Interview With Denis Giguet, Founder Of Manufacture Contemporaine du Temps

Passionate. Brilliant. Exceptional. These are just some of the words that come to mind when you think of Denis Giguet, the highly successful founder of Manufacture Contemporaine du Temps. At the young age of 39 this incredibly driven French Engineer has already enjoyed a very successful corporate career, first with Rolex and then with Harry Winston Watches where as Head of Production he was closely involved with the highly acclaimed Opus series (from 1 to 6). He then went on to found his own consultancy practice in Geneva where he helped leading brands to realize their own technical goals whilst developing his own ideas and creating his own exciting watch brand.

Today he talks to us about the journey he has been on with Manufacture Contemporaine du Temps and the creation of the truly unique Sequential One, granting us a rare insight into the mind of a horological genius.

TWL: You have had the opportunity to work for several strongly regarded brands throughout your career such as Rolex and Harry Winston. What lessons have you learnt from these highly successful companies that you now apply in your own company?

DG: Where do I start ? Both Rolex and Harry Winston are top companies to work for. Rolex taught me the science of watchmaking combined with high volume manufacturing precision. Rolex are not market leaders for nothing and I retain a huge respect for their stunning watches.

At Harry Winston I was responsible for production of the famous Opus series, Models 1 to 6. Here I had to manage the relationship between challenging, genius designers and a large supply chain in the Swiss mountains. This experience at Harry Winston was invaluable because it taught me how to work effectively and at what is regarded as speed in the world of high horology.

Using this knowledge I was able to design, develop and produce the first prototype of Sequential One in 14 months.

TWL: What inspired you to found MCT Watches and create the Sequential One, a truly unique timepiece?

DG: My grandfather had a very old pocket watch. It was very simple but sometimes, he let me touch this fantastic watch. Fantastic because I was about 10 years old and it was marvelous to open all the covers ; the double back and the face. Discovering the old mechanism on this pocket watch was certainly a big influence behind my later decision to study mechanics and material design.

TWL: The Sequential One was the first watch to be created under the MCT Watches brand. How important was it to you to release a truly exceptional watch to really announce the arrival of an exceptional new independent watchmaker?

DG: Launching a new brand is very high risk and in the current climate that risk is greatly exaggerated. If new watches are not exceptional in their own way, the brand is unlikley to survive for long. For me it was important to design and produce a watch that would be the first of it’s kind, with our own movement. I have to ask others to judge if it is truely exceptional. I am gratified that there has been so much interest in the watch and a strong order book in year1.

TWL: Do you feel that the success of the Sequential One has helped establish MCT Watches as one of the dynamic, new faces of watch-making emerging in Switzerland?

DG: I know that I am enjoying the whole journey I am on. My watches will always make a statement and dynamic visual displays featuring a big hour indication will continue to be part of our DNA. There are a number of exciting young Swiss brands emerging and I hope the media and collectors will count MCT amongst them.

TWL: The Jumping Sequential Hour movement that animates the Sequential One is exceptionally complex and unique. Why was it so important for you to have your own in-house movement and what challenges did you face in engineering this movement?

DG: I believe that for pure authenticity a watch brand must use its own movements. The movement is the heart and essence of any luxury timepiece S1 has 471 component parts with a unique display and movement. The engineering process was extremely complex particularly as I had to think about design with a view to later industrialization, i.e production.

TWL: The Sequential One’s appeal lies not only in complexity but also in its unique design and aesthetic appeal. How long did you, in conjunction with Eirc Giroud, spend designing the watch on paper before you began to move to the production stage?

DG: We spent about 3 months in the detailed design stage but we continued during the whole development project to work on the design. Some production constraints forced us to change the design and sometimes offered us new and fantastic opportunities to improve the design.

TWL: What were the key challenges you faced in bringing your design concept to reality? Did you need to make changes to your original plans in order to make design feasible?

DG: We had to persuade every person involved to think differently to make sure sure they understood my concept and guarantee project cohesion.

I made changes to my original plans because I kept seeing new ways to achieve my aim but that is the beauty of a project like this. It is sometimes tempting to put everything into one watch but i also had to curb my enthusiasm and desire to ensure that we could complete the project on time. But this has given me so many ideas for future designs.

TWL: You have said that the visual displays on your watches will always feature a large and distinctive Hour indicator. Why is that? Is it purely for ease of reading or is this also part of MCT’s visual branding?

DG: A beautiful watch has to create emotion. Every watch I create has to be emotional for me personally. For example, at the beginning of my creation of S1, I wanted to show the time like it has never been shown before -the display of the indication of the hour is the biggest in the world. This is to make the watch essentially easy to read but it will be part of our ongoing DNA too.

I have used a sequence of different moving parts to display the hour but it is also very important that the technology I use can be recognized by connoisseurs as high horology. Before creating S1, I oversaw many complicated watch developments particularly for Harry Winston : OPUS 1-6 and the ‘tourbillon glissière’. The caractéristiques of all of these watches are a combination of design, innovation and tradition.

TWL: What does the future hold for MCT and when can we expect another breathtaking and mind altering timepiece like the Sequential One?

DG: I am of course working on developments for S1. Plus, I must continue to create fascinating new watches. I am working to develop the base of a new movement (don’t forget that at MCT we have our own movement which is very unusual for a small company). Expect exciting news when we attend the Geneva Time Exhibition in January 2010.

For me personally, I am learning to combine watchmaking with business which is a tough challenge. I realize that I must combine my passion and creativity with the reality of managing and building my own watch brand.

Tags: complicated, Denis Giguet, Geneva, Harry Winston, In-house movement, luxury, Manufacture, Manufacture Contemporaine du Temps, MCT, rolex, Sequential One, Swiss

Category: Interviews