dial by reproducing in minia-ture engraving the twelve different nymphs

that encircle the ceiling, and that serve as thehour markers.

Cultural dialoguesAnother collection, La Symbolique des Laques,launched in 2010, demonstrates the fertilityof a dialogue that weaves together differentcultures, but with a common goal of achiev-ing artisanal excellence. Between Switzerlandand Japan, between watchmaking art and theart of lacquer, the collection reveals a beauti-ful coherence, a necessary condition to obtainthe status of a work of art.Using a lacquer technique that is undoubtedlythe most sophisticated in the world, the ancientMaki-e in collaboration with the 350-year-oldcompany, Zohiko,Vacheron Constantin wantedto establish a close dialogue with traditionalJapanese culture. Thus, faithful to the dualitythat we find in Japanese cultural objects, thetop and bottom of the watch were both lac-quered. They paired flora and fauna, as, forexample, the pine tree and the crane, the bam-boo and the sparrow, the plum tree and thenightingale. Combined, these pairs expressthe “complete message” transmitted by thissymbolic dual motif. In the same manner, themovement, which occupies the central part of

the dial,was treated with ruthenium, in a “zen”fashion, insists Julien Marchenoir, “in order tonot interfere with the decorative motif.”On the level of these cultural exchanges,we canalso mention the recent collection, Les UniversInfinis, which draws attention to the art of guil-lochage, with motifs inspired by the famousDutch artist,Maurits Cornelis Escher.We alreadyknow the decorative geometric technique of guil-lochage, but we perhaps know less about someof the great guillochage artists who have cre-ated figures by criss-crossing their engravings.Thanks to this rare artisanal technique, mas-tered in-house,Vacheron Constantin has drawninspiration directly from the works of theDutch master—a genius when it comes totrompe l'oeil, plays on perspective, and visualillusions—to give new and hitherto unknowndimensions to the arts of guillochage, engrav-ing, enamelling, and even stone-setting.Can we call this art? It is all in how we look atsuch pieces. But, there can be no doubt thatthe borders—quite often artificial—betweenart and the idea of “doing” and the artisanal,are blurred and finally end up by merging.O

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MARC CHAGALL & L’OPERA DE PARIS LA SYMBOLIQUE DES LAQUES LES UNIVERS INFINIS

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RPierre Maillard

WWhat a line-up! Just imagine, side-by-side,writers, filmmakers, actors, musicians, dancersand artists such as John Baldessari, Tahar BenJelloun, Trisha Brown, Sir Colin Davis, AnneTeresa De Keersmaeker, Brian Eno, HansMagnus Enzensberger, William Forsythe,Stephen Frears, Sir Peter Hall, David Hockney,Rebecca Horn, Anish Kapoor, Jirí Kylián, ToniMorrison, Mira Nair, Youssou N’Dour, JessyeNorman,Martin Scorsese, Peter Sellars, ÁlvaroSiza, Wole Soyinka, Julie Taymor, SaburoTeshigawara, Kate Valk, Mario Vargas Llosa,Robert Wilson, Zhang Yimou and PinchasZukerman. What unites them, beyond thecontinents and their respective arts? They haveall been mentors in the Rolex Mentor andProtégé Arts Initiative.

Created in 2002, the goal of this unique pro-gramme is, according to Rolex, to “make acontribution to global culture”. It is in keep-ing with the brand’s tradition of “supportingindividual excellence”—a tradition that hasfound applications in marketing with its manyadvertisements over the decades honouringpersonalities well known around the worldfor accomplishments in their respective fields,as well as in the Rolex Awards for Enterprise.

For over 35 years, this programme has sup-ported innovative personal initiatives aroundthe world with the aim of “improving lives orprotecting the planet’s natural and culturalheritage”. Since their creation in 1976, the bi-annual Rolex Awards have received 30,000applications from 154 countries and haveawarded 120 prizes.

The Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiativeis, in a way, the younger brother of the RolexAwards, although it covers only culture. Thisyear, it has added architecture to its line-upconsisting of dance, cinema, literature, musicand the visual arts. Every two years, a newadvisory board of distinguished artists andarts practitioners creates a list of potentialmentors for each discipline. Rolex approachesthem and, if they agree to take part, the com-pany works with them to establish a profile ofa young protégé they would like to work with.This process is important because each mentoris asked to spend a minimum of six weeks of hisor her precious time with the chosen protégé.

The young artists, the future protégés, cannotapply directly to the programme. A panel ofexperts for each artistic discipline selects acertain number of potential candidates fromaround the world and encourages them tosubmit an application.After examination by thepanel members, three potential protégés areproposed to each mentor,who then meets themindividually before making the final choice.

This personal choice forms the basis for thenotion of mentoring because, unlike an acad-emic environment that operates with a top-down approach, this programme providesa veritable exchange, a real dialogue, be-tween artists of different generations and dif-ferent cultures. The goal is to help protégés


Dance: Eduardo Fukushima (Brazil),selected by Mentor Lin Hwai-min (Taiwan)Brazilian dancer and choreographer Eduardo Fukushima, 28,graduated in communication of the physical arts from thePontifical Catholic University of São Paulo in 2011. Hetrained with many of Brazil’s leading figures in contemporarydance and created his first solo piece in 2004. More recent-ly, he was acclaimed for Between Contentions (2008) andHow to Overcome the Great Tiredness? (2009/2010). Bothpieces follow a line of investigation that starts from gestureand movement.

Film: Sara Fgaier (Italy),selected by Mentor Walter Murch (United States)Italian film editor Sara Fgaier, 29, studied history of film atBologna University and taught herself the elements of herprofession. Her first editing job was Pietro Marcello's La boc-ca del lupo (The Mouth of the Wolf, 2009), a hauntinglypoetic, award-winning documentary. In 2011, she editedMarcello’s Il silenzio di Pelešjan (The Silence of Pelešjan) andMichele Manzolini and Federico Ferrone’s Il treno va a Mosca(The Train to Moscow).

Literature: Naomi Alderman (United Kingdom),selected by Mentor Margaret Atwood (Canada)British author Naomi Alderman, 37, graduated from Oxfordin 1996 and received a Master’s in creative writing from theUniversity of East Anglia in 2003. Three years later, she pub-lished Disobedience, a novel about the tensions and accom-modations between religion and modern life, for which shewon the 2006 Orange Award for NewWriters and, in 2007,was named The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year.Published in 10 languages, the book was followed by TheLessons (2010), which investigates the power and problemsof wealth, and the forthcoming The Liars’ Gospel, a novelabout Jesus from the perspective of the Pharisees.

Handing down talent and experienceFrom left to right:

ˇ

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develop and affirm their own voices, ratherthan merely reproducing something, as inspir-ing as it might be.

From a financial point of view, each selectedprotégé receives a grant of CHF 25,000 forthe mentoring year, as well as funds for traveland other expenses. At the end of the year,the protégé is given another CHF 25,000 tobe used for a specific project. As for the men-tors, they each receive an honorarium of CHF50,000 for their participation in the programme.

New this year in the Rolex Mentor and ProtégéArts Initiative is the inclusion of architecture.

The chosen mentor for this discipline is KazuyoSejima.She is one of themost remarkable figuresin contemporary architecture and was recentlyawarded the Pritzker Prize, the “Nobel Prize” ofarchitecture, together with her colleague RyueNishizawa, with whom she founded the agencySANAA in Tokyo. It was with this agency thatshe designed the Rolex Learning Center at theEcole Polytechnique Fédérale in Lausanne. Rolexwas the principal private sponsor of this “libraryof the future” in the shape of a long wave.The protégé whom she chooses—an ongoingprocess whose outcome is yet to be deter-mined at the time of writing—will work withKazuyo Sejima on the project Home for All

that she launched with other famous Japanesearchitects. Its goal is to provide much-neededhousing for those affected by the tsunamithat struck the Japanese coast in 2011.

For this edition of the Rolex Mentor andProtégé Arts Initiative, Kazuyo Sejima joinsher colleagues from other disciplines, who areMargaret Atwood (literature), Patrice Chéreau(dramatic art), Gilberto Gil (music), WilliamKentridge (visual arts), Lin Hwai-min (dance)andWalter Murch (cinema).O

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Music: Dina El Wedidi (Egypt),selected by Mentor Gilberto Gil (Brazil)Egyptian singer/songwriter Dina El Wedidi, 24, startedcomposing songs when she was young and during uni-versity in Cairo where she studied oriental languages. ElWedidi’s songs are infused with the political concerns ofEgypt. From 2007 to 2010, El Wedidi worked as a singerand actress with the El Warsha Theatre Troupe, exploringEgyptian folklore and performing in such unlikely placesas a Cairo prison. During this period (2009 to 2010), shealso performed classical Egyptian and Arabic songs withthe Habayebna band, before establishing her own bandin 2011.

Theatre: Michal Borczuch (Poland),selected by Mentor Patrice Chéreau (France)Polish theatre director Michal Borczuch, 32, receivedMaster’s degrees from both Kraków’s Academy of Fine Artsand Ludwik Solski State School of Drama, where he current-ly lectures. Since 2005, he has been directing plays in Polishtheatres and at international cultural festivals, beginningwith works by modern Polish playwrights and moving to theclassics. He is known for mould-breaking productions thatoften challenge popular trends and tastes. Among his mostrecent adaptations are Brand. The City. The Chosen Ones(2011), and Hans, Dora and Wolf (2012), inspired bySigmund Freud.

Kazuyo Sejima The Rolex Learning Center (EPFL)

Visual Arts: Mateo López (Colombia),selected by Mentor William Kentridge (South Africa)Colombian visual artist Mateo López, 33, spent a yearstudying architecture at Javieriana University but graduat-ed in fine arts from the University of the Andes. His earlystudies in architecture equipped him to consider drawingin terms of time and space, and three rather than twodimensions. López is known for setting up his studio inpublic and for using memories of his personal journeys inhis work, which is a trademark of his installations. Theinstallation Viaje sin movimiento (Travelling without move-ment, 2008-2010) was acquired by New York’s Museum ofModern Art (MoMA).

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Paying tribute to Le CorbusierRPierre Maillard

BBefore taking over Girard-Perregaux, the lateGino Macaluso studied architecture. Obsessedhis entire life by an art that had always inspiredhim, Macaluso would surely be delighted toknow that his descendants were buildingupon his passion by creating a superb trilogydedicated to Le Corbusier.This trilogy came about not just because ofmere chance between a manufacture estab-lished in La Chaux-de-Fonds and one of thecity’s most famous native sons (Le Corbusierwas born there in 1887 as Charles-EdouardJeanneret). Especially since before becominga visionary architect who decisively trans-formed 20th-century architecture, Le Corbusiertrained as an engraver-carver at the school of artin La Chaux-de-Fonds.After a long formative voyage throughoutEurope that would take him as far as Istanbul,Le Corbusier returned to his native town and

established himself—without an actual diploma—as an architect. His first project was a houseintended for his parents, the Villa Blanche.Recently restored, this is the location thatGirard-Perregaux chose to present its Trilogy.The Trilogy pays tribute to three aspects of themulti-faceted Le Corbusier: the young engraver-carver inspired by Art Nouveau; the architectand furniture designer who sought “space,light, and order”; and the pioneer of urbanplanning, the king of concrete.These three “facets” of the famed architectare expressed by remarkable and very original

dials, which share the common case of theperfectly proportioned Vintage 1945. The firstwatch, the pink gold Vintage 1945 Le Corbusier– La Chaux-de-Fonds, offers a superb reproduc-tion, in mother-of-pearl inlay, directly inspiredby one of his early creations.The second watch, the Vintage 1945 LeCorbusier – Paris (the city that was his homefrom 1917), pays tribute to his novel propos-als, notably his furniture made of steel, leatherand skin, and his human-scale Modulor. Thiswatch offers a hand-engraved steel dial witha calf leather bracelet.The third watch, the Vintage 1945 – Marseille,whose dial is made of concrete [a world’s first,to our knowledge, in timekeeping] honours thefamous Radiant City, a vast reinforced concretehousing development that Le Corbusier built inMarseilles between 1947 and 1952.This lovely Trilogy demonstrates the rich rela-tionships between art and timekeeping. O

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VINTAGE 1945 – MARSEILLE

VINTAGE 1945 – LA CHAUX-DE-FONDS VINTAGE 1945 – PARIS

GirardPerregaux612_GirardPerregaux612 30.11.12 08:43 Page2

Perpetual calendar, every possible date complication, fl yback chronograph

function and tachymeter scale – the complexity and functionality

of the Manero ChronoPerpetual are hard to match. An impressive timepiece,

whose date will require no correction until the year 2100, when the Gregorian

calendar calls for the omission of a leap year.

www.carl-f-bucherer.com

A SWISS HISTORY OF TIME

12_0044_ChronoPerp_Europa.indd 112_0044_ChronoPerp_Europa.indd 1 46 15.11.12 10:4846 15.11.12 10:48

RPierre Maillard

T“The dialogue between contemporary cre-ativity and our artistic craft professions is vitalfor us. It is a source of invention, new chal-lenges and discovery, without which we riskresting on our laurels, remaining trapped in acertain routine. The projects that artists bringto us are a true challenge for our craftsmen,first seemingly insurmountable, but they allowus to push the limits of our expertise,” saysPierre-Alexis Dumas, artistic director of Hermès.Here, he is not talking about watches, one of thefourteen categories of products that the brandoffers, but rather the scarves—the famousHermès scarves, those precious printed silksthat were born in 1937.Under the designation of Hermès Editeur,some of these scarves are entrusted to well-known contemporary artists, such as JosefAlbers, Daniel Buren, and Hiroshi Sugimoto.But what Pierre-Alexis Dumas is saying is truefor all the brand’s categories, including watches.“With a humanist tradition, Hermès has alwaysbeen close to the world of culture.A company

that just earns money is really quite poorunless it can also enrich itself on the humanand cultural level,” he adds.This proximity to art and culture is also ex-pressed through the Fondation d'entrepriseHermès, which works to promote artisanalknow-how, support artistic creativity and pro-mote access to education and training, as wellas supporting endeavours that favour thepreservation of biodiversity. In the artisticdomain, the foundation is active in the plasticarts, photography, the dramatic arts and design.Exhibitions, artist residences, support for theperforming arts, meetings, awards and scholar-ships make up the generous menu of its activ-

ities. “The projects that we support are essentialfor the brand because they are in resonancewith our universe,” Dumas goes on to explain.

Exploring unique territory:turning time upside downPhilippe Delhotal, director of design at LaMontre Hermès, agrees. “In comparison toother watch brands whose perimeter is clearlydefined, the creative territory of Hermès isimmense, since this proximity to contemporarycreation is carried throughout our fourteencrafts. All of these generate designs that caninspire us in watchmaking. To give you anexample, the very innovative use that we aremaking of enamel, with its very contemporarymotifs, was inspired directly by our other pro-fessions. Inside the watch boundaries, however,our watch division needed to define its ownparticular territory. In the process, the GrandesHeures timepiece played a central role.”Remember? Introduced in 2008, the Cape CodGrandes Heures re-invented “a new choreog-raphy of time” by offering different speedsaccording to the time of day. On the dial, thehour indications are no longer simply placed atregular intervals but are moved closer togetheror farther apart in order to give the impres-sion that time is accelerating or slowing down.Thus, 8 and 12 o’clock are closer together,while “temporal pauses” are added between12 and 4 o’clock and between 6 and 8 o’clock.

32 ARTS &WATCHES europa star

Imaginary time

CAPE COD GRANDES HEURES

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These positions correspond to various ways tolive the hours—all relative—of the day.“Based on this founding watch, Hermès hasmarked out its own particular watch territory,which is imaginary time, the time to take time,we could say,” Delhotal explains.Introduced in 2011, theArceauTemps Suspendutimepiece allows its owner to “suspend” timeby making it disappear (the hands move intoa position that does not point to a time) andreappear (the same hands return instantly to

the exact time regardless of the time that haspassed). This unique timepiece not only madea big impression on its debut, but it also posi-tioned the unique watch style of Hermèssquarely in the art of watchmaking.

Choreography of timeExploring the “choreographic” possibilities ofdisplaying time, La Montre Hermès is quitenaturally inspired by contemporary danceand, in return, has also inspired it. One could

thus attend a superb presentation of contem-porary dance at the Royal Opera House inCovent Garden, in London (which will be pre-sented around the world). Its title, Time inMotion, clearly describes the relationshipbetween the arts—music (art unfurling overtime) and dance (the art of movement inspace)—and watchmaking. More specifically,this programme was created to highlight theadvances made by La Montre Hermès in termsof movement: in this case, the mechanicalmovements that the brand developed in exclu-sive collaboration with Vaucher Manufacture(of which Hermès owns 25 per cent).Two beau-tiful in-house movements, the H1837 and theH1912, were presented. Decorated with afine H design on the oscillating weight and thebridges, featuring a double barrel delivering aconstant force, and an in-house escapement,these two movements equip the Dressageand Arceau, respectively.Created in 1978, La Montre Hermès has grownwith infinite patience, in order to graduallyacquire the necessary expertise to practice theart of watchmaking to the full. And, it prac-tices it well—both technically and aestheti-cally. Today, watchmaking by Hermès can fullydevelop within its own clearly defined space,which nobody can contest.O

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europa star ARTS &WATCHES 33

IN THE POCKET

Hermès’s adventure in the world of watchmakingbegan in 1912. A photograph from that period, nowfamous, shows the young Jacqueline Hermès, daugh-ter of Emile Hermès and grandmother of Guillaumede Seyne, current chairman of the board of directorsof La Montre Hermès, wearing a small pocket watchwrapped in leather around her wrist.A totally originalcreation, it was a completely “logical” creation for thesaddle maker that Hermès was, and still is today.On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of thiswatch, which is among the very first wristwatches inthe world, Hermès decided to re-issue the piece.Ingenious, inventive, original, and perfectly finished(an entire week of work by hand is required to pro-duce the strap holding the watch), the watch featuresthe new H1837 movement and a palladium casemounted on a Barenia calf leather bracelet. It willunfortunately only be available in a limited series of24 pieces in stores from March 2013, at a price ofCHF 33,000.The In The Pocket timepiece, wearable bymen and women, should fly off the shelves. Hopefully,Hermès will decide in the future to make more ofthese beautiful watches.

ARCEAU TEMPS SUSPENDU

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RPierre Maillard

WWillard Wigan is a well-known artist, hon-oured by Queen Elizabeth II in 2007 as a“Member of the Most Excellent Order of theBritish Empire” for his services to art.Wigan’swork is really quite particular. He is a micro-sculptor. His pieces are so small that they fit inthe eye of a needle or on the head of a pin. Tobe able to sculpt these pieces of microscopicart, which are less than 1/13 the diameter ofa grain of rice, he works with a scalpel and amicroscope, while using the legs of a fly as abrush. He also uses such bizarre materials asspider web mixed with gold or Kevlar.This extreme artistic discipline also demandsgreat physical discipline. To create his microsculptures,Willard enters into ameditative statein which he controls his breathing and is thusable to sculpt between two heart beats. Theamazing result cannot be appreciated with thenaked eye. It is only under a microscope that wediscover a group of camels walking throughthe eye of a needle, the skyline of Manhattan,or reproductions of Michelangelo’s David,Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper, or even a full-length portrait of Prince Charles or Mike Tyson...

When Robert Greubel and Stephen Forseylearned about Willard Wigan five years ago,they immediately thought that a meeting withthis sculptor creating microscopic art andtheir own microscopic mechanics might leadto creating something together, something inwhich art and timekeeping would find com-mon ground, a sort of co-creation in otherwords. The word “co-creation” is quite aptsince the complex insertion of a micro sculptureinto a timepiece requires architectural andtechnical modifications necessitating researchand innovation.

The result, which has the name Art Piece 1,can be seen at the SIHH in January 2013. Ithas already been presented, however, in vari-ous stages of completion at the InternationalContemporary Art Fair in Paris, the famousFIAC, and at the Contemporary Art Fair inShanghai.What we will find is a painted micromask, embedded inside the crown and visiblethanks to an optical system.

Shanghai is where Greubel Forsey recentlyinaugurated a new type of store, the Time ArtGalleryGF, located at the prestigious Bund 18.As its name indicates, this gallery aims to cre-ate bridges between art and watchmaking. Inaddition to the collection of Greubel Forseytimepieces, other pieces by exceptional watch-makers such as Philippe Dufour and VianneyHalter can be seen, both of whom exemplify invarious ways the art of timekeeping, whetherin terms of spectacular finishing or amazingarchitecture. This new type of gallery alsoallows Greubel Forsey to exhibit contempo-rary artists and, in this case, their first co-cre-ation with Willard Wigan, a clear example ofhow art and watchmaking can work perfectlytogether.O

For more information about Greubel Forseyclick on Brand Index at www.europastar.com


Microscopic art

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masterpieces

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RPierre Maillard

AArt or design? Art or artisanal?What differen-tiates a work of art from a design object?Where is the boundary? To find answers tothese questions, we talked with Max Büsser,the founder of MB&F, in a place that is knownfor blurring the borders, the M.A.D Gallery.MAD stands for Mechanical Art Devices, whileGallery refers to the first boutique openedby MB&F, in Geneva. The M.A.D Gallery sellsthe brand’s famous Horological Machines andLegacy Machines, but it also exhibits other veryunique mechanical works and photographs fromaround the world. One example is the extraor-dinary motorcycles created by the Japanesedesigner Chicara Nagata.So, is it art or is it design?“Art exists in an egoistic dimension,” affirmsMax Büsser, “while design is in an altruisticdimension. In other words, an artist ideallymust not think about pleasing others, but onlyabout expressing what he has in himself. Adesigner, on the other hand, must think ofothers, of the use that they will make of hiscreation. In the beginnings of watchmaking,the artistic part was important in terms ofdecoration and the actual invention. Thencame industrialisation and the watch turnedinto an object for the masses. But, since the1970s and the appearance of the quartz move-ment, mechanical timepieces have becometechnically obsolete. We can thus state cate-gorically that, from that moment, the mechan-ical watch should only be created as an artobject, either as a one-of-a-kind creation oras a series, as artists do. But, alas, there arenot enough real egoists in the watch industry,

meaning people who think not in terms of themarket, but rather and above all about them-selves, about their own creation, withoutbeing worried if they please or don’t please.All the ‘designers’ exhibited in this galleryhave in common this egoistic approach. Theyare thus artists.”So, can we classify MB&F in this category?“From our first steps,” Max Büsser continues,“we have sought to create in an ‘egoistic’manner. Our approach has nothing to do with

any type of market study, but is the result of amuch more personal and intimate introspec-tive research. When, for example, we intro-duced the very extreme HM4 Thunderbolt, weasked ourselves ‘who is going to be able tobuy this thing?’ And, while it succeeded wellbeyond our expectations, it was not becauseof any calculated effort, but rather because itapparently ‘spoke’ about itself, it ‘touched’the sensibilities of many people. Like a workof art does.”


“In watchmaking,there are not enough egoists”

photo:DenisHayoun

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The new “egoistic” machineWe find this lack of a calculating mentality inthe process involved in creating MB&F’s new“machine”, the HM5, which brings togethertwo distinct worlds. “Let’s look at the 1970s,”adds Büsser. “At that time, if someone hadasked the question ‘what will you be wearingin 2012?’ no one would or could have pre-dicted the mechanical neo-classicism in voguetoday.We were sure that people would be liv-ing on the moon and that they would bewearing electronic machines on their wrist,devices that would represent a complete rup-ture with the canons of traditional timekeep-ing. Since I have always been fascinated bythe futuristic lines invented during this period,which we find, for example, in cars such as

the Lotus Esprit designed by Giugiaro, theLamborghini Miura, and the Lancia Stratosdesigned by Bertone, I decided to look at themost innovative watch designs of that epoch.I noticed that brands such as Girard-Perregaux,Bulova and Mido had designed pilot’s watcheswith streamlined cases and slanted dials, thatcould be set back to facilitate reading the timein bright light. Among these brands, Amida—which quickly disappeared—had created theDigitrend, a totally hybrid watch whose sim-ple mechanical movement (a Roskopf) pow-ered the fake LED made of plastic! The HM5‘On the Road Again’ is inspired directly fromthis timepiece.”As if it drove right off the pages of the 1970s,the HM5 ‘On the Road Again’ evokes all thedesign codes of the supercars of the period:angular lines, rear spoilers, low-slung exhaustsystems… But these characteristics are notjust an allusion by the designer (Eric Giroud),they have a function.The spoilers can be raisedup thanks to a sliding pusher situated on theside of the case. In this way, they let light intothe inside of the case, light that will chargethe Superluminova numbers located on twodiscs, which are placed flat under the spoilers.Yet, these numbers are displayed vertically inthe groove—the “dashboard” if you will—ofthe case crafted in zirconium. To succeed inthis endeavour, a sophisticated and highlyprecise optical glass was specially developedin the form of a reflective prism made of sap-

phire crystal that bends the light 90 degreesand magnifies the numbers by 20 per cent.Also useful, the role of the two small exhaustsystems is to remove the water that couldenter by the partly-opened spoilers.In this miniature chassis, we find a secondcase, a sort of complex casing that ensures thewater-resistance of the movement. Developedon a Sowind (GP) base, by the constructorsJean-François Mojon and Vincent Boucard ofChronode, this automatic movement featuresbi-directional jumping hours (thus adjustablein both directions) and minutes. It can beviewed through the transparent sapphire crys-tal case back.To sum up, is this an “egoistic” or an“altruistic”watch? Is it an artist’s watch or a designer’stimepiece? The very recent Public Prize of theGrand Prix d'Horlogerie in Geneva, which wasgiven to MB&F’s Legacy Machine 1, demon-strates that the public sometimes votes for an“art object” designed “egoistically” by bigkids inspired by their superheroes or by JulesVerne.O

For more information about MB&F click onBrand Index at www.europastar.com

An Amida watch as it appearsin a 1976 Europa Star advertisement

The prism

TThhee iinnnneerr ccaassee

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RAntoine Menusier

IIt was a cold wintry day in 2005, in Bienne, amedium-sized, protestant town at the foot ofthe Swiss Jura mountains. A chilly fog comingoff the lake enveloped the quiet town, a townthat is nonetheless the nerve centre of theSwiss watch industry, a town where ostenta-tion is sinful and work is elevated to a formof destiny. The contrast could not have beengreater for Christine Albanel, president ofFrance’s “Public Establishment of the Museumand National Estate of Versailles”, the Châteauof Louis XIV, the Sun King.This high-ranking civil servant had been invitedto lunch by Nicolas Hayek, the king of Swisswatchmaking, and the man responsible forbringing the industry back to life in the 1980s.He was the founder-owner of the SwatchGroup and was mourned by an entire nationon his death in 2010. Only a motive withsome crucial premise could explain why sucha person, the future Minister of Culture underNicolas Sarkozy, would come to this austerecountry: money. And it was a noble motive—to sign a contract of cultural patronage withthe Breguet brand.

A car was sent to pick up Ms. Albanel, whoflew from Paris to Basel-Mulhouse airport, totake her to Bienne, home of the Swatch Group’sheadquarters. She was welcomed by EmmanuelBreguet, seventh generation of the illustriousdynasty of inventors founded by his ancestor,Abraham Louis. Born in 1747 in the Swisstown of Neuchâtel, of protestant parents, heestablished his workshop in Paris, where hebecame very successful, even creating a uniquewatch for the queen, Marie-Antoinette.Now, two and a half centuries later, a repre-sentative of the French Republic was in Bienneto discuss business with the genius Swiss-Lebanese entrepreneur. Everything went well.They took lunch in Hayek’s private dining hallalong with Emmanuel Breguet, brand man-ager for Breguet in France, who is also thebrand’s historian and curator of the Breguetmuseum and archives, located on the PlaceVendôme, in Paris. Breguet Watches, the pres-tige brand of the Swatch Group, is now man-aged by Marc A. Hayek, grandson of the latepatriarch. It was a “very simple meal, in a simple setting,and it did not last long,” confides the directdescendant of Abraham Louis. The Breguetbrand, with the Hayek family’s own financialbacking, thus became one of the patrons ofthe Château de Versailles, which needed dona-tions for its restoration work. But how did this

come about? The unfortunate consequencesof a climatic event that happened during thesummer of 2003 attracted the attention ofthe president of the Swatch Group. An excep-tional heat wave killed a 300-year old oaktree, the botanical pride of the Château deVersailles, the oldest tree on the estate. Plantedunder the reign of Louis XIV, it was the treeunder which Marie-Antoinette would latertake shade. Nicolas Hayek heard about the tree andwanted to obtain a piece of the dead stumpto make boxes for watches. He sent two emis-saries to Versailles, Christian Lattmann andVincent Laucella, both today Vice-Presidentsof Montres Breguet SA, who were joined byEmmanuel Breguet. “Christine Albanel wasvery kind to us. Seeing that we were gen-uinely interested in Marie-Antoinette, she toldus that she was looking for a patron to restorethe Petit Trianon, which was the queen’s placeof refuge and was now in a state of much-needed repair. That was the beginning of ourcollaboration.” Nicolas Hayek made a donation of €6 millionand became the exclusive patron for the reno-vation of the Petit Trianon as well as the FrenchPavilion, also in Versailles, an exquisite stoneresidence built during the time of Louis XVfor the lovely Marquise de Pompadour, theking’s favourite. Breguet and its president were

ARTS & WATCHES europa star

Cultural patronage: miraculous manna

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awarded the coveted title of “Grand Mécènedu Ministère de la Culture” [Grand patron ofthe Ministry of Culture]. Today, a reproductionof the famous watch made by Abraham LouisBreguet for Queen Marie-Antoinette rests in acase made from wood from the legendary oaktree. The Breguet manufacture in L’Abbaye hassome of this wood, a gift from the Château deVersailles. The reproduction of the watch andits case “are often travelling around the world”according to Emmanuel Breguet, who gives nofurther details.Alain Baraton, chief gardener at the Trianonestate and the Grand Parc of Versailles, whoalso gives advice on gardening on a weekendradio show for the public station France Inter,remembers vividly the visit by Nicolas Hayekto the royal grounds. “He attended the extrac-tion of the large oak tree. He had a lively lookabout him and a sparkle in his eye. He worethree or four watches on each wrist, from eachof the brands he owned, so that nobody gotjealous, he said,” Baraton recalls.

Patronage and communicationA patron, as defined by the Collins Englishdictionary, is a person who sponsors or aidsartists, charities etc. Major Swiss watch brandssponsor prestigious sporting events. Rolex isone of the emblems of the Wimbledon tennistournament and the brand of choice of Swisschampion Roger Federer. Audemars Piguetwas, in 2009, co-sponsor of the fastest flyingtrimaran in the world, the Hydroptère.

Cultural patronage, however, is a bit morediscreet. “This type of patronage is a form ofcommunication that pairs well with our com-pany,” explains Emmanuel Breguet. “It corre-sponds with the roots of our history and ourdesire to support projects that are perennial.”Being patron of the restoration of the PetitTrianon and the French Pavilion are not thebrand’s only sponsorships. It also provided €4to 5 million to the department of art objects atthe Louvre Museum in Paris in order to reopena series of magnificent rooms that have beenclosed for many years. More recently, thebrand, whose cultural sponsorship activitiesare for the moment confined to France, gave agift of €60,000 to the Marine Museum on thePlace Trocadéro in Paris, which helped to equipa room dedicated to the Fleet Air Arm, recall-ing that Breguet was also the watchmaker ofthe Navy and the Air Force. This type of sup-port, not surprisingly, also involves somethingin exchange, such as “lifetime” tickets to thehistoric buildings in question or even the pos-sibility to use the prestigious locations free ofcharge for events.The thing being sponsored always has a closerelationship with the image conveyed by thewatch brand. In this way, Hublot, from theLVMH group, among the top in large luxurydivers’ watches, financed—by the interven-tion of its president, the Swiss Jean-ClaudeBiver— an exhibition devoted to Antikythera,the famous astronomical mechanism fromancient Greece. The exhibition took place at

the Musée des Arts et Métiers, in Paris in 2011(see Europa Star 6/2011).History, for watch groups, is a rich vein, a stra-tum that is seemingly inexhaustible. A currenttrend in the French capital is for large busi-nesses to participate in the renovation ofhistoric façades. Their names appear in largeletters on sheets covering the scaffolding.Nothing could be less discreet. It is no longera question of sponsorship, but rather of pur-chasing prime advertising space. Anyone whowas in Paris at the beginning of 2012 couldnot help but notice a giant sheet depictingSwatch watches, extending over an entire sec-tion of the renovation work being conductedon the Conciergerie, where Marie-Antoinettewas imprisoned before being beheaded atthe guillotine…In Bienne, the Swatch Group is not very forth-coming about this type of activity. “These oper-ations are part of the brand’s basic marketingmix. The same principle is applied around theworld,” says a spokesperson at its headquar-ters in Bienne. The French Ministry of Culture,which sold the “Conciergerie” space on thenorth façade of the current Palais de Justice, ismore open. “The Swatch Group used thespace for advertising during the months ofOctober 2011 and February 2012 in exchangefor a payment of €507,200,” it explains.“This support by the group financed 20 percent of the cost of the restoration of thefaçade on the Quai de l’Horloge (this alsoincluded restoring the clock, the first publicclock in Paris). The other partners that haveprovided funds for this restoration are Dior,Apple, Samsung, VW and BMW.” This type of blatant display has upset manypurists, who see this as an unacceptable—and too visible for their taste—intrusion ofthe marketplace into the French nationalheritage. Under the Ancien Régime, the kingsused the money of their subjects to financeartists and major works. The Republic has donethe same for a long time. Today, however, thecoffers of the State are empty. They beg forcharity.O

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ARTS & WATCHES europa star40

RKeith W. Strandberg

TIME.It’s one of life’s most elusive things. For theirentire history, watchmakers have been tryingto control and regulate time, while the art offilm focuses on capturing moments in time. Inboth watches and films, the best results arethose efforts that are timeless.

Watches as symbolsWatches and clocks have been used as sym-bols throughout the history of film. RememberHarold Lloyd hanging from the giant clock in the1923 silent film “Safety Last”? In more recentmovies, “Back to the Future” is a masterpieceof manipulating time and using imagery regard-ing time.“Nick of Time”with Johnny Depp usedclocks and watches throughout, as it was amovie that unfolded in “real time”.“Memento”

and “Pulp Fiction” played with the way time ispresented in movies.In a way, every watch in every movie is a sym-bol—if only a symbol of what kind of characterthe actor is. In “Made of Honor”, for example,Patrick Dempsey wears a JeanRichard Tourbillonin just about every scene. It’s not so much astatement on time, it’s more of a statementabout him—he is a successful businessman,able to wear such an expensive watch.In the James Bond movies, Bond has alwaysworn an elegant, yet rough-and-tumble time-piece to reflect his personality. In the recentlyreleased “Skyfall”, Daniel Craig wears anOmega Seamaster Planet Ocean and, this yearbeing Bond’s 50th anniversary, Omega hascreated a special Skyfall Limited EditionSeamaster Planet Ocean for the occasion.

Product placementWatchmakers know that one of the best waysto get you to picture yourself wearing a spe-cial timepiece is to place one on the wrist ofthe star of a popular movie.As awareness of fine watches increases, andwatch brands become savvier about market-ing and promotion, watches are being show-

cased more and more in Hollywood.Whetherthese watches are on the wrists of theheroes (or villains) in the latest blockbustersor sparkling on the red carpet, watches aredefinitely ready for their close-ups.In the best product placements, watches arekey components to the definition of characterin movies. After all, characters are defined bythe choices they make: words, jobs, clothes,actions, cars and yes, watches.Product placement is good for movie producersbecause it helps defray expenses. "No matterwhat size the budget of the movie, it is hardfor producers to justify spending $30,000 ona watch or even $5,000, for that matter, andwe always need more than one for safety,"says Doug Harlocker, propmaster. "So theexchange of exposure for the use of goods isa very gratifying relationship—the productionvalue of the movie is heightened without cost-ing an arm and a leg."Watch placement can happen any number ofways. Many watch companies have represen-tatives who work to place watches with studiosand production companies. Sometimes, a pro-duction company will approach a watch brandabout using its products for a particular pro-

Cinema Paradiso: watches and cinema

i Left to right:Harold Lloyd in “Safety Last”Daniel Craig as James BondDiane Kruger wearing Jaeger-LeCoultre

Cinema612_Cinema612 30.11.12 08:34 Page2


ject. At times, product placement is about his-torical accuracy, as in the movie "Pearl Harbor",for example,Touchstone Pictures wanted some-thing authentic and Hamilton Watch was amajor supplier to the US military during WorldWar II. The result? A huge close up of aHamilton watch, worn by Josh Hartnett, in thefinal cut of the movie.Another example is the Omega Speedmaster"Moon Watch", which played a part in thereal Apollo 13 mission—the astronauts usedit to time the start and stop of the engine onre-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere—it wasthe only correct choice of watch for RonHoward’s "Apollo 13".Some watch brands have relationships withactors who wear their products, and whenthat actor is in a movie, he or she can help getthe watch in front of the camera (John Travolta,a Breitling ambassador, wore his Breitling in“The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3”).On “Ocean's Twelve”, propmaster Harlockercarried around at least $250,000 worth ofwatches with him every day to satisfy all of theactors' characters. Brad Pitt, for instance, worea Breitling Emergency, a Chronoswiss, a white-gold Rolex, a Patek Philippe and a Hermès atdifferent times throughout the movie. George

Clooney wore a classic Hamilton in every scene."I could not have provided those watches with-out the help of the manufacturers," Harlockeradmits. “Brad Pitt, after being exposed to thatBreitling, purchased a half dozen of them forhis co-stars on ‘Oceans Twelve’. In a perfectworld, the actor will appreciate the product,wear it in the movie and in real life.”Ann Roth, costume designer on “Julie &Julia” and many others, is obsessive aboutgetting the watch right for each character onher projects. “I can hold up a movie set forhours choosing the right watch,” she says. “Ichoose the watch based on the character. Forexample, Ralph Fiennes needed a watch forhis character in ‘The English Patient’. He wasHungarian royalty in the 1920s, got involvedin the Royal Geographical Society, lived inLondon and Egypt, so the watch he wore hadto be really particular, I wanted the watch thatguy would wear. I found it in London, in a sec-ond hand shop, but I needed two of them, soI had a watchmaker make me another one. I amvery particular about the watches that charac-ters wear, as they say so much about them.”John Myhre, the production designer on “Nine”and other features, is interested in how awatch “helps with the story telling process,”

he says. “It’s a major definition of a person’scharacter. I will meet with the property masterand we’ll look at all the watches. The choiceof watches for movies is very important andthe right watch makes perfect sense, like theHamilton in ‘Amelia’. She wore a Hamilton inreal life, so it’s genius.”Some placements are chosen by the cast andcrew, some are paid for and still others are ajoint marketing effort—it all depends on themovie, the brand and the situation.“We do not financially support placements orthe gifting of merchandise for participationand have been forced to turn down opportu-nities because of this,” says Larry Pettinelli,president, Patek Philippe NA.“Therefore, and inmost cases, directors, producers, propmastersand stylists who have a genuine appreciationfor the timepieces and our brand approachour team. These individuals ultimately decidethat the inclusion will lend credibility to thestory line or characters involved.We scrutiniseevery opportunity and only commit to thosethat reflect our company values.”When product placement works, it is muchbetter than any advertising a company coulddo. The impact is greater, because the audi-ence is caught up in the plot of a great movie.“Product placement provides third partyendorsement for audiences,” adds Pettinelli.“If it occurs in an organic and appropriate set-ting, the results can serve to reinforce our brandmessage. The most successful placements forus have occurred when a timepiece becomesa natural part of the character or scene.”It's also possible that a watch supplied for amovie or TV show and worn during the shootwill never appear on screen, despite everyone'sbest efforts. After all, movies aren't editedwith watch placement in mind and what wasa great shot for the watch might not make itinto the final edit.

Watch creation for moviesSome watches, like the watch in StanleyKubrick’s "2001: A Space Odyssey", aredesigned specifically for films. Hamilton WatchThe Terminator wears Audemars Piguet

The Hamilton watchthat featured in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey


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Company was commissioned to make the"2001" watch, a special multi-timezone time-piece for the film and the company never evenconsidered selling the watch commercially, asit was too complicated (for the time). In 2006,Hamilton finally made a limited edition rein-terpretation of this watch, 30 years after theoriginal film. How limited was this timepiece?You guessed it, 2001 pieces."For Russell Crowe in 'Master and Commander',I contacted Breguet to duplicate a watch thatthey had made in the 1700s to use in thefilm,” Harlocker remembers. “They took it onas a challenge and delivered a magnificentpocket watch absolutely authentic to theperiod at no charge to us. What did they getout of it?Well, people saw that movie and sawRussell using it. It is a strong association.”Arnold Schwarzenegger has worn AudemarsPiguet watches in movies for quite some time,including "End of Days", the "Terminator"series and more. For "End of Days",AudemarsPiguet created a new Royal Oak Offshore.Schwarzenegger even worked with the com-pany on the design of the watch.

Impact on salesThough watch manufacturers are reluctant tosay that the appearance of their productboosts sales dramatically, watch retailers do

mention that an increase of interest andawareness, if not sales, occurs.Hamilton Watch has had a host of movie tie-ins, the most successful and visible being theirinvolvement with the "Men in Black" movies—where they took a classic Hamilton design andput it on the wrists of the two leads, TommyLee Jones andWill Smith.The result? The watchbecame a sales leader.Retailers report customers coming in andasking for the watches by the name of themovie or the character, not even knowing thebrand name.Next time you're at the cinema, or just watchingTV at home, pay attention to the wristwatchesthat the characters wear. If you can barely seethe wristwatch, chances are it's not a productplacement. If you can see the brand clearly, andthe watch itself has its own tight shot, then it'smore than likely a product placement.As watches continue to increase in popularityand visibility, you can expect to see moreplacements in the movies and TV.

The red carpetRed carpet events are the height of Hollywoodglitz and glamour—a showcase of entertain-ment’s elite—where the stars come out toshine and where high-end designer fashiontakes to the spotlight. It is the stage on which

the crème de la crème of luxury retail flextheir muscles in an all-out star-studded adver-tising affair. And, now, more than ever before,watchmakers are figuring prominently inred-carpet looks across the awards seasonlandscape.

How it startedWhen“Who are you wearing?”became a com-mon question shouted by reporters and photog-raphers, brands hustled to provide the answer.Fashion designers and jewellery companieswere the first to respond, with watches com-ing a little later to the party. After all, womenget most of the attention with their colourfuland unique dresses, and most women don’twear a watch with a beautiful gown. Watchcompanies have recently been working hardto change this by putting their watches onboth celebrity men and women.“The problem is that actresses’ arms are nor-mally not covered so they don’t want to weara big wristwatch,” says Jérôme Lambert, pres-ident of Swiss watchmaker Jaeger-LeCoultre,a long-time sponsor of the Venice, Abu Dhabiand San Sebastián film festivals and others.“We have some beautiful tiny watches, andthese watches can fit quite well on the redcarpet. More and more actresses are consid-ering watches, rather than going with huge

Special award watchesby Jaeger-LeCoultre

The Hamilton watches featured in the “Men In Black” series



diamond necklaces, bracelets and earrings, asthere is a lower insurance risk.“For men, we are getting more and moreactors, directors and producers wearing ourwatches,” Lambert continues. “The Jaeger-LeCoultre brand is getting much more aware-ness, and creating strong relationships withcreative people, and that’s how we have beenable to get our watches on the Red Carpet.”HarryWinston has perhaps the longest historyof working with celebrities—it was in 1944

that Harry Winston began to solidify his repu-tation as the “Jeweller to the Stars”, when thebrand became the very first jeweller to dressan actress, Jennifer Jones, for the AcademyAwards. The red carpet tradition, with bothjewellery and watches, is still very much a partof the company today.Chopard has been involved in an officialcapacity with red carpet events for more than15 years, starting with jewellery and goinginto watches, most visibly with the Cannes

Film Festival. "I have always loved film, and itwas in 1998 when I was asked by the CannesFilm Festival’s president, PierreViot, to redesignthe coveted Palme d’Or that Chopard becamethe Official partner of the Cannes Film Festival,”says Caroline Scheufele, co-president andartistic director of Chopard. “Our involvementwith these prestigious events solidifies ourlove for the art of film and beautiful jewelleryand watch creations.”Piaget has also been quite visible on the redcarpet. Explains Larry Boland, president, PiagetNorth America, “Piaget watches and jewelleryhave always been a favourite of high-profileindividuals and the brand has a longstandinglove affair with cinema and the arts. Dressingcelebrities exposes us to new audiences andhelps attract new consumers and brings glam-our and excitement to the brand and strength-ens our relationship with Hollywood.”Swiss watchmaker Baume & Mercier launchedan advertising campaign a few years ago thatfeatured Andy Garcia, Teri Hatcher, AshtonKutcher and other red carpet regulars. “Thiscampaign caught the attention of both con-sumers and professionals in Hollywood andinspired many to make Baume & Mercier theirtimepiece choice for everyday wear as well as

Jude Law wearing ChopardNiels Schneider wearing Chopard

Bianca Balti with Fawaz Gruosi of de Grisogono Owen Wilson wearing PiagetEmmanuel Chriqui wearing Baume & Mercier



for special occasions,” Rudy Chavez, president,Baume & Mercier North America, says. Morerecently, Baume & Mercier has become thelead sponsor of the Hamptons InternationalFilm Festival.Hamilton Watch, in addition to being veryactive in product placement around theworld, is the official sponsor of the “HamiltonBehind the CameraAwards”, held in Hollywoodand Beijing. “The recognition of these off-screen talents is underlined with the presenta-tion of the awards by leading actors, actressesand other movie professionals, who are wear-ing our watches,” says Sylvain Dolla, CEO,Hamilton International. “Celebrities attendingthe Hamilton Behind the Camera Awardscome because they want to support one ormore honourees they worked with on differ-ent projects.”

Dressing the starsWatches or jewellery on celebrities might havegotten there in a number of ways. Sometimes,the celebrities themselves, who might be fansof the brand, request to wear a piece or theagent/manger/stylist makes the initial con-tact, looking to borrow a watch or a piece ofhigh jewellery for their clients. In other cases,the brands reach out to celebrities.“We love to dress friends of Piaget,” Piaget’s

Boland says. “If celebrities make a request andwe are able to accommodate them, we do.Other times, we are captivated by the perfor-mance of a certain star, or we feel that theyexemplify the ideals of the brand, and we letthem know it would be our pleasure to dressthem in Piaget.”Working with actors and celebrities isn’t easy,as they are notoriously demanding and knowwhat they like and want.“When a client selectsa piece of high jewellery or a fine watch, theyare looking for something very meaningfuland very unique,” says Frédéric de Narp, pres-ident, Harry Winston. “It is an extension ofwho they are—their personal style, taste, andeven comfort—so it’s about finding some-thing truly exceptional just for them. This inti-mate and highly personalised approachallows us to give the clients we work with thecomplete Harry Winston experience at thehighest level.”Some companies set up suites where thecelebrities or their representatives come into choose what watches and jewellery theywill wear. Other times, they will come intothe LA offices or boutiques of a brand tomake their choices.“At Cannes for example, the celebrities like tocome to our suite at the Hotel Martinez tochoose for themselves, while other times the

celebrity works with a stylist who comes to usto see the entire collection and selects a fewitems from there,” says Fawaz Gruosi, presidentof watch and jewellery company de Grisogono.Do red carpet placements have any effect onsales? There is no empirical data, but the gen-eral consensus is that it certainly helps aware-ness, and these placements certainly can’t hurt.“When a famous celebrity is seen wearingone of our watches or a piece of jewellery,we will often see an immediate increase indemand,” Piaget’s Boland says. “Celebritiescan also spark trends. When Rihanna wore aclassic gold Piaget Polo in her music video,‘Take a Bow’, and on the red carpet, it quicklybecame popular with fashion editors andother celebrities.“Sometimes the pieces worn on the red carpetare on loan and sometimes they have actuallybeen purchased by the celebrity,” Boland con-tinues. “Once a person wears a Piaget time-piece or jewellery, they often fall in love withit, and buy it.”Because of the efforts of watch companies,more and more actors, directors and produc-ers are wearing watches on the red carpet."The trend on the red carpet for men is classicand timeless,” Boland adds. “It's why you'reseeing Hollywood's leading men wearingdress watches again. The actors are choosing

Nicole Kidman for OmegaHarrison Ford at the Hamilton “Behind the Camera” awards Leonardo DiCaprio for TAG Heuer


slim, elegant dress watches to complete theirlooks. Our Black Tie Collection and Altiplanosare in huge demand during awards seasonbecause they are so discreet and slip easilyunder the sleeve of your tux.”

Actors as ambassadorsAs long as celebrities have been celebrities,they have been associated with selling prod-ucts. There are many companies, like Baume &Mercier, TAG Heuer, Roger Dubuis, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Breitling and more, who activelyuse actors as ambassadors.“Omega ambassadors play an important role—they bring a human face to the values of thebrand,” explains Stephen Urquhart, Presidentof Omega. “Because our ambassadors havegenerally achieved great international popu-larity and success, they bring instant world-wide recognition to Omega—something thatcannot be easily matched through traditionalmarketing channels. Our culture loves celebri-ties and working with people who are notonly well-known but remarkably talented andpublic-spirited is an essential part of our mar-keting mix.“We can certainly point to our association withJames Bond as a success story. Each time anew film is released we clearly see a renewedinterest in the Seamasters 007 wears in the

film. Of course, we have James Bond, the char-acter, and Daniel Craig, the actor, as ambas-sadors so our connection to the franchise isvery strong.”TAG Heuer also uses actors successfully, likeBrad Pitt, Cameron Diaz and Leonardo DiCaprio.“Buying a luxury watch is not only about buy-ing a product but also about buying a dream,”says Jean-Christophe Babin, CEO, TAG Heuer.“A relevant ambassador contributes to createa universe, a lifestyle, a success story around aspecific range.“Actors and celebrities help to attract atten-tion within a wide offer and allow the brandto differentiate itself from others,”he continues.“In a given magazine where you can have upto 50 pages of advertising, it is key to standout from the crowd. Of course the first lever-age to do so is the design of the watches, buta famous icon such as Leonardo DiCaprio orCameron Diaz makes it more special and cre-ates a recall in consumers' minds.They will alsogenerate storytelling and, as a consequence,editorials. Finally, during events, celebritiesbring their glamorous aura and generate ageneral feeling of prestige.”In the past, TAG Heuer used athletes asambassadors and this resulted in achievinggreat success as a sports watch brand. TAGHeuer felt that this designation was holding

them back from realising the brand’s potential.“Therefore we decided to balance our com-munication and added Brad Pitt to our ambas-sadors team,” Babin details. “He strongly con-tributed to developing our Carrera line as anicon. Now Leo and Cameron do the samething. Thanks to them, we can say today thatwe are not a sports brand anymore, but a lux-ury brand inspired by sport.”

Other cinematic effortsMontblanc focused on cinema with its recent“Beauty of a Second” short film contest.Presented in 2011, Montblanc asked the pub-lic to submit one-second videos, reinforcingthe value of time and Montblanc’s place in it.To raise its brand awareness in films andmedia even more, Hamilton Watch has part-nered with film schools around the world,spreading the Hamilton message to writersand directors before they even get into theindustry. In exchange for funds to buy equip-ment, Hamilton has these students producingshort works that it uses on its website and inits promotions.In 2009, Hamilton began working with theOsaka Communication Arts School in Japan.In addition, they are working with otherschools, including Webster University inGeneva, Switzerland and other premiere com-munication schools around the world.Rolex has been working in cinema with itsMentor & Protégé program. Some of the lumi-naries who have been involved with the pro-gram include Martin Scorsese, Zhang Yimou,Walter Murch and Stephen Frears [See PierreMaillard’s article on the Rolex Mentor & ProtégéArts Initiative in this issue].

There are many ways the watch industry andthe entertainment world work together. Asconsumers continue to get bombarded bythousands of media messages a day, brandswill continue to find new and inventive waysof standing out from the crowd.And you can bet that means more involve-ment in entertainment.O

Rolex mentor Martin Scorsese with protégée Celina MurgaCameron Diaz for TAG Heuer


ARTS &WATCHES europa star48

ICE-CHRONO

www.ice-watch.comfacebook.com/ice.watch CHANGE. YOU CAN.

2012-11-14-ice-watch-EUROPASTAR-205x265.indd 1 14/11/2012 09:14:32

PlateTableware or part of a watch movement?

Discover the world of Fine Watchmakingat www.hautehorlogerie.org

Plate | The plate which bears the various movement parts and in particular the bridges. The dial is usually affixed to the bottom side of the plate. The plate is pierced with holes for the screws and recesses for the jewels in which the pivots of the movement wheels will run.

The FoundaTion’s ParTners | A. LAnge & Söhne | audemars PigueT | BAume & mercier | BoveT | cArtier | Chanel | chopArD

ChrisToPhe ClareT | corum | de BeThune | greuBeL ForSey | harry WinsTon | hermèS | huBloT | iWc | Jaeger-leCoulTre | montBLAnc

Panerai | pArmigiAni | PerreleT | piAget | riChard mille | roger DuBuiS | Tag heuer | VAcheron conStAntin | van CleeF & arPels | Zenith

atelier-zuppinger.ch

RInterview conductedby Pierre Maillard

FFrançois-Henry Bennahmias, the new ad interimCEO of Audemars Piguet, may be young (48years old), but he knows the brand by heart.Not surprising since he has worked there for18 years. A former high-level professionalgolfer, he joined Audemars Piguet in 1994and started his career in the French marketbefore being sent to Singapore and Malaysia,then notably to Australia. During this period,he continued to have responsibilities overvarious European markets, namely Germany,Spain, Italy and Switzerland. In 1999, how-ever, he was transferred to the United Statesto launch the brand in this market where itwas in a “bad position”. We know the rest:thanks mostly to strong media efforts andpartnerships with popular personalities (ArnoldSchwarzenegger, Jay-Z), Audemars Piguetbecame an icon in the USA. In light of his suc-cess, the family “board” of the Swiss brandlooked to Bennahmias when it needed toreplace Philippe Merk, who was leaving forreasons of “strategic differences.”

Europa Star: You declared a short time agothat “the brand had rested a little too muchon its laurels”.What does this phrase conceal?Was Audemars Piguet in a bad situation?

François-Henry Bennahmias: Upon myarrival, the brand had enjoyed ten years ofpure happiness—ten years of developmentand of opening new markets. Even the crisisof 2009 did not affect Audemars Piguet too

much. Sales were down 12 per cent com-pared to other companies that suffered 30per cent declines or even more. So, at thattime, the feeling was to say: it’s all working,we are there! But this is a dangerous attitudebecause it tends to make you overconfident,and therefore you no longer question whatyou are doing. But, one is never “there”. Allthe more so since we are heading into moredifficult times. Yet, difficult periods are inter-esting, since they force us to be more reactive.No, not “reactive” since that means that youare already late. The right term is “proactive”.

ES: This is a word that does not exist in theFrench language…

FHB: This is undoubtedly not by chance…But it is this way of thinking that I want toabsolutely infuse in all of our teams.We mustdare and we must move forward, without fearof being wrong. We can always make a mis-

take, but the important thing is how fast wecan correct this mistake. From this point ofview, the crisis offers us an opportunity. Itforces us to make the difference, to weather itas well as we can, to be the best possible. Thecrisis is a wake-up call!

ES: You define your new strategy as beingboth “a return to basics and an absoluterespect for the brand”.What does that meanin concrete terms?

FHB: Above all, it means that we must bequality-oriented in everything we do, in allaspects of the brand—product, distribution,service. Insisting on quality rather thanquantity involves a whole series of directconsequences, whether upstream on apurely technical level for products whosereliability must be totally irreproachable, ordownstream in our relationships with retail-ers and end consumers. This has led us torapidly take concrete measures: resizing ourdistribution network to offer each of ourpartners a complete palette of products insufficient numbers; and pausing the releaseof new products in order to re-establish thebrand in the strongest and most precisepositioning. The race to always introducenew products is absurd.Watchmaking is notthe fashion industry. The public does not liveglued to every new watch that comes out. Itmust digest the offer. And, this offer must bethe clearest possible. The collections mustbe cleaned up and we must be able to say:the Royal Oak is like this; the Millenary islike this. Having said that, we are well bal-anced in terms of the number of referenceswe have.

ES: You have used an enigmatic expression insaying that Audemars Piguet “should become

“Audemars Piguet:infusing a new way of thinking”

François-Henry Bennahmias

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the watchmaking Apple”. It is difficult tounderstand exactly what you mean by this…

FHB: Ah, but it is simple. We want to createour own standards, asApple has done in com-puting. By drawing inspiration from otherindustries that innovate and work in otherways than the unchanging methods employedby the watch industry, we are going to inno-vate and travel new roads, especially in termsof service, roads that are in the DNA of thebrand, but that will make the difference. Idon’t want to say more for the moment, sincethat would be premature, but we will have avery remarkable new innovation coming in2013 - 2014.

ES: Is it an advantage that Audemars Piguetis a family-owned brand in the current situa-tion where there are strong pressures beingexerted in the marketplace?

FHB: Yes, most certainly. It is an enormousadvantage. Not only do we not have to worryabout the pressures of the stock market, butalso the fact that we are a more modest shipgives us greater manoeuvrability [Editor’s note:even so, this year the brand’s turnover wasCHF 600 million with 1200 people aboard].Our ship is not as difficult to handle as anenormous cruise liner. That is one reason.Another is the extraordinary card that we areholding, a trump card to play with the majorretailers. Everyone feels and suffers the pres-sure exerted by the large groups. These retail-ers tend today, therefore, to favour the inde-pendence of the brands they deal with. Andhow many brands, regardless of size, are ableto generate a turnover of more than CHF 2million per retailer? You can count them onthe fingers of one or perhaps two hands.Audemars Piguet is one of them. I will let youdo the maths…

ES:What is the average price of a watch?

FHB: Around CHF 30,000. For a retailer, thismeans he sells 70 watches a year to reach thesales figure I just mentioned.

ES: Another sensitive question is that con-cerning the integration of production, espe-cially these days given the pressure on move-ments and assortments. Where is AudemarsPiguet in regards to this?

FHB: Over time, we want to integrate the fewmetiers that we still don’t master. This year, weare putting into place a production unit thatwill be devoted to all of our Royal Oak dials,which are the strong identifying features of theproduct. Moreover, we have just announced amajor investment of more than CHF 30 millionon the construction of a new building inGeneva, for Centror, our unit that makes casesand bracelets. As for the famous assortments,we are working on it (smiles). Patience.

ES: On a more personal level, what motivatesyou the most in your new position?

FHB: Without any hesitation, I can say it isthe notion of teamwork. It is being able tosucceed in infusing a new attitude into thislarge team, to push it forward, to bring outthe best in the incredible talents that workhere, and to encourage and reward initiative.To sum it up, what motivates me above all isto transmit a new way of thinking. Moreover,I am, and will be, very present at the indus-trial core of our activity, in the workshops, inthe production. I would like to infuse thischange of mentality everywhere in the brandso that we are all “proactive” without beingafraid.This is perhaps an approach inspired bymy American experience. But, I also owe thisapproach to my German wife, who showedme that there is another way to work, with-out rigidity but with courage, in a shared andcommon manner.O

For more information about Audemars Piguetclick on Brand Index at www.europastar.com

The Royal Oak Offshore Grande Complication, a contempo-rary 44-mm diameter titanium and ceramic watch teamedwith a rubber strap, is an automatic minute repeater, split-second chronograph and perpetual calendar. Within thisimpressive horological accomplishment, the 648 parts shar-ing the 8-cm3 space allotted to the movement are finishedwith exemplary care. Contemporary finishes, such as sand-blasting, are designed to highlight more traditional treat-ments such as bevelling or hand-drawn flanks. The parts arepartially visible through the transparent sapphire dial and bya fitted exhibition back. The latter in particular provides aview of the solid gold oscillating weight featuring a blackcoating serving to accentuate the overall contemporarytouch that the watchmakers have chosen to give this three-piece limited edition.

AudemarsPiguet612_AudemarsPiguet612 30.11.12 08:25 Page3

SIHH europa star52

RPaul O’Neil

CCartier will once again be presenting a num-ber of exciting new products at the SIHH in2013 but the brand understandably does notwant to overwhelm us by presenting every-thing at the same time. But if the appetiser isanything to go by, the brand is once again setto surpass itself at the show in January, sinceCartier has unveiled nothing less than its firstin-house self-winding chronograph calibre,the 1904-CH MC.

Aficionados will note the column wheel, whichis carefully revealed through an open-workedbridge section visible through the transparentcase back and sets the movement apart as achronograph of distinction. But Cartier’sattention to detail went beyond this more vis-ible confirmation of the movement’s quality.The use of a vertical coupling, for example,ensures no loss of power and eliminates anyjumps by the chronograph seconds handwhen the chronograph is started or stopped.Furthermore, the return-to-zero mechanism,which usually rotates, is in this case linear,which guarantees an instantaneous and pre-cise return to zero, regardless of the pressureapplied to the chronograph pusher. A degreeof flexibility has also been incorporated intothe heart cams on the chronograph countersthemselves in order to reduce stress on theiraxles. The movement operates at 4Hz and,thanks to twin mainspring barrels, offers apower reserve of 48 hours.

The new movement finds its first applicationin a 42mm Calibre de Cartier case in stainlesssteel or 18-carat red gold with alligator leatherstraps or metal bracelets. Although the twochronograph counters at 3 and 9 o’clock con-

fer a slightly sportier touch to the dial, noth-ing of the traditional Cartier elegance is lost.An oversized XII Roman numeral and theCartier name dominate the top of the dial.TheRoman numerals continue around the upperhalf of the dial, switching to baton-shaped

hour markers for the lower half, with a sector-ial date aperture at 6 o’clock. The chrono-graph uniform is completed by an elegantrailway-style minute track that is engraved onthe bezel.

Signature elements such as the sword-shapedhands and the seven-sided crown adornedwith a faceted blue synthetic spinel ensurethat this new timepiece remains unmistakablyCartier and acts as a fine ambassador forCartier’s new models in 2013.O

For more information about Cartier click onBrand Index at www.europastar.com

Cartier’s new manufacture chronograph

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RPaul O’Neil

PPiaget has established a solid reputation as aleader in the manufacture of ultra-thin watchmovements. After producing the world’sthinnest hand-wound shaped tourbillon move-ment and ultra-thin versions of some of themain watchmaking complications, the brandnow reaches the pinnacle of thinning down themechanical movement with the presentationof the world’s thinnest self-winding minuterepeater movement in the Emperador CoussinUltra-Thin Minute Repeater.

It has taken the company three years of devel-opment work to design and produce the4.8mm thick Calibre 1290P with its 407 indi-

vidual components. Based on the Calibre1200P, the world’s thinnest self-winding move-ment, it contains components whose size isdifficult to imagine, some of which—at0.07mm—are thinner than a hair’s breadth.In spite of its size, the movement exhibits anexquisite level of finishing with bridges drawnand bevelled by hand with a file, a decoratedplatinum micro-rotor and polished pink-goldand rhodium-plated screws.

The elegant mechanism is housed inside a48mm diameter cushion-shaped case fromthe Piaget Black Tie collection. Fashioned in18-carat pink gold, the case alone comprises69 individual elements, yet it is only 9.4mmthick, making this the world’s thinnest self-winding minute repeater timepiece. In the

absence of a dial, the ornate decoration onboth sides of the movement can be admiredthrough sapphire crystals on the front andback of the watch, with the 60 rays of thesunburst engine-turned pattern on the main-plate acting as the watch’s minute markers.

A minute repeater must, of course, be heardin order to be judged. Connoisseurs of thishighly complicated mechanism will be able toappreciate the significance of the finer detailsthat allow the hours to be struck in G sharpand the minutes inA sharp in the fifth octave ata volume of 64 decibels—just one decibel lessthan the level of an average conversation. O

For more information about Piaget click onBrand Index at www.europastar.com

54 SIHH europa star

Piaget’s strident voice from a slender body

EMPERADOR COUSSIN ULTRA-THIN MINUTE REPEATER

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RPaul O’Neil

TThe latest high-tech timepiece from RichardMille, which was presented at the annualawards of the FIA (Fédération Internationalede l’Automobile) in Istanbul in December, is acollaboration between FIA president JeanTodt and Richard Mille. Dubbed the RM036Jean Todt Limited Edition, it boasts a uniquenew mechanical g-force meter that measuresthe forces that drivers are subjected to ondeceleration.

The g-force meter was developed exclusivelyfor Richard Mille by Renaud & Papi, withwhom the brand works closely on movementdevelopment. It is assembled directly on themain plate and can indicate g-forces of tensof g, with the scale on the meter at 12 o’clockindicating whether the deceleration is harm-less (green), or whether it has reached a levelthat is critical for the driver (red).

Withstanding such strong forces naturallyplaces greater requirements on the resistanceof the mechanical movement that powers thewatch—even more so in this case, since theRM036 movement in question is a manually-

wound tourbillon. For extra rigidity, the mainplate is made of carbon nanofibre and the com-ponents of grade five titanium and ARCAP.

Another particularity of this movement is thatthe entire time-setting mechanism is sepa-rated from the main plate, which means thatit can be removed from the watch withouttouching the main plate and without removingthe dial or the hands, since it can be accessedeasily from the case back side.

This complex yet practical arrangement has ameticulous finish and is housed inside thetypical Richard Mille case in grade five tita-nium, whose complex form requires 86 differ-ent pressing operations and 49 stamping oper-ations followed by 20 hours of machine settingand 30 hours of programming on the three

principal components: case middle, bezel andback.After 255 machining operations and fivehours of satin finishing and polishing, the finish-ing touch—the relief engraving of the RichardMille name—requires a further 45 minutes.

Only 15 drivers will benefit from the unique g-force meter on this RM 036 Limited EditionJean Todt model, since that is the extent ofthe limited edition. Richard Mille, however,helps the cause of road safety in a muchwider sense, since Jean Todt will donate theprofits from the sale of these timepieces tothe FIA’s global “Action for road safety” cam-paign and the ICM Brain and Spine Instituteof which he is a co-founder.O

For more information about Richard Mille clickon Brand Index at www.europastar.com

Richard Mille’s support for road safety

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RPaul O’Neil

AA visit to the relatively modest premises ofRoger Dubuis in Meyrin, on the outskirts ofGeneva, reveals a text book example of whata true manufacture should look like. Not onlyis every step of the movement manufacturingprocess mastered internally but the brand isalso the only one to certify its entire produc-tion with the Poinçon de Genève (GenevaHallmark – see the article “Putting the seal onquality” in Europa Star 04/2012).

On presenting a selection of Roger Dubuis’snew products for the SIHH 2013, CEO Jean-Marc Pontroué stressed that there should betwo watchmakers for every other employee ifa brand wants to claim a genuine status as amanufacture. In Roger Dubuis’s case, 160 ofthe total workforce of 250 are indeed watch-

makers. He also emphasised that 40 per centmore time is required to produce watches inaccordance with the criteria for the GenevaHallmark.

ExcaliburThe Excalibur collection will be the focus ofthe brand’s attention in 2013. It accounts for30-40 per cent of total sales and is the numberone seller in most major countries. The collec-tion, launched in 2005 with a 45mm case anda double tourbillon movement, is distinguishedby its grooved bezel, triple lugs, integrated strapand elongated Roman numerals on the dial.

Covering a wide price range from CHF 13,000to CHF 550,000, the Excalibur collection offersgents’ and ladies’ models, with the formeraccounting for two-thirds of the collection andthe latter the remaining third. It currently usesfifteen different Roger Dubuis calibres, a figurethat will increase next year with the launch ofthree new calibres in the collection, in addi-tion to a new material in a new 47mm case

diameter and one entirely new case. The 29new references to be presented at the SIHH inJanuary include new metal bracelets for the36mm and 42mm case sizes—a first in theExcalibur collection. One such model in the36mm case diameter is set with no less than624 diamonds on the new bracelet in red gold,with a further 48 diamonds on the bezel (for a

56 SIHH europa star

Roger Dubuis leads the way in self-sufficiency

THE MANUFACTURERoger Dubuis really does master the entire productionprocess in its facility in Meyrin, Geneva. It starts withthe top-secret workshop where two employees pro-duce balance springs behind secure, windowless doors.The springs then arrive in a small escapement work-shop, where the balance springs are fixed to the bal-ance wheels and the pallet stones are fitted to the leverby hand, checked for position, then glued in place.Elsewhere, milling and wire erosion machines producemovement blanks and individual components, while ina separate workshop that is unlikely to be found in anyother watch factory, a whole department works on allcomponents by hand to ensure that they meet therequirements of the Geneva Hallmark. Working towithin the strictest tolerances, gear wheel teeth arepolished, bevels painstakingly created by hand and thesignature Celtic cross of the tourbillon mirror-polishedby hand on a diamond stone, the abrasive surface ofwhich actually feels smooth to the touch.

All the Geneva Hallmark components are then metic-ulously cleaned using a variety of methods beforemoving on to the assembly line, where watchmakerswork in pairs (each one assembling a specific half ofthe movement), before handing the finished move-ment over to another watchmaker for adjustment.Themovements are then tested to ensure that they meetthe new precision criteria for the Geneva Hallmark (avariation of no more than 60 seconds over a period ofseven days). Only once they pass this test are theycased up and tested for water resistance—also inaccordance with the new Geneva Hallmark criteria.

EXCALIBUR CHRONOMETER

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total weight of approximately 4.78 carats).This model is powered by the RD821 self-winding calibre with small seconds display.

In the 42mm case diameter, Roger Dubuispresents a new chronometer-chronograph instainless steel and with a blue dial. This modelwill be sold exclusively through the brand’s 20own-name boutiques and is driven by thenew self-winding RD681 chronograph calibrewith a micro rotor, whose 280 componentswork in harmony to display the chronographseconds centrally, the 30-minute counter at 3o’clock and small seconds at 9 o’clock.

The Excalibur 42 Skeleton Tourbillon takes itscue from the popular 45mm Double Skeletonand shows off its distinctive, mirror-polishedtourbillon cage in the form of a Celtic cross tomaximum effect. Only the bare minimum ofmaterial has been left after the skeletonisa-tion of the RD505SQ calibre, leaving a sup-

porting structure whose finish is reminiscentof wrought ironwork. This tourbillon is also aCOSC-certified chronometer and is availablewith a case in red or white gold.

Undoubtedly the pièce de résistance in thebatch of new Excalibur models presented byRoger Dubuis at the SIHH 2013, the ExcaliburRound Table pays homage to the legend ofKing Arthur (after whose magical sword thecollection is named) and the Knights of theRound Table. The scene is captured beautifullyon the piece’s dial, with an enamel disc formingthe table, around which three-dimensionalsculptures of the twelve knights are seated,each with their hand-forged gold sword laidon the table to form the twelve hour markers.The self-winding calibre RD822 powering thislimited edition of 28 pieces displays only thehours and minutes. A wise choice, since thecontinuous movement of a seconds hand woulddisturb this exquisite sculpture.

DistributionRoger Dubuis currently has 20 own-nameboutiques, the latest of which, located at theMacau Wynn casino, is the smallest of all. Thebrand is distributed in a further 170 doorsworldwide, a figure that is unlikely to changemuch, according to Pontroué, who says “ourgrowth will not come from increasing thenumber of points of sale”. He also proudlypoints out that, in a survey by the RichemontGroup of 600 retailers, three Roger Dubuisstores came in the top ten in terms of customerservice.The brand’s in-house design team havecreated a relaxing lounge-style environmentfor the own-brand stores, where customerscan relax on comfy sofas surrounded by book-shelves—so much the better for an unhurriedexamination of the intricate finish of thebrand’s timepieces. O

For more information about Roger Dubuis clickon Brand Index at www.europastar.com

EXCALIBUR ROUND TABLEEXCALIBUR 42 SKELETON TOURBILLONEXCALIBUR CHRONOMETER-CHRONOGRAPH

RogerDubuis612_RogerDubuis612 30.11.12 09:04 Page3

58 GENEVA SHOWS PREVIEW GALLERY europa star

BIG BANG “ZEBRA BANG” by HublotWith this new model, Hublot continues the animal-print theme that it started with its LeopardBang and Boa Bang models. The 41mm case is in black ceramic with a distinctive zebra printdial and strap, with diamonds, colourless topaz and black spinels completing the monochromelook of the watch, powered by the HUB4300 self-winding chronograph movement, whichoffers a power reserve of 42 hours. This is a limited edition of 250 pieces but with two othermodels (also limited to 250 pieces each) available in red gold or white ceramic.

SPIDOLITE II TITANIUM BLUE by Linde WerdelinThis limited edition of 75 pieces is the first in a series of three new SpidoLite II models. Its44mm x 46mm case has been modified slightly but maintains its lightweight design and theability to accommodate the unique LindeWerdelin instruments. Set apart by the galvanic bluetone of its skeletonised dial, with bright orange numerals and hour markers, the SpidoLite IITitanium Blue is powered by the LW 04 calibre—a self-winding movement that is custom-made for the brand by Concepto and offers a 42-hour power reserve.

GRAND LANGE 1 “LUMEN” by A. Lange & SöhneThe German brand famous for its big date display betters its own innovation by presenting thefirst glow-in-the-dark big date display in this new limited edition of 100 watches.A semi-trans-parent smoked sapphire crystal dial acts as the perfect background for the highly visible, off-

centre time, small seconds and power reserve indica-tions housed in a 41mm diameter case.

Powered by the manually-woundLange manufacture calibre

L095.2, it boasts a powerreserve of 72 hours.

ACADEMIA SECONDE RETROGRADE SERENITY by DeWittThe imposing 43mm diameter angular case of this piece (which is available in white or rosegold) plays host to an original 30-second retrograde second display in the 6 o’clock position.Calibre DW1102 is used to power this function—a mechanical self-winding movement thatoffers 42 hours of power reserve.

Gallery612_Gallery612 06.12.12 08:43 Page2

RPaul O’Neil

PPanerai watches have such a distinctive look,rooted in the brand’s historic ties with theItalian navy, and a cult following that one mayjustifiably wonder whether this places certainrestrictions on the freedom of its designers.

But this conundrum is neither new, nor does itpose any apparent problem to Angelo Bonati,President of Officine Panerai. Earlier this year,Europa Star put this very question to him.“We consider Panerai a brand that has anenormous potential for the future,” he replied.“Somebody asked me the same question twelveyears ago. My answer is still the same: wehave an enormous potential to explore, whychange? It’s true that we don’t have a bigsquare to draw our watches on. We have anarrow street, but this means that you haveto be more creative.”

The latest expression of this creativity is a spe-cial edition dedicated to the Panerai-spon-sored Transat Classique 2012, which has seena fleet of classic yachts racing in a number ofregattas around the world in 2012, travelling4,000 miles in yachts that are, in some cases,over a hundred years old.

The Luminor 1950 Rattrapante 8 Days Titanio,identified by the reference PAM00427, bearsall the usual Panerai hallmarks, such as theLuminor case, the sleek black dial and Panerai’strademarked crown protector. The lightweightcase in brushed titanium, with a contrastingpolished titanium bezel, houses the PaneraiP.2006/3 calibre, which is a hand-wound split-secondsmovement with a double columnwheelthat offers a power reserve of eight days (dis-

played on Panerai’s typical linear gauge in the6 o’clock position). Since the patented crownprotector takes up most of the right-hand sideof the case, the two chronograph pushers arelocated at 8 o’clock for the chronograph and10 o’clock for the split seconds.

With the logo of the Panerai Transat Classique2012 engraved on the case back, this specialedition is fitted with a personalised Panerai

rubber strap and large brushed titanium buckleand is supplied with a second strap and thetool required to change it. Issued as a limitededition of 200 pieces, it will be available mainlyin the 45 Panerai boutiques worldwide, aswell as at a small selection of specialist watchshops.O

For more information about Panerai click onBrand Index at www.europastar.com

Panerai’s celebration of classic yachting

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europa star SIHH 59

RPaul O’Neil

BBaume & Mercier has changed a lot over thepast few years. While the brand’s outwardidentity is now characterised by the appeal-ing seaside escape images inspired by theHamptons on the eastern tip of Long Island inNewYork State, an enormous amount of workhas been going on behind the scenes to makeits distribution more exclusive. The latest newcollection, which Baume & Mercier will pre-sent at the SIHH 2013, continues the seasidetheme with a name taken from the affluentseaside suburb of Cape Town, South Africa –the Clifton.

Inspired by an historic model found in thecompany’s museum, the Clifton slots perfectlyinto one of the main axes of the brand’s prod-uct strategy, as Baume & Mercier’s CEO AlainZimmerman explained to Europa Star. “Wework along two main lines: Firstly, we have abalanced offer between gents’ and ladies’models, which is an historical strength of thebrand. Secondly, we also keep a balancebetween classic and sporty models.”

The CliftonThe new Clifton collection is firmly positioned inthe classic segment, with a carefully reworkedinterpretation of the round case of the 1950soriginal that inspired it. “The original piececaught our eye for three reasons,” says Mr.Zimmerman. “The first is that it has a strongdesign signature, for example with the recessedlugs.The second is the purity of the dial and thethird is the ‘chimney-style’ bezel, which is ontwo levels and gives the watch a vintage look.”The 41mm stainless-steel case of the new

gents’ Clifton model houses a self-windingSellita SW260-1 movement with a personalisedoscillating mass, circular-grained bridges andblack and rhodium-plated screws. Visiblethrough a sapphire crystal case back, the move-ment provides hour, minute and small secondsdisplay at 6 o’clock, as well as a date windowat 3 o’clock. Despite a high level of attentionto detail that includes elegant applied Arabicnumerals, blued-steel hands and a new fold-ing clasp that does not have to be insertedinto the holes of the alligator leather strap(and thus reduces wear on the strap andallows better adjustment), the collection hasan aggressively positioned entry-level price of2,500 Swiss francs. The aim is to appeal tocustomers looking to trade up into the luxurysegment. Or, as Mr. Zimmerman explains,

“someone who will progress from a watchthat he may have purchased spontaneously towhat we could call a ‘real’ watch. Someonewho makes this step wants a watch that willlast, so they need a classic design. They wanta mechanical movement and they want to beable to see it. These are the considerationsthat went into the design of the watch.”

Nevertheless, Baume &Mercier also reaffirms itsfine watchmaking credentials with an 18-caratred-gold version of the Clifton. Slightly largerat 42mm diameter, it has a more rounded,“chevé”-style sapphire crystal and a domeddial that more closely mimics the 1950s aes-thetics of the original model. It is powered bythe manual-winding La Joux-Perret calibre7381, with 90 hours of power reserve, whose

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Baume & Mercier’s seasideodyssey continues

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circular-grained main plate and bridges withCôtes de Genève décor are visible through atransparent sapphire crystal case back. Smaller39mm Clifton models, as well as a moon phasevariation, are being kept under wraps for pre-sentation at the 2013 SIHH in Geneva.

More exclusive distributionThe sweeping changes at Baume & Mercierover the past few years have included a dras-tic reduction in the size of the brand’s distrib-ution network. “Over the past few years wehave massively reduced our distribution net-work, from around 3,000 to around 1,600,”says Zimmerman.

As a result, the brand is in a phase of con-struction that is incomparable with other moreestablished brands within the Richemontgroup and suggests an above-average poten-tial for growth.While the brand has been tra-ditionally strong in markets such as the USA(for many years, Baume & Mercier was theonly watch brand other than Patek Philippe tobe carried in all Tiffany stores), other regions,such as Asia, still require a lot of work. Evenwith Europe, there is still room for improve-ment. “In the UK we are far behind the levelthat we should be at,” explains Zimmerman.“We have practically had to start from scratchand need retailers who will give us the space.”

“Our business model is different as well,” hecontinues. “We have a different positioning interms of price and in terms of distribution,since we are focused more on wholesale, whileother brands in the group are more focusedon retail.”

Meanwhile, plans to expand the Clifton col-lection are already in the pipeline. Look outfor a version with two different dials at theSIHH, as well as some new ladies’ models inthe Linea collection.O

For more information about Baume & Mercierclick on Brand Index at www.europastar.com

BaumeMercier612_BaumeMercier612 30.11.12 08:26 Page3

SPIRIT MARK 2 by Speake-MarinPeter Speake-Marin has completely redesigned the Spirit Pioneer model using a new case,dial and movement. The dial alone is as complicated to produce as an enamel dial, requiringthe use of different moulds to produce a face that can be bonded to a traditional dial plate.The finished dial has bold Roman numerals, hour markers and minute track in SuperLuminova,producing a clearly readable display when viewed against the light-absorbing matt blackbackground. The 42mm case in stainless steel houses a new TT738 calibre movement withunidirectional automatic winding that offers a 120-hour (5 day) power reserve.

UR-210 by UrwerkThis 53.6mm x 43.8mm machine in titanium and steel features a unique indication developed byUrwerk. At the top left-hand corner of the dial is an indicator that displays the winding efficiencyover the past two hours. Using this, the wearer can adjust the winding efficiency of the UR-7.10calibre self-winding movement using a selector on the back of the watch.Turbines coupled to themovement, which offers a power reserve of 39 hours, manage this function, while Urwerk’spatented revolving satellite complication displays the time around the bottom half of the dial.

produce a face that can be bonded to a tradiman numerals, hour markers and minute track in Sup

dable display when viewed against the light-absorbing m2mm case in stainless steel houses a new TT738 calibre moveme

automatic winding that offers a 120-hour (5 day) power reserve.

OCULUS V.01 CHRONO “THE DEVIL INSIDE” by ValbrayOnly six models of this “diabolical” chronograph will be made, with a case in grade five tita-nium with a red-gold DLC coating. The diaphragm system hidden beneath the dial allows thewearer to choose between a sombre black dial on which only the black hands and the dis-tinctive red seconds hand in the form of the devil’s trident can be seen and the fully open dis-play with the chronograph counters. This model is powered by a self-winding chronographmovement that offers 44 hours of power reserve.

TRANSFORMA RIVAGESby ParmigianiConceived with the exploits of brandambassador Bernard Stamm in mind dur-ing the Vendée Globe solo round-the-world yacht race, this timepiece canbe used as a cockpit instrumentor worn as a pocket watch orwristwatch. Its 43mm case is inmatt black carbon,with a tita-nium support. It is poweredby the PF334 calibre move-ment with ¼ second chrono-graph function, which has apower reserve of 50 hours,and comes with a choice ofblack calfskin or waterproofedalligator leather straps with atitanium folding clasp.

CHALLENGE JET LINER CARBON by CvstosCvstos combines cutting-edge technology with traditional man-ual crafts to produce its first Tonneau case with carbon inlays.After the carbon sections are cut by laser, they are inlaid, lac-quered and polished by hand in the 53.7mm x 41mm case,which is available in titanium or 18-carat red gold.The ChallengeJet Liner Carbon is powered by the Cvstos CVS3250 calibre self-winding movement and has a 42-hour power reserve.

Gallery612_Gallery612 06.12.12 08:44 Page3

GENEVA SHOWS PREVIEW GALLERY europa star62

RPaul O’Neil

AAfter concentrating on the Art Deco 867 col-lection at last year’s SIHH, for the 2013 edi-tion Ralph Lauren Watch & Jewelry turns itsattention to a democratisation of the SportingWorld Time collection, with a new brushedstainless-steel version in dark blue tones.

The Sporting line was one of the debut collec-tions presented at the SIHH in 2009, togetherwith the Slim Classique and Stirrup models,and has evolved to encompass the Classic,Automotive and Chronograph models. Themost recent models to be launched were theSporting World Time pieces, inspired by RalphLauren’s love of travel and exploration, whichhave until now only been available with pre-cious-metal cases in yellow and white goldand with classic white or black dials.

In the new model, the familiar 45-mm case,with its six visible screws fixing the bezel tothe case, is in brushed stainless steel. It extendsthe collection and remains unmistakably RalphLauren with its transferred Roman numeralsand railway-style minute track around the cir-cumference of the deep-blue varnished dial.

The function after which the watch is named,the world time indicator, remains relativelydiscreet in the 6 o’clock position below thepower reserve display at 10 o’clock and thedate sub-dial at 2 o’clock and above an aper-ture in which the city corresponding to thesecond time zone is displayed. The day/nightindicator, found in the 9 o’clock position onthe sub-dial, is equally discreet. A simplepress on the pushbutton at 10 o’clock is allthat is needed to change the time zone, whilea separate hidden corrector at 2 o’clock isused to correct the date.

This complication is driven by the RL 939 calibremovement, which was developed by Jaeger-LeCoultre for Ralph Lauren. The self-windingmovement boasts a high-quality finish ofCôtes de Genève and circular graining, as wellas a 40-hour power reserve, and operates at28,000 vibrations per hour. A cobalt blue alli-gator leather strap completes the vibrant blueaspect of the piece, which is water resistant to100 metres.O

For more information about Ralph Lauren clickon Brand Index at www.europastar.com

Ralph Lauren’s Sporting World Timein steel

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www.baselworld.com

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europa star SERVICE, PLEASE! 65

IIn the world of watchmaking there is a conti-nent, somewhat obscure, on which the mediaprojectors rarely cast their light—much toorarely. What we are talking about is “service”.The press is full of talk of brands and theexcellence in their know-how, technology,design and products. Yet, once the product issold, it often seems like that everything stopsthere. So many comments come to us fromcustomers who are profoundly disappointed,even sometimes disheartened, by the way inwhich their preferred brand manages its after-sales service. Unacceptable delays, risky repairsand prohibitive prices are among the com-plaints that we hear.

Worse still, it is apparent that not all clientsare equal, depending on where they live.When reading the very instructive Letter fromChina by Jean-Luc Adam, who manages ouroffice in Shanghai, it is quite clear that after-sales service in China is at best vague and atworst non-existent. Too busy filling theshelves of retailers and trying to put a watchon the wrist of every Chinese citizen, manybrands have sub-contracted the less glam-orous side of their business—after-sales ser-vice—to companies that deal indifferentlyand anonymously between “watches in plas-tic and watches in platinum”.

The side-effects of this reprehensible negli-gence are beginning to be felt. Chinese blogsare full of Kafkaesque stories, sometimes tothe point of forcing certain brands to back-pedal to silence the growing rumours. Brandsrun a real risk in neglecting after-sales service.

It is a danger for them to be so concernedwith the client before the sale but then forgetabout them afterwards. Having quality after-sales service is a question of trust, of long-term growth and ultimately of the survival ofthe brand.

There are a number of questions to be answeredand numerous obstacles to be overcome inorder to set up a satisfactory after-sales ser-vice. Should it be considered as a “profit cen-tre” or as a costly ethical obligation? How can a company build good and efficient ser-

vice when it is difficult to find the necessaryqualified watchmakers whose training is soexpensive? How can a brand improve the qual-ity control of products in a climate where thepressure to continuously come out with newones is so great? Is the number of watchesreturned exploding? Should a brand distrib-ute the component parts for repairs to thirdparties, or try to control everything in-house?

These are the questions, among others, thatwe discuss in this new and, henceforth, regu-lar section in Europa Star, that we inauguratewith this issue. We will provide both good andbad examples, since not everything is as bleakas we have just described. Good practicesexist and, let’s be honest, customers mustalso assume their share of responsibility whenthings don’t run as smoothly as they should.While all car owners are aware that they mustregularly take their vehicle in for servicing, it isnot always the same for owners of watches,whose “engines” run 24 hours a day. Butexplaining to a client who has just spentthousands of dollars on a watch that he mustregularly have his timepiece serviced—andthat it will cost him—is not the most enviabletask. This information should naturally, how-ever, be part of the “before-sales” service.

Service is a long chain that begins at the fac-tory, continues with the retailer, and then iscarried out in the anonymous workshops wherethe products are sent. More transparency inthe operation and nature of after-sales servicewill by no means hurt the watch industry. Quitethe opposite. Providing better transparency byrevealing the good and the not-so-good prac-tices is a modest “service” that Europa Staraims to offer to the watch community.O

Service, please!A NEW SECTION IN EUROPA STAR

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SSome companies see after sales service as agrudging obligation, one they would rathernot fulfil. Sure, they’ve sold the watches, butthey don’t really want to see them come back.

For Piaget, the attitude is something alto-gether different. Europa Star was fortunateenough to talk with Piaget’s director of cus-tomer service, Didier Théraulaz, about how thebrand handles this critical part of the watchbusiness.

Attitude is important“After sales service is not the first priority interms of turnover sales, but it is a priority forthe clients and the image of the brand,” saysThéraulaz. “In the structure of the company,customer service is under the direct responsi-bility of the CEO, Philippe Leopold-Metzger. Ireport directly to Mr. Leopold-Metzger—whathe wanted when he created this department,customer service, was to change from aftersales service to something more client-oriented.“Usually, in the industry, after sales is verypassive,” he continues.“Ordinarily,watch com-

panies design, produce and sell watches, waitfor quite a while, then sooner or later the clientwill come back with a problem.We wanted tobe more proactive. For the client, after salesservice can be a very negative experience,and as a result, it’s not positive for the brand’simage. We want to take this negative andchange it into a positive.”

Starting with the saleEducation about service starts at the time ofsale. “Our goal is for the sales professionalsto be at ease explaining why service is needed,and why it is an asset of Piaget. When theclient buys from Piaget, we want to use aftersales as a tool in creating a relationship withour clients.“Regular service helps to preserve the valueof the watches over time and we believe thatit is good for our brand image.

“Now, we inform the client when we sell awatch with a leaflet that explains service, thatthe watch will need maintenance sooner orlater.”In addition, Piaget regularly mystery-shops itsboutiques and retailers to make sure theirsales associates handle service clients appro-priately and are able to convey the key mes-sages when talking about service. The point isfor Piaget to proactively communicate with itsclients about watch service, trying to head offa problem before it occurs.“Either we can wait until a problem occursand the negative experience follows, or wecan contact the client three years after pur-chase and remind him he bought a Piagetwatch and as a mechanical product, it needsmaintenance,” Théraulaz details.The maintenance service costs a set amountof money. If the watch is working fine, Piaget

66 SERVICE, PLEASE! europa star

Reinventing customer service at Piaget

Didier Théraulaz

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europa star SERVICE, PLEASE! 67

makes sure it is still waterproof, checks theoils, and if there is nothing special, Piaget onlyinvoices for a maintenance service. Shouldsomething more serious be found, a represen-tative of Piaget contacts the client to explainthe situation.Piaget just started this programme of contactingits clients, and by no means has the response

been overwhelming. “The rate of return hasbeen limited, but at least it is starting to work,”Théraulaz admits. “More and more the clientsare responding to it. The response rate willnever be 100 per cent, but it is getting better.Piaget acknowledges that the company, andthe industry in general, has to do a better jobof educating watch owners about the needfor regular, preventive service. “That’s why wehave created this leaflet so our sales associ-ates can talk about the service needs of thewatch,” Théraulaz says. “It’s not easy, how-ever, to talk about maintenance when we sella watch, while keeping the dream alive.”

Piaget service centresPiaget operates 22 service centres around theworld, plus the service centre at the head-quarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Some retail-ers are equipped to service and repair Piaget

watches, but in order to have control oversuch a crucial process, Piaget has invested inits own service centres.“Piaget has about 60 full time technicians allaround the world in our own service centres,so we can do the maintenance locally, and wetry to turn a regular complete service aroundin 30 days,” says Théraulaz. “If the watch has

to be sent back here to Switzerland, it takesmuch longer. We want to do as much of theservice in the local markets, and we manageto do 95 per cent of the service and repairslocally.”Explaining the need for time is important, asclients are used to same day service with theircars and other products. “The turnaround alldepends on the work needed and the spareparts required—we might have to order theparts from Switzerland, for example,”Théraulazexplains. “Usually, our clients have severalwatches.When they buy from Piaget, it’s usu-ally not the first luxury watch they buy. Westarted proposing a replacement watch to theclients, but most of them didn’t need it.“Our clients are less interested in the leadtime, but what they expect is that if we say itwill be one month, we have to respect thedeadline we set,” he continues. “If after sales

is already a negative experience, taking longermakes it worse.”

Quality firstTurnaround time is an important concern, butso is getting service and repair right the firsttime. “Our first priority is the quality of therepairs,” says Théraulaz. “Our objective is to

deliver a good quality repair, which is notalways easy, because every watch is unique,and each watch has a different story. Ourwatchmakers have to be trained on a numberof different movements—we have 30 differ-ent movements in our current collection, butwe have 130 movements in the history ofPiaget that need to be worked on. We havetrainers throughout the world that train ourwatchmakers locally. The quality of the spareparts is assured, because as an integratedmanufacture, we can reproduce whatever weneed, we don’t rely on external suppliers forthe movement, the case, the bracelet or formost of the components. We have documen-tation as well when we create a new product.When the first piece hits the market, the tech-nicians are ready to service it. For some prod-ucts, we need special tools, and these aredeveloped during the development of the

“Our objective is to deliver a good quality repair, which is not always easy,because every watch is unique, and each watch has a different story. “


68 SERVICE, PLEASE! europa star

watch, so these are sent to our repair centres.We also have the customer service depart-ment integrated in the development of newproducts.We don’t want to repeat any currentor past issues in future products.”According to Théraulaz, Piaget has had notrouble finding watchmakers to work in aftersales service, as it’s a challenging and very

interesting area of concentration. Unlike serialproduction, every watch that comes in to beserviced is different, and figuring out what theproblems are is a bit like solving a mystery.“For a watchmaker, developing new move-ments is a very good job, but when maintain-ing watches, one watchmaker does the entirework,” he details. “Usually, the watchmakerswe have in service are among the best in ourcompany. They have to know so much, andthey have to treat each watch as a specialstory.We can attract qualified people becausethe job is very interesting, there can be sur-prises, and it is really challenging. I discoveredthat the watchmakers like what they dobecause it’s not always the same.”In the countries where Piaget is seeing a short-age of watchmakers, the brand in partnershipwith Richemont and Wostep has developedschools to train their own watchmakers—

Institute of SwissWatchmaking (IOSW) schoolsin Shanghai, the USA and Hong Kong.

Continued contactCustomer service is about meeting the contin-uing needs of Piaget’s customers. “The factthat we are able to care about our productsand client, rather than just being interested in

the money, is a positive message,” Théraulazsays. “We don’t look at customer service as aprofit centre—what we want in the end is tocover the cost, we want it to be break even,which is not the case yet. After sales service iscostly—the infrastructure, the stock, the per-sonnel, the support team, the documentation,the training and more.“Our commitment to customer service showsto our clients that we will be here 20 years fromnow to service their watches,” he continues.“We can service almost 100 per cent of theproducts sent back to us for service. Recently,we had a high jewellery watch sent back, and itwas destroyed—we couldn’t even figure outwhat happened to it. It had to come back hereto the manufacture in Switzerland, and we pre-pared the estimate, and it was so high, severalhundreds of thousands of Swiss francs, but itwas a high jewellery product already.We sent

the estimate, explaining the reasons. The clientfirst said no, then five months later came back tous to give us the go ahead. The result was thatthe watch was almost like new. The restorationcan be seen as an expensive service, but whenthe client receives it back, it’s like a new watch.”Piaget will soon introduce a new box designedspecifically to deliver watches back to clients

after service. This is just another example ofPiaget’s commitment to making the customerservice experience a pleasurable one.

Opportunity ratherthan obligationCustomer service can be seen as a drain onresources, but at Piaget, “everyone agreesthat we have to invest in customer service,”Théraulaz says. “Now, we are developing anew quartz movement, because with the oldquartz movement we had some after salesservice problems linked to the obsolescenceof the technology. We have the resources todo this. I have never been forbidden to do aninvestment to improve our service. We recog-nise that this is a priority.”O

For more information about Piaget click onBrand Index at www.europastar.com

“For a watchmaker, developing new movements is a very good job,but when maintaining watches, one watchmaker does the entire work.”


europa star SERVICE, PLEASE! – LETTER FROM CHINA 69

RJean-Luc Adam

TToday, in the West, the client is king, but hisaccession to the throne has been a battle overseveral generations. First of all, it passed bythe consumer protection laws (more guaran-tees), then by a competition among manufac-turers (more services) and finally by the satu-ration of the markets (more brand loyalty).After-sales service, maintenance and evenrecycling are more and more integrated intothe product and the industry approaches theclient as a partner to be respected.In China, this same process did not take place,primarily because access to mass consumptionoccurred not only in a different political con-text but it also happened quite recently andmuch too brutally. In three decades, the nong-min (small farmer) left his lands to become acitizen of a growing metropolis, sitting at thewheel of his Baoma (BMW) with an Oumijia(Omega) on his wrist. At the end of 2012,China counted 2.7 million millionaires and arising consumer middle class of 700 million.Quickly, it became clear that demand largelyexceeded supply, thus reversing, right fromthe start, the relationship between the sellerand the buyer. This is why the after-sales ser-vice disparages the client.

Personal experience Before discussing the experience of the Chinese,I would like to convey my own experience, sinceit gives a Western viewpoint of the problem.After four years in China, I have had to deal with

after-sales service of large brands on severaloccasions involving various consumer goods.The first surprise, don’t bother going to thebrand’s store. After-sales services are alwaysgrouped together in a customer care centre,generally one office per city. It is a large roomwhere you wait an eternity before your numberis finally called. Since the usual minimum con-tractual guarantee of six months has generallyexpired, you must pay for the repairs. Yet, I havealways been positively surprised by the estimateand the repair time. But this is understand-able, since the parts and labour are Chinese.For example, I paid CHF 30 to replace the 13-inch screen of my notebook computer. In the consumer electronics sector, the per-sonnel are generally competent because theyrepair computers, TVs and smart phones bythe millions. In the automobile sector, the leveldeteriorates because of the complexity of theproduct and rather poorly trained employees.The national and international manufacturershave, however, provided computer-assistedmaintenance and repairs. Since the cars aremade locally, the replacement parts are quicklyavailable.

The exception, Swiss watches According to the Federation of the Swiss WatchIndustry, from 2005 to 2011, exports haveincreased 57 per cent to reach a total of CHF19.3 billion. And, it must be pointed out thatthis success is largely due to Chinese clients(who also purchase a lot in Hong Kong). Swisswatches are the industrial exception since theyare not manufactured in China. In addition, ata certain level, the product tends more towardsart than micro-mechanics. Finally, farawaySwitzerland, which wants to control every-

thing itself, is already overloaded with work.In China, these reasons affect the after-salesservice of the brands in all sectors.Let’s begin with the mid-range sector and myfaithful Swiss watch whose leather bracelettore apart. I was surprised to discover on theInternet that the problem is recurrent for thismodel and that buyers are concerned aboutthe mediocre quality of the leather.I printed out this “evidence”, added the inter-national guarantee certificate and went to theXiujiahui neighbourhood in Shanghai, wherethe only customer care centre for the brand islocated. Here, I was surprised to see that thecentre deals with clients from many brandsof the same group, ranging from entry-levelwatches to sophisticated Haute Horlogerietimepieces. “Just imagine the scandal if theVW group received clients of Bugatti andBentley in the same workshops as those ofSkoda and Seat,” says my neighbour, visiblyannoyed with his lovely automatic. Number 921, it’s my turn! In front of me, behinda window, Tina Tang receives me coldly. “No,you have to pay for that,” she says withouteven listening to my arguments. When I showedher the guarantee card, she bluntly says, “Youbought it in Hong Kong, so in any case…” Icould hardly believe my ears. I tried to explainto her that this was no way to treat a client,but Ms. Tang literally sent me packing by ask-ing the security guard to escort me to thedoor… That was my first experience in 2011.

Return to the scene of the crime For this article, and somewhat apprehensively,I returned to the same customer care centreof the same group, taking a new quartz watch,but one that had stopped. It was the perfect

Customer care in China: Does anyone really care? For the happy Chinese owner of a “Swiss Made” watch, the dream quickly turns to a nightmare

when after-sales service is required. This is a scandal that the brands have swept under the carpet, almost… Jean-Luc Adam, head of the Europa Star bureau in Shanghai, reports his own experiences, along with those of Chinese cus-tomers, when confronted with the difficulties in obtaining after-sales service for watches in this country. Since the aim of thisarticle is not to criticise any particular brand or group but to draw attention to a widespread deficiency, we have deliberately

removed the names involved in these examples. But we have no doubt that those in question will know who they are.

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70 SERVICE, PLEASE! – LETTER FROM CHINA europa star

specimen to verify the points of contention—very frequent it seems—between watch ownersand after-sales service centres. At the recep-tion, the employees do not carefully examinethe condition of the watch, as the technicalspecification sheets suggest they do, butrather they systematically indicate everywherethat the watch is “scratched”, thus avoidingany liability. A pleasant surprise this time, the waiting roomhad been entirely renovated and enlarged,with the plastic benches and the austereambiance replaced by designer sofas and cosydecorations. Number 1049, my turn. The surlyMs. Tang had disappeared along with the fur-niture. In her place was a row of smiling youngwomen. But the anonymous employee didindeed write “scratched” on all the lines of therepair sheet. I couldn’t fault the diagnosis: “Itis the battery”. It cost a reasonable 30 yuan(about CHF 4.50) and I had to wait half an hourto get the watch back, an acceptable time.Meanwhile, the room filled up and the waitingtimes got longer. Behind the counter, a bluetinted window provided a glimpse into therepair section, where the employees were clearlyall Chinese. To sum it up, although the grouphas clearly improved its service, it still makesno distinction between clients, regardless ofwhether they have paid hundreds or hundredsof thousands of yuan for their watch.

Reassuring to ensure the saleThere are many brands and groups which, ontheir websites, claim to have dozens of “cus-tomer service” centres in China. The majority ofthese, however, are mono-brand boutiquesthat are capable of doing only minor repairs.In reality, the main groups only have threetrue repair centres in the vast nation of China,in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. So, toobad for the other 218 cities with more than 1million inhabitants each. And, even more dis-

turbing, the centres do not all have the samelevel of competence. According to a fan of ourWeibo page, a centre in Beijing was incapableof solving a problem relating to the display ofthe power reserve on his very expensive androbust automatic. The watch had to be sent tothe centre in Shanghai, thus meaning anothertwo months of waiting.In fact, the repair centres of the large groups areChinese-Swiss collaborations. Yet, this Sino-Swiss marriage does not always have to be thecase, as exemplified by Rolex (and Tudor) andPatek Philippe, which manage their own after-sales service directly.

For your X, go to Y!The following examples describe the misad-ventures that two other clients experiencedwith two prestigious Swiss brands. On July 14,2012, Tiange Li paid 287,100 yuan, the equiv-alent of CHF 43,000, for a prestigious classicwatch that he bought in a store in the city ofQingdao, before returning to his home inHarbin. Barely 12 days later, he called the storebecause one of the gold pins in the braceletkept coming out. It was a “small” problem thatcould have led to more serious consequences. Strangely, the store in Qingdao never informedhim that the brand also had a boutique inHarbin. Worse still, they advised him to repairthe watch at a boutique belonging to brand Y,a competitor brand, which did have a store inHarbin. Li did not understand why brand Yshould be dealing with brand X watches, so herefused. Then, he was advised to mail the watchto Qingdao, but given the price of the piece, Lidid not want to take the risk. When he lookedat the watch’s guarantee, he discovered thatthe date of purchase had been drawn over. “Oh,our salesgirl likes to draw,” was the responseLi got over the telephone. Distraught and filledwith doubts on the quality and origin of hiswatch—was it really new?—Li completely

lost confidence in the Chinese network anddecided to clarify the situation directly withthe Swiss manufacturer. Will he be successful?Another story involving a beautiful gold watchcosting more than CHF 20,000 generated morethan 214 pages of comments in the forum of thefamous Chinese website, www.iwatch365.com,before the brand finally decided to do some-thing to help the owner—and then only onthe express condition that he would ceaseand desist speaking about this affair. The storyinvolves a certain Mr. Z, who noticed at mid-day one day that the hands of his watch werenot aligned: the minute hand was four minutesout! At the mono-brand store in Shanghai, theprofessionals explained to him, “This is normalfor a mechanical watch.” Considering thisanswer to be unacceptable, this brand afi-cionado had his watch sent to the service cen-tre. After several days, with no answer, hecalled the centre, and was informed that thewatch had been returned to the store, alongwith the invoice. Invoice? Mr. Z was not aboutto pay one cent for such a problem, all the moreso since the watch was still under guarantee.When he got the piece back, it had clearly notbeen repaired since the hands were still notaligned. Yet, the summary repair order stated:“There is no problem with the watch.” Whenhe contacted the brand’s general managementthey refused to follow up on the matter. ForMr. Z, the shock was severe, the disillusionmentprofound. It was inexplicable that they shouldrefuse to repair a fault that was so blatant. Lefthanging out to dry by the brand, he decidedto tell his story on a specialised Internet forum,where he discovered that he was not the onlyone to be (mis)treated this way. After more than2,000 comments, the brand’s managementfinally realised the scale of the problem andagreed to reimburse Mr. Z, but only on condi-tion that he agreed, in writing, to remain quieton this subject.O

ServiceLetterChina612_v2_ServiceLetterChina612_v2 11.12.12 07:38 Page2

europa star SERVICE, PLEASE! – OPINION 71

RJean-Luc Adam

DDuring the inauguration of the Maison PatekPhilippe last November in Shanghai, ThierryStern, the CEO of the prestigious Swiss brand,publicly expressed his opinion on after-salesservice in China. “In the luxury industry inChina, notably for watches, there are enor-mous numbers of complaints, for three rea-sons. The first is that the brands do not payenough attention to after-sales service. If theydid, it would mean a huge cost. They do notwant to invest or get involved. The secondreason is that it takes a lot of time to repair awatch and Chinese clients generally have nopatience. As for the third reason, this relatesdirectly to the watch industry, which suffersfrom a lack of qualified watchmakers. Theproblem is already apparent in Europe, but inChina, it is extremely difficult to find experi-enced employees. This is why Patek Philippedecided to create two centres for after-salesservice, with a team of 20 people in Shanghaiand 20 to 25 in Beijing. It represents a colossal,but necessary, investment. In addition, we arecreating a training centre for watchmakers inShanghai, taught by experienced watchmak-ers from Geneva. This is how we can maintain

the same level of after-sales service abroad aswe have in Switzerland.”Will the after-sales service situation improve inChina? “That is difficult to say, since the brandsare not facing up to this reality. On the otherhand, Patek Philippe is a family brand thatwants to preserve its generations-old reputa-tion. It is our priority mission. With this in mind,after-sales service is capital in our eyes. I mightadd that, today, nearly all the brands repaironly watches that are less than 30 years old.

Beyond that, it has become impossible. AtPatek Philippe, we consider this policy unac-ceptable, which is why we have the capabilityof repairing all our models, irrespective ofwhen they were made. It also explains thevery high prices that our timepieces fetch atauction. This capability, however, requires aneven larger investment.” O

For more information about Patek Philippe clickon Brand Index at www.europastar.com

Thierry Stern’s opinion on customer service in China

ServicePatek612_v2_ServicePatek612_v2 11.12.12 07:39 Page1

RAntoine Menusier

PProfession: Watch salesgirl at the GaleriesLafayette. Origin: Chinese.

The Chinese watch salesgirl is a formidablecommercial asset. All the more so in the leg-endary store on the Boulevard Haussmann inParis, a store visited every day by hundreds ofChinese tourists who speak hardly any Frenchor English. These tourists have not come tothe City of Light to practice a language that isnot their own, but rather to admire and topurchase its jewels. And this is why theChinese salesgirls are so important.

Xiaoting works at the Swatch stand in thewatch department, located on the groundfloor of the large store with the Art Nouveaudome, which celebrates its 100th anniversarythis year and wants the whole world to knowit. The young woman has been working at thestand for only a month. “I studied interna-tional business and am married to a Frenchman,” she explains. “Before, I lived in Nancy(editor’s note: a city in north-eastern France),but this was not ideal for work.”

Around fifteen Chinese salesgirls, like Xiaoting,work at various watch sales points in theGaleries Lafayette. Not all of them speakFrench as well as she does. But speaking thelanguage of Molière is not what is asked ofthem. The positions in the watch departmentare at least doubled up and divided accordingto the target customer. So the Chinese cus-tomer is served by the Chinese, and they arevery busy. The tourists from the Middle

72 SERVICE, PLEASE! – LETTER FROM FRANCE europa star

The Chinese salesgirls atthe Galeries Lafayette

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europa star SERVICE, PLEASE! – LETTER FROM FRANCE 73

Kingdom make up 80 per cent of buyers andcontribute 60 to 70 per cent of turnover in thewatch section of the store, according to aFrench salesman.

The young Chinese women receive trainingfor one or two days, which is given by theirparticular employer. The Swatch Group teachesthem the fundamentals of watchmaking vocab-ulary at its office situated on the AvenueKléber, in Paris’s 16th arrondissement. Theyget most training, however, on the job. Theyare quick learners and, at first glance, seem tomanage quite well.Automatic, quartz, mechan-ical… The Chinese salesgirl at Hamiltonknows the basic nomenclature. At the nearbycompetitor Tudor, a brand developed byRolex, her colleague details the different met-als and decoration—gold, steel and dia-monds—then adds, “two years of interna-tional guarantee”.

The Chinese customers go right to the point.“They know which watches they want, andthey are not demanding like the Frenchclients,” muses Xiaoting with a knowingsmile. Her young French colleague then adds,“Most of the Chinese customers pay in cash,up to €2,000. They only want to know if thewatch can go in water.” The Chinese buyerdoes not come to spend time pondering thevarious models. The tour bus is waiting forthem outside the store. Often, they come witha shopping list of up to six or seven watches,all Swiss Made, of course, a sign of socialprestige in Shanghai and Chengdu.

Buying watches in Europe rather than backhome has its advantages for the Chinese. InEurope—in this case, Paris and the GaleriesLafayette—he can be assured of the authen-ticity of the products, more so than in China,

which is known for its propensity towardscounterfeits. Also, the Chinese governmentlevies rather heavy taxes on luxury goods. Themost visited watch stand in the GaleriesLafayette is, it seems, that of Longines. “It isthe brand’s third highest selling location inthe world,” a salesperson assures us.The man-ufacturer in Saint-Imier can certainly thank itsFar Eastern clientele for this distinction.

The phenomenon of the Chinese salesgirl isjust as common in the “luxury” section of thestore. At Louis Vuitton, an Asian-style BondGirl has been with the brand for four yearsand in France for ten. She shares her timebetween the sale of watches and the sale ofhandbags, whose success with Asian clients isnow well demonstrated. As with all non-European Union foreigners, these feminineagents of the nation of the dragon, so usefulin European commerce, are subject to certainquotas. “When a Chinese salesgirl does herwork well, we can help her to obtain a long-term residence permit for France,” explains anemployee at Chopard.

The sales point of the French manufacturerMichel Herbelin has yet to adapt to the influxof Chinese customers. But it is something theyare thinking about. “We need to take Chineselanguage classes in order to welcome Chinesecustomers, to convey technical terms, and toguide the clients inside the store,” a salesgirlexplains. “We prefer to train ourselves ratherthan hire a Chinese girl. This allows us to keepour staff.” This autumn, the French ministerfor industrial renewal, Arnaud Montebourg, aposter boy for the “Made in France” revival,praised the “Newport Watch Club” model ofthis brand from the Franche-Comté region.How do you say “incorrigible French” inChinese? O

“We need to take Chinese language classes in order to welcome Chinese customers,to convey technical terms, and to guide the clients inside the store.”

LetterFrance612_LetterFrance612 30.11.12 08:47 Page3

74 WORLDWATCHWEB europa star.com

The topic of weakening luxury sales in Chinahas been much discussed for some time now.Adding to that the politically sensitive period ofthe government shift once every decade, which

leads to a calming of extravagant gift-giving between officials,this year has certainly been an interesting and dramatic time totake a closer look at the luxury watch sector in China. The recentlyreleased World Luxury Index™ China: Watches, gives an oppor-tunity to evaluate the rhythms of the market, the ups and downsof individual brands, as well as what is going on in the con-sumer’s mind.

The western region is waking up Maybe not surprising to those who have been following Chinafor some time, the first significant trend our report reveals is thatthe western region is really waking up. To give some quick back-ground, among three major economic regions in China, the westis known as the least developed, and the least “infiltrated” byluxury brands. Starting a decade ago and accelerating in recentyears, the central government is giving the western regionincreasing strategic support to narrow the gap between theinland and coastal cities. Consequently, the economy of the westhas started to boom, and luxury consumption follows with it. Reflected in the luxury watch industry, we observed a clearincrease in the share of luxury watch related searches in thewest. In particular, the awareness of brand names, specifically,grows the fastest with a year-on-year increase of 8.4 per cent (ascompared to 4.8 per cent in the eastern region). No doubt that itis just a matter of time before luxury watch brands all lunge forthe west, just like they did years ago in the big eastern cities ofShanghai, Beijing, etc.

Winners monopolise but a market difficult for new players to crackIn an immature market where awareness of many smaller brandsis yet to be cultivated, the lucky winners enjoy greater dominancethan in other markets. The top three players in China, Omega,

Rolex and Longines, seized 50 per cent of the total search volumeshare, while the top 10 represents an overwhelming 80 per centshare. Benchmarked against a mature market such as France,where the top three brands take only 31 per cent and the top tentake 64 per cent, the difference is clear. A similar market dynamismis also observed at model level, as the top five most searched formodels capture over half of the search market share (see chart).

As this shows, the watch market in China is, for the moment, dif-ficult for new players to crack. Unlike in the luxury fashion oraccessories sector, where we have observed a trend that Chineseconsumers are actually turning to those more understated, nichebrands, watches are different. Consumers are still seeking themost well-known brands and models, possibly to feel moresecure in spending such a large amount of money on an itemthat they will wear every day, and that their business partnersand peers will see.

REcho Zhiyue Zhou, China Digital Project Manager, Digital Luxury Group

An updated look at the Chinese luxury watch market in 2012

TTop Five Luxury Watch Models in China

Omega 'Constellation' : 13.30 %

Omega 'De ville' : 19.70 %

Chan

el 'J

12' :

5.9

0 %

Long

ines 'M

aster'

: 5.20

%

Cart

ier '

Ballo

n bl

eu' :

6.6

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Others 49.30 %

(© Digital Luxury Group, 2012)

DLG612_DLG612 30.11.12 08:42 Page2

europa star.com WORLDWATCHWEB 75

Chinese consumers express clearer and more distinguished needs This year, volume for searches for specific watch styles (such as“classic” or “women’s”) has surpassed the volume of searches forprice in China. Now the most common category of searches, thehunt for specific styles represents 8.6 per cent of total searches(the worldwide average of style searches being 1.5 per cent). Thisis a sign of a more sophisticated need expressed by Chinese con-sumers, as more and more people are searching for a BrandName + Style , such as ”Rolex men’s watches”, or ”Longinesclassic watches,” instead of simply the brand name. Moreover, it’salso interesting to note the ”Chinese way” of approaching abrand: instead of first discovering the models as consumers usu-ally do in a mature western market, the Chinese will seek to meettheir own needs as a first request: men’s, women’s, couples etc. Couples? It is worth noting the popularity of couples’ watches inChina, which seems to be a the result of a particular consumerdemand. So-called ”couples’ watches” or ”lovers’ watches” area popular gift option for weddings, as well as an anniversary orValentine’s Day gift between the couple themselves. Somebrands have long sensed this demand and designed exquisitepackaging to feature a pair of carefully selected watches matchedfor colour and shape.

Remember that Chinese speak Chinese!The language barrier between English or French and Chinese isphenomenal, as more and more western marketers are now real-ising. However, it could become even more overwhelming forsome watch brands who didn’t get it right from the outset. To askyour consumers to remember your Western name is hard inChina. On the flip side, once a name is remembered, even if it’snot the official brand name, it can be hard to forget too. As anexample, Hublot, which changed its Chinese name from ‘恒宝’(Heng Bao) to ‘宇舶’ (Yu Bo) years ago, is still receiving over 50per cent of brand name search queries under their old name. Theimplication of this could be more serious than you might think: itbasically means the brand needs to double its efforts in searchengine marketing in order to enable people who are looking forthe brand online to actually find it.

The language issue does not only spring up at a brand namelevel, but goes much deeper at all levels of a brand’s marketingefforts, such as watch model names. Here the principle is eitheryou as the brand create the name, or else consumers will do it foryou. Omega’s De Ville collection has achieved enormous successin China. Among all the reasons for this, its carefully translatedChinese name may have been an important contributor. TheChinese translation of De Ville, ‘蝶飞’, whose pronunciation isclose enough to the original, means ”flying butterfly” in Chinese,an easy-to-remember, yet extremely elegant name for the localaudience. A counter (although not necessarily negative) exampleis for the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner, to which Chinesefollowers have given the name of “green water monster” (绿水鬼)for the green-dial version and “black water monster” (黑水鬼)for the black-dial version. It is, however, the official semantictranslation for the model that is mostly used in the brand’s ownpress releases and news reports. O

A free version of the World Luxury Index™ China: Watches isavailable for download at www.digital-luxury.com/chinawatches.

Breakdown of Brand Name Searches for Hublot in China

(© Digital Luxury Group, 2012)

宇舶 (Official Chinese name) : 3.70 %

Hublot : 40.70 %恒宝 (Previous Chinese name) : 55.60 %

DLG612_DLG612 30.11.12 08:42 Page3


EEgypt has been in the news quite a lotrecently. As “Arab Spring” bloomed through-out the Middle East, the Egyptians rose upand demanded change, culminating in thefirst free elections in the country in manyyears. This upheaval, while good for the coun-try and for the people, has been a challengefor all retail businesses in Egypt, and espe-cially for discretionary purchases like watches.In spite of the political upheaval and eco-nomic challenges, Egypt's leading watchretailer, BTC, has been able to survive, expandand thrive.

On a recent trip to Cairo, I had the opportu-nity of discussing business with Ayman Nassif,Managing Director of BTC Trading.

Europa Star: Can you give me some back-ground on your business?

Ayman Nassif: The company was started bymy grandfather, LoriaWassef, in 1935, and thefirst store was a watch and jewellery boutiquein Fayoum City, which is about 100km fromCairo, under the name Loria Shop. My grand-father is a watchmaker and he will celebratehis 100th birthday this year. He still comes tothe office once a week.He started the shop in Fayoum and trained myfather and my uncle. They wanted the busi-ness to grow, so they opened a boutique inCairo in the late 1940s to establish anotherbranch. The business started to grow with hishelp. They wanted to change the name of thecompany, because the name was difficult forpeople to pronounce, so they chose BTC.

ES: How’s business?

AN: Frankly speaking, business is still fine,even though the political and social situa-tion here in Egypt is difficult. The higher yougo in price, the more difficult it becomes.Business was slightly down last year, and thehigh end and the duty free is affected morethan the local market, as fewer tourists arecoming to Egypt.

ES: How is your business broken down?

AN: We have four types of stores—BTCExclusive: $4,000 and up; BTC: Swiss Made,medium priced brands; Link: fashion and BTC

76 RETAILER PROFILE europa star

Ayman Nassif Loria Wassef / The first shop in 1935

BTC Trading – Egypt’s leading watch retailer

RetailerProfile612_RetailerProfile512 30.11.12 09:03 Page2

europa star RETAILER PROFILE 77

Duty Free: five international airports, terminals1, 2 and 3 in Cairo, also in Sharm el-Sheikh,HurghadaAirport, with some high-end brandslike Bulgari, as well as fashion brands.

ES: How does the future look?

AN: I feel that there is big potential in Egypt,especially after the old regime has gone, weexpect that the new Egypt will have a morejust dispersion of wealth, which will allow themiddle class to grow.

ES:What does BTC do best?

AN: We only really have competition in thehigh-end segment. In the mid-price segment,there is really no one else that has a profes-sional approach. We dominate the market,and we are Egypt’s largest watch distributor,in terms of value and volume.

ES: How do you do training?

AN:We do three kinds of training – we havepeople from the brands come here and providetraining, and some of our people will travel toSwitzerland for training. Our brand managersalso do watch training for the sales staff.

ES: How do you market your company?

AN:We do some events with our customers.We invite our customers, the crème de la crème,and these have been really successful, intro-

ducing new watch and jewellery collections.We are the number one spender on advertis-ing in Egypt for the watch business. We dooutdoor (billboards), print advertising, we doour own magazine, we do print brochures, wesponsor events like the Catholic Film Festival,concerts and more.

ES: Do you do your own service?

AN:We have three BTC service centres herein Egypt. We do warranty service, completeservice for most of the brands. Most of thework we can do here, except for repairing themore sophisticated complications.

ES: How important is customer service?

AN: Customer service is another tool topush sales. If a customer is satisfied with theservice we give him, he will be happy andbuy more. We try to upgrade our service allthe time—for example, we invested in niceboxes to deliver the watches in after service,and that is very appreciated by our cus-tomers. Our customer service centre is not aprofit centre, our main aim is to please thecustomers.

ES:What do you like about what you do?

AN: I like the watch business, I like the ideathat there are hundreds of watch brands, butevery brand is different in design, philosophyand price point.

ES:What is the biggest challenge you face?

AN:The biggest challenge is the price increasesand the upgrade of brands’ product lines inthe mid-price segment. People in Egypt can-not afford these increases, so this can reallyimpact our business.A lot of our brands are coming in parallel andit’s a problem here. If we find a retailer who hasparallel, we stop supplying any of our brands.Since we are the Egyptian distributor for anumber of brands, if we pull all our brandsfrom a retailer who is doing parallel, it can reallyhamper their business.Counterfeiting is a big problem here, withfakes coming from China and other countries.We train customs how to differentiate betweenthe real thing and fakes, and we report to theauthorities if we find fakes in the market. Wealso educate our customers about the dangersof counterfeits.We don’t want it to grow.O

FACTS AND FIGURES:

Total stores: 40Average squaremetres: from30 - 150 squaremetresEmployees: 155Price range: $125 - $250,000Link average sale: $275BTC average sale: $600BTC Duty Free average sale: $300BTC Exclusive average sale: $13,000Total Brands: 35 (including Corum,Girard-Perregaux,Piaget, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Ulysse Nardin, Chanel, Rado,Hamilton, Tissot, Raymond Weil, Gucci, Burberry, cK,EmporioArmani, Boss, Cerruti,Tommy Hilfiger, Balmain,DKNY, Timberland, Michael Kors, Festina, Candino,Titoni, Swatch, Graham London, Adidas, Diesel andLacoste).

RetailerProfile612_RetailerProfile512 30.11.12 09:03 Page3

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Managing Director: Philippe Maillard

EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief: Pierre M. Maillard • [email protected] Editor: D. Malcolm Lakin • [email protected] Editor: Keith W. Strandberg • [email protected] Editor: Paul O’Neil • [email protected] Consultant: Casey Bayandor • [email protected]. Publisher: Nathalie Glattfelder • [email protected]

CONTRIBUTORS• Italy: Paolo de Vecchi • Germany: Gerhard Claussen, Timm Delfs • France: Antoine Menusier • Australia: Martin Foster • Russia: Vyacheslav Medvedev • Portugal: Miguel Seabra • Romania: George Gisca • China: Jean-Luc Adam • Art & Techniques of Watchmaking: Jean-Claude Nicolet

ARTAlexis Sgouridis • [email protected]: Fonderie Grafix, Geneva

MARKETING & CIRCULATION PRINT/E-MEDIAMarketing & Circulation Director: Nathalie Glattfelder • [email protected] & Circulation Manager: Jocelyne Bailly • [email protected]

PUBLISHING & PRODUCTION PRINT/E-MEDIAAdvertising Manager: Laurence Chatenoud • [email protected], Production & Advertising Coordinator: Talya Lakin • [email protected]

ADVERTISING / INTERNATIONAL SALES MANAGERSSwitzerland / Italy / US: Casey K. Bayandor. Tel: +41 22 307 78 37 Fax: +41 22 300 37 48 • [email protected] & International: Nathalie Glattfelder. Tel: +41 22 307 78 37 Fax: +41 22 300 37 48 • [email protected]: Carles Sapena, Sisserou s.l. Tel & Fax: +34 93 112 7113 • [email protected]: Maggie TongTel: +852 9658 1830 Fax: +852 2527 5189 • [email protected]: Sergiy Kuzmenko Tel: +38 044 205 4089 Fax: +38 044 205 4099 • [email protected]

ACCOUNTINGBusiness Manager: Catherine Giloux. Tel: +41 22 307 78 48 • [email protected] Manager: Alexandra Montandon. Tel: +41 22 307 78 47 • [email protected]

MAGAZINESEuropa Star - Europe - International - USA & Canada - China - Latin America / Spain -Ukraine, Europa Star Première, Bulletin d’informations, Eurotec, CIJ International JewelleryTrends & Colours

WEBSITESwww.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, www.eurotec.ch

Head office:Europa Star HBM SA, Route des Acacias 25, CH-1227 Carouge/Geneva - SwitzerlandTel +41 22 307 78 37, Fax +41 22 300 37 48, www.europastar.com.Help Desk: [email protected]

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Index612_Index612 11.12.12 07:46 Page2

Editorial & Advertisers’ index

AA. Lange & Söhne 58Amida 37Audemars Piguet 8-9, 40, 42,44, 51-52Audemars Piguet Renaud & Papi13, 55

BBaselWorld 64Baume & Mercier 45, 46, 48,60-61Breguet 38, 40, 44Breitling 42, 48

CCarl F. Bucherer 31Cartier 21, 53, 74Casio 43Centror 52Chanel COVER I, 12-15, 74Chopard 45, 73Chronode 37Chronoswiss 40Citizen 39 Concepto 58Cousins 79Cvstos 62

Dde Grisogono 45, 46DeWitt 16-17, 58Digital Luxury Group 10, 74Dior 40

FFederation of the Swiss WatchIndustry 69Fondation de la HauteHorlogerie 50

GGirard-Perregaux 30Greubel Forsey 34

HHamilton 42, 44, 46, 48Harry Winston 45, 46Hermès 32-33, 42Hublot 40, 58, 75

IIce-Watch 6, 49Inhorgenta COVER III

JJaeger-LeCoultre 41, 44, 45, 48,63JeanRichard 41

LLa Joux-Perret 60Linde Werdelin 58Longines 74, 75Louis Vuitton 73LVMH 40

MMaxell 78

MB&F 18, 36-37Michel Herbelin 73Montblanc 48

OOmega 41, 42, 46, 48, 69, 74,75Orient Watch Company 47

PPanerai 7, 59Parmigiani 62Patek Philippe 2-3, 42, 61, 70,71Piaget 45, 46, 54, 66-68

RRalph Lauren 11, 63Richard Mille 23, 55Richemont Group 20, 21, 57, 68Roger Dubuis 48, 56-57Rolex COVER II, 1, 26-27, 40,42, 48, 70, 73, 74, 75S

Sellita 60SIHH 21, 34, 53, 61, 63Sowind 37Speake-Marin 62Swatch 40, 72Swatch Group 38, 40, 73

TTAG Heuer 46, 48, COVER IVTiffany & Co. 61Tissot 19 Titoni 35Tudor 28-29, 70, 73

UUrwerk 62

VVacheron Constantin 4-5, 21,24-25 Valbray 62Vaucher Manufacture 33

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Index612_Index612 11.12.12 07:46 Page3

I recently spent three weeks travelling across Canada,from Toronto to Vancouver and on to Salt SpringIsland, yet despite the magnificence of places like LakeLouise and the Emerald Lake in the Banff NationalPark and a memorable two-day train trip through theever-changing panorama of the Rocky Mountains, itwas my confrontation with prosopagnosia that willremain with me for many a year.It happened in Calgary when we dined with a friendand her eighty-three year old beau Robert. The ladieswere talking fifty to the dozen so we two males,emboldened by our second gin and tonic, idly chewedthe fat until I mentioned that he looked fit and well forhis age. He agreed, but rather shyly added, “… exceptlast year I was diagnosed with prosopagnosia.”Assuming that this was some form of erectile dysfunction, I asked if itwas painful. The reply caught me by surprise, “No pain, just frustration,I’m face-blind. Prosopagnosia means face-blindness.”He went on to explain that if we were to meet tomorrow, or if we weredining alone and I left the table to answer a call of nature, he wouldn’trecognise me from Adam when I returned to the table.The obvious question was how it had suddenly become apparent andto my astonishment he said it was not sudden, what was sudden washe had only learned last year that he had it. Since he’d been born face-blind it seemed absolutely normal because he’d never known anythingelse. I smiled when he told me he could never identify his mother fromother women and how during his working life he only reacted to hisboss’s presence through his colleagues’ demeanour, although after awhile he eventually recognised him by both his voice and his lumberingJohnWayne–style walk.Indiscretion and curiosity got the better of me so I asked him whathappened when he started going out with the female of the species.“Well, I lost a few girlfriends, more often than not by standing next tothem at our agreed meeting place and not recognising them.The worstoccasion though was when I got a powerful public slap from a girlwhen I asked her if we’d met before, not realising that it was the girl I’dspent the night with twenty-four hours earlier.”I suggested that as a married man it must have been quite excitingbeing with a ‘new’ woman every day, but he countered that with, “Thevoice: I eventually became familiar with the voice so by linking it withthe location, such as at home, I could usually work out who the person

was. But if we’d had a row and were not on speakingterms I had to wait longer until she moved to be sureI could recognise her gait. There was often a problem ifa friend visited the house and was there when I arrivedsince initially I couldn’t tell one from the other.”Robert went on to explain that one of the additionalproblems to having prosopagnosia is that it is usuallyaccompanied by topographic agnosia - geographicalblindness. As a geologist his saving grace was thaton field trips he recognised rocks and their differentformations thus avoiding his having to live the life ofa hermit in a mountain cave somewhere. In his hometown though he often walked past his own houseseveral times before his son or wife came out to tellhim he was home and driving a car was chaotic until

the GPS system came into being.Back in our world, I can’t help wondering if horological agnosia existsgiven the number of watches that seem to have the same looking face– but that’s a story for another day.All of which reminds me of a blonde woman who was speeding alongin her little open top sports car and was pulled over by a blondewoman police officer.She asked to see the blonde driver's licence, who immediately plungedinto her handbag in search for it. "What does it look like?" the blondefinally asked the policewoman in exasperation.The policewoman replied, "It’s square and it has your photograph on it."She finally found a square mirror, opened it, looked at it and thenhanded it to the policewoman.The blonde policewoman looked at the mirror, then handed it backsaying, "Okay, you can go. I didn't realise you were a cop."Well, you’ve got to laugh haven’t you?A Happy and Healthy New Year to one and all,

80 LAKIN@LARGE europa star

D. Malcolm LakinRoving Editor

The face of adversity"I never forget a face, but in your case

I'll be glad to make an exception." Groucho Marx

Lakin@Large612_Lakin@Large612 30.11.12 08:47 Page2

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