Monthly Archives: December 2014

“Young people, which we once were, will always follow their heart”

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Coming here to Lausanne, and reflecting on the theme of this Forum, I asked myself a very simple question: imagine a young man, between 18 and 24 years old, just an ordinary young man, not some golden boy. What does he know about fine watches and true luxury? What does he think of them? I rather fear that his knowledge amounts to little or nothing. At the very least, he knows nothing of what we know both fine watches and true luxury to be. Or perhaps he has his own opinion that we need to study and understand.

I don’t doubt you’ve asked this question yourself, and that you are here today because you know, deep down, that these young generations are of the utmost interest to fine Rolex Replica Watches for Sale making and luxury.

Not only because their hopes and expectations are profoundly different from ours, but also because their lives revolve around networks and social relations whereas we inhabit an elitist, structured, hierarchical world.

For these two worlds to communicate, we must engage tomorrow’s youth, hence customers and markets which are less geographic and more groups of individuals. These individuals mature and change, and raise urgent questions as they do. These individuals are not consumers: we don’t deal in consumables. They are clients, patrons whose modalities we have yet to discover.

As I see it, today’s debate will lead us to reflect on four overlapping themes: education, motivation, interaction and ascension.

Words can be counted. Words carry weight. And when they are not only spoken but committed to paper, they carry even more value.

Education: access to school, university and training is a fundamental value which empowers young people to choose their way in contexts of work and culture.
Competitiveness in education – by which I mean the capacity of governments, universities and schools to provide a very high standard of teaching – is becoming an indicator of a country’s success and the keystone for students’ progression towards greater wellbeing.
Better educated young people are potentially more interested in what we do. This is why investment in culture and education on an international scale creates a more solid base from which to understand authentic luxury goods, which have a profoundly “cultural” content.
In a word, young people need education, which signifies information, knowledge and experience.

Motivation: it’s important to understand young people’s motivations and what drives them forward.
Our values and wishes were quite different. However, new definitions of success, today’s levels of expectation, and the unexpected distribution of wealth should alert us to the fact that young people’s motivations with respect to Replica Omega  Watches UK are constantly changing in space and in time.
Traditional marketing, it seems, is already lagging behind market trends, a sign that new ideas and tools are needed to understand why young people must engage with, enjoy and seek out our values, so that these same values might become the benchmark for who they are and how they appear to others.
Traditional marketing, it seems, is already lagging behind market trends, a sign that new ideas and tools are needed to understand why young people must engage with, enjoy and seek out our values, so that these same values might become the benchmark for who they are and how they appear to others.

Interaction: it’s an outdated belief to imagine that young people are simply the receptacle for choices we make.
Young generations aren’t passive customers lacking focus. While they may seem more pliant or easily influenced, they actually value interaction.
When a young person sends a message to a leading brand, via Facebook or some other social media, he or she expects to receive a considered answer within minutes. The brand is no longer cut off behind four walls; it is open to dialogue.
Young generations want to dialogue, they want to be involved… an attitude we can identify as typical of the true luxury client. This desire for exchange is stronger than ever thanks to social media and the continuous interaction that young people want and expect.
To consider tomorrow’s clients not as a final destination but as a partner in a dialogue is a revolution indeed.

Ascension: it’s become something of a cliché to say that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Similarly, few would deny that the twentieth-century bourgeoisie, once a powerful social class, has all but disappeared. Where does reality – that of the young generations – lie? Where are they and where are they heading? How do they aspire to improve themselves? Youth craves new discoveries: first to discover values, then the beauty of an object such as a Breitling Replica Diamond Watches that is, among other things, symbolic of a longed-for, asked-for prestige. Through values and beauty, a person attains the difference, the identity that make them a recognisable individual. One, none, a hundred thousand: the young man or woman who will be our client tomorrow will be this one, this recognisable figure of style and good taste.
“Ascension” must be joined by another word: employment. It is essential that we consider youth employment in terms of education, international mobility and ever-greater flexibility if we are to seriously envisage not just an increase but a plausible increase in earnings.

When debating these four points, we’ll follow lines of thought other than the usual reflections on what young people want, what they do and where they are going. We will look deep into ourselves, as managers, experts or simply as representatives of a more mature generation.

At which point it may be worth remembering that young people, which we once were, will always follow their heart.

Let us hope that at the end of today, we will see young generations not as an opportunity to exploit, a grey area to negotiate, or a threat to avoid, but for what they are: the key to our future.

L’Épée 1839, a cut above

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Even in a time of sluggish growth for the industry, one or two gems prove irresistible, such as the Two Hands double tourbillon and Starfleet Machine. An interview with Arnaud Nicolas, Chief Executive of L’Épée 1839, part of Swiza Group.

L’Épée 1839 is celebrating its 175th anniversary after narrowly avoiding bankruptcy in 2009. What’s the recipe for success?

Arnaud Nicolas*: When we took over Swiza S.A., the group already had its three flagship brands, Swiza 1904, Matthew Norman and L’Épée 1839, which together accounted for 7% of revenue. The remainder came from manufacturing for third parties and virtually all business came from quartz table clocks. We discontinued a lot of lines and repositioned the brands so there was no longer any cannibalisation. We also launched a strategy to move upscale, with L’Épée 1839 at the pinnacle. We now generate 60% of revenue with our own brands, and 60% of production is mechanical.

What is the new philosophy at L’Épée 1839?

We define our clocks as mechanical artworks that tell the time. They are animated toys for the child in us. We incorporate the brand’s history, literally, into each product through evocative details such as the crossing swords on the Duel double retrograde Clock, or the swords that indicate power reserve, pointing upwards to show they are ready to fight and pointing down when the movement needs winding.

For the brand’s 175th anniversary, you worked with Vincent Calabrese on the Two Hands double tourbillon and with MB&F on Starfleet Machine. What prompted you to choose them as partners?

It all fell into place quite naturally for the Two Hands clock. I told Vincent Calabrese, whom I consider to be the greatest tourbillon specialist there is, that I was looking for an original idea to mark the brand’s 175th anniversary. He suggested Two Hands, with a tourbillon mounted on the minute hand that makes one rotation an hour, and a tourbillon escapement that completes its rotation in 60 seconds. It took us two years to bring the project to fruition. Only two have been made: one in titanium and one in gilded brass. The exterior, in collaboration with Cheap  Replica Watches Sale designer Christian Chabloz, is as extraordinary as the mechanism. The sphere encompasses 379 pockets of enamel, the biggest being two thousand times larger than the smallest. As you can imagine, it’s extremely complex to make.

And Starfleet Machine?

I was introduced to Max Büsser by a mutual friend. I also mentioned to him that I wanted to mark the brand’s anniversary with a product that went against the grain. Obviously he liked the idea! He and his team adapted the Duel movement, introduced at Basel in 2010, and transformed it into the Starfleet Machine. I immediately liked what I saw. We then worked further on the design and engineering to produce the myriad details that make this clock special: the hours and minutes dome, the revolving radar dish that indicates power reserve, the two cannons around the escapement, etc. The whole thing took two years of research and development.

What response have you had from customers?

Excellent. Two Hands was unveiled at Basel in March this year, for CHF 500,000. Our Japanese distributor bought the titanium model even before the  Offical Replica Cartier Watches  fair opened. The second version will very probably find a home in the Middle East. As for Starfleet Machine, at CHF 28,000, all 175 pieces have been pre-sold. I must admit I was surprised by the speed of success. Just to give you an idea: one day last August, I was spending time with my family in Saint-Moritz and thought I would go and say hi to our retailer there, before he opened up. As I drove past, I spotted the Starfleet Machine in the window. By the time I’d found a parking spot and walked back to the store, it had been sold. It took the customer less time to make up his mind than it took the sales assistant to draw up the bill!