Europa Star: Recent Episodes
Europa Star
With his “new luxury” concept, the Breitling boss wants to take the brand into a price segment beyond the symbolic CHF 10,000 mark. The recent launch of the Super Chronomat reflects this strategy. Georges Kern is also a strong advocate of “hyper-presence”, in order to be among the winners of the increasing polarisation among watch brands. Interview.
A recent spate of watch thefts in Paris has been reported in the French media. As money becomes more dematerialised, expensive timepieces are increasingly becoming targets for criminals. French entrepreneur Sébastien Buonomo, founder of the company Orkos, has patented a new watch lock technology to combat theft by trickery, as well as accidental loss.
A more endearing man than Vianney Halter would be hard to find. The man – or kid, you might be tempted to say, since he has never succeeded in shaking off his childhood spirit, and so much the better! – is a real loose cannon in the watchmaking industry. He first rocked the boat of tradition early in his career with a peculiarly offbeat, but authentically executed, approach to watches. Freer than most, Vianney’s inspirations are different every time, drawn from his many and varied interests ranging from astronomy and science fiction right through to clocks for buildings, comic books and Bréguet’s most erudite research, in the case, for example, of his latest Résonance.
Svend Andersen, the co-founder of the AHCI, has played an important role, not only as a master watchmaker but also by welcoming a whole generation of young watchmakers into his workshop, where they learned lessons in watchmaking and independence.
At the heart of Geneva’s historic city centre, the windows of Rexhep Rexhepi’s workshop – Akrivia – open directly onto the street, and it is no rare occurrence that passers-by stop to observe the watchmakers bent over their workbenches or, on the other side of the street, to admire an old man who makes watch cases. This transparency is for a reason: authenticity.
Ludovic Ballouard has been self-employed for the past twelve years, makes twelve watches a year all on his own and has no intention of making more. Twelve watches a year that literally turn time upside-down, all the better to tell it the right way up. Just to ensure you grasp the full philosophical measure of taking time.
We are in Le Solliat, in the Joux Valley, two hundred metres from Philippe Dufour’s workshop and a short distance, as the crow flies, from the great Jaeger-LeCoultre. Next to David Candaux at the workbench is his father, himself the son of a watchmaker. Watchmaking does not get more traditional than that. Yet David Candaux intends to carve out his own path.
Just above the Sainte-Croix Pass and the high-perched abode of Denis Flageollet, the watchmaker behind the De Bethune trademark, you will also find the eagle’s nest of Kari Voutilainen. Together, they show how independence can allow a watchmaker’s talents to flourish. The path is no easy one, but ultimately the passion is multiplied tenfold, as our meeting with Denis Flageollet vividly showed.
Daniel Roth? A lovely man! And a master among master watchmakers. But despite that, humble, smiling and considerate. He lost everything, including his own name – he now signs his work Jean Daniel Nicolas – but watchmaking has by no means lost its hold on him.
Canadian brand Charles Simon is a luxury luggage manufacturer that started designing cases for watches after the outbreak of the pandemic. Founded by two aeronautical engineers, the start-up aims to combine traditional craftsmanship with modern engineering technologies. We met one of its co-founders, Charles Girard Tremblay.
Founded by an anonymous collective in the “street-luxury” segment, Verax is offering its first timepiece combining the codes of urban culture with those of Swiss watchmaking. Its objective is to reconnect the entry-level Swiss made watch with new generations.
As Certina continues to boost its profile in automatic watches, it is asserting its legitimacy in the popular niche of diving models. The affordable brand is also building a presence in the United States and China, the two most important markets for Swiss watchmaking, where it still has a low profile. We interviewed the new CEO of Certina, Marc Aellen.
Finnish master watchmaker Kari Voutilainen has come a very long way from southern Lapland, where he was born and raised, to the vertiginous eyrie known as Le Chapeau de Napoléon (Napoleon’s Hat) where he has recently installed his new workshop. There, perched at the very top of a sheer mountain face, he has a panoramic view over the Val de Travers and Fleurier, with their assorted watch manufactures: L.U.C Chopard, Parmigiani, Vaucher Manufacture and, almost exactly opposite in the distance, the chateau above Môtiers where Bovet resides. It’s enough to give any fine watchmaker a Napoleon complex. But that’s not Kari Voutilainen’s style. A portrait.
Arnold & Son, launched more than 25 years ago under the name of British watchmaker John Arnold, and backed by the renowned La Joux-Perret manufacture, is seeking its rightful place within the inner circle of Haute Horlogerie. It has just established a presence on the Chinese market and found a new manager in the person of Bertrand Savary, who brings with him considerable experience in the field. He shares with us his ambitions for Arnold & Son and its sister brand Angelus.
Digital tokens or “non-fungible tokens” (NFTs), located on the blockchain, have been the subject of considerable hype since a virtual work of art was sold for $69 million. They are also making an appearance in watchmaking. Louis Erard is using them for its new collaboration with Alain Silberstein and has set up a loyalty programme in collaboration with Swiss blockchain start-up qiibee.
While the lifespan of many timepieces has been extended, thanks to the booming pre-owned market, the concept of recycling is also increasingly being applied to the very materials that make up watches. Swiss company Panatere has its sights set on producing recycled steel for the watch industry by recovering materials from nearby factories in the Jura. It has even started relying on solar energy to process the steel. Among its new clients is master watchmaker Kari Voutilainen. We met Panatere CEO, Raphaël Broye.
Carl F. Bucherer has released its first model combining minute repeater, tourbillon and peripheral rotor. We take a look back at how this manufacture specialising in “peripheral technologies” has patiently built up its capabilities, with the help of Chief Technology Officer Samir Merdanovic.
Alexander Bennouna, former CEO of Victorinox watches and an expert in the challenges facing the most affordable segment of Swiss watch production, is launching a Swiss-made brand priced under CHF 400 – DecideAndAct – positioned around “21st century values”. He is betting on the engagement value of a brand with “social meaning”, at a time when the entry-level segment has been struggling with structural problems for several years. Go. to article.
With Luxury Venture Group, Deependra Pandey wants to create an incubator and venture capital firm dedicated exclusively to supporting new companies in the luxury industry. After a first summit in 2020, the entrepreneur is organising a second edition in October 2021 in Geneva, which will reward the most innovative luxury start-ups and has the support of the cantonal authorities. Go to article.
Austrian company Hirsch, one of the leading suppliers of straps to the watch industry, is undergoing a generational transition. From digital innovation to ecology and the pandemic, the two brothers now at the helm, Matthäus and Nikolaus Hirsch, share with us the challenges that await them in the world of watch straps. Go to article.
The MCH Group is reintroducing its “flagship” brand Baselworld to announce a return of the event in the form of a platform with multiple expressions: a first physical presence during the Geneva Watch Days from the end of August, a digital B2B platform from the autumn, and then an event bringing together several hundred exhibitors in the spring of 2022, coinciding with the dates of Watches and Wonders. Go to article.