Posts Tagged ‘watches’
The Watch Lounge Poll – Please Vote And Tell Us What You Want!
It’s hard to believe that it’s already been over six months since we launched The Watch Lounge back in September 2009. The team and I are continually blown away by the site’s rapid growth in popularity and as such we remain as committed as ever to not only bringing you fresh, original content you won’t find anywhere else but also to bringing you the content you want to read!
That’s why until the end of May we will be running a poll on The Watch Lounge to give you a chance to let us know what you would like to see more of. You will notice the poll to the right of this page, just below the MB&F banner, and it will appear in the same place on all our posts. Voting is easy, all you need to do is click on the option that appeals most to you.
Feel free to vote multiple times if there is more than one option that appeals to you or if you really want to get your point across! It doesn’t take more than a second and it will help us to ensure we bring you the content you want to read!
If you have any other suggestions or would like to provide any other feedback I encourage you to email us directly or write your thoughts in the comment section below so that we can get some interactive discussion going.
Thanks for voting!
The Watch Lounge Team
1 Excellent Comment | Filed under New This Week, Recommended Reading, Watch News
Robert Downey Jr To Wear Jaeger-LeCoultre In The Upcoming Iron Man 2!
Movie buffs and watch lovers the world over rejoice! Highly regarded luxury Swiss watch-maker Jaeger-LeCoultre (a personal favorite of mine I must admit!) has recently announced its participation in Iron Man 2.
The highly anticipated sequel to the blockbuster film based on the legendary Marvel Super Hero Iron Man reunites director Jon Favreau and Oscar® nominee Robert Downey Jr, and features several exceptional pieces from the brand’s super high-end collection, including; the Master Grand Tourbillon 1833 Edition, the Grande Reverso 986 and the AMVOX 3 Tourbillion in Platinum, the latter of which Downey Jr was spotted wearing at the premier in L.A. (see the above picture.)
Robert Downey Jr sporting the JLC AMVOX 3 Tourbillion in Platinum at the premier of Iron Man 2 in L.A. © Jaeger-LeCoultre
A closer look at the AMVOX 3 Tourbillion in Platinum © Jaeger-LeCoultre
According to Jaeger-LeCoultre CEO Jerome Lambert, the company is very excited about this new partnership;
“Jaeger-LeCoultre is thrilled to have our timepieces showcased on the wonderful character of Tony Stark played by the phenomenal actor Robert Downey Jr. We have no doubt the film will be a fantastic success.”
As far as we are concerned this is yet another compelling reason to see what promises to be an exciting film!
Please Welcome Our Newest International Correspondent – Meehna Goldsmith!
We are very pleased to announce the addition of our newest contributor, L.A. based, industry heavy-weight Meehna Goldsmith. Meehna joins our exceptional team of contributors who are dedicated to bringing you original, exclusive and up to date content from the world of luxury watches!
When she’s not writing for The Watch Lounge Meehna Goldsmith is a luxury timepiece consultant, stylist and speaker. She believes a watch is the ultimate accessory, one that communicates personal style, purpose and viewpoint, and also has the power to turn a situation to your advantage. If you choose the right one.
Meehna calls Los Angeles home but travels the world spreading the horologic gospel and helping people find their perfect timepiece match. In addition, she contributes to publications such as Robb Report Watch Collector, International Watch, Watch Journal, and as the U.S. correspondent for HH Magazine, the publication of the Fondation De La Haute Horlogerie.
Other passions include playing competitive tennis; the written word, particularly in an engrossing novel; and, on occasion, smoking a fine cigar.
Meehna rarely leaves home with a naked wrist and makes sure to have on hand her lipstick, iphone and a 10x power loupe.
You can visit her on her website (www.meehnagoldsmith.com), where she also plays hostess to both a men’s and women’s luxury timepiece blog.
Interview With Jean-Claude Biver, CEO of Hublot
Recently Swiss watch-maker Hublot has announced unique partnerships with two of the greatest sporting events in the world; Formula One and the FIFA World Cup. Whilst these by no means represent the brand’s first foray into the sporting world, think the Mexican Football Federation, Bode Miller, Diego Maradona and many others, they are arguably the most ambitious to date.
We were very interested to hear how these exciting partnerships came about and so we decided to go straight to the source. Fortunately for us (and you), Hublot CEO, Mr Jean-Claude Biver, was gracious enough to grant us the opportunity to ask a few questions about these recent announcements and what they mean to Hublot.
Here’s what he had to say.
TWL: Hublot has made a point of engaging in partnerships within the sporting world such as Manchester United and Alinghi. What is the reasoning behind this and what does the brand gain from these partnerships?
JCB: Our involvement in sport is motivated because sport belongs partly to the world of our customers. And our objective is clearly to belong to the world of the consumer. Be it in the materials he is surrounded with (Carbon, Kevlar, Ceramic and so on) or in his leisure and holiday activities represented through sport.
TWL: What was the motivation behind pursuing these two particular partnerships, do you feel a certain personal connection with them or was the decision made purely from a commercial standpoint?
JCB: We never enter any sport or event because of personal connections or preferences. Our decisions are motivated through our customers. Wherever our customer goes, he must meet Hublot. It is our goal to make the customer feel that we belong to his world, to his life style, to his emotions and to his dreams.
TWL: What were the main challenges you faced when you first set out to make these partnerships a reality and how did you overcome them?
JCB: The main challenge was to believe that we had the right concept. Usually brands decide to link themselves to one or two sports. We on the contrary decided we should link ourselves to our customers. And meet him wherever he goes. On the sea, on the GP circuit, on the football Stadium, on the Polo Field and so on.
TWL: From a strategic perspective how important was it for you to secure these partnerships and do you expect they will contribute to further enhancing the brand’s credibility and reputation as a watch-maker on an international scale?
JCB: It was important for us to be the First, or to be Unique, or to be Different. With Football we were the first luxury watch brand to enter Football. It is difficult to believe but both the Euro and the World Cup have never had an “Official Timekeeper”, nor an “Official Watch”. It has now become crucial for Hublot to maintain its exclusivity at this level of sponsorship. Both in F1 and Football.
TWL: Involvement with events of this magnitude will undoubtedly help grow Hublot’s global profile. Do you hope to capitalise on this by introducing and distributing the brand into new markets, or will you continue to focus on strengthening your position within existing markets for the time being?
JCB: We will focus on strengthening our position within the existing markets. But we have clearly to improve our distribution and awareness in China. As we have only started to enter China in March 2009, we have still a long way to go. But for sure our involvement in F1 and the Football World Cup will increase dramatically the awareness of Hublot, which is of course very positive for our future.
TWL: Can you give us any hints on what we can expect from the Hublot 2010 FIFA World Cup timepieces? Will there be a different watch for every competing country or will there just be FIFA inspired pieces?
JCB: In 2010 we will introduce only one piece (a Classic Fusion in 18 ct Pink Gold) limited to 100 pieces only. But from next year on, we will work on additional special editions both for Brazil in 2014 and also some special editions for historical World Cups since 1930.
TWL: Finally, does Hublot have its eye on any other events, sporting or otherwise, it would like to become involved in or will the focus remain on these most recent announcements for the foreseeable future?
JCB: We must always have our eyes and ears open. One has constantly to listen to the market and be able to evolve and change. The world is not static and a brand has to constantly adapt its concepts, products and DNA to the changes.
TWL: Thank you for taking the time to speak with The Watch Lounge Mr. Biver.
JCB: Thank you.
How To Move Forwards While Looking Backwards – Innovation In The Watch Industry Part.3
In Part.2 of our exclusive special on innovation in the watch industry we talked about the truly baffling achievements of Montblanc, made all the more amazing by the incredibly short time frame within which they were realized. Remarkable as they were, however, we should acknowledge that Montblanc did not go it alone. Rather they had the luxury of being able to count on the generous funding and support of an immensely successful and experienced global organization.
With this is mind we have to ask how then can young brands with little to no backing even contemplate, let alone succeed at, creating highly-innovative, credible pieces?
To find out we went to ask Romain Jérôme.
The Opposite End Of The Scale
Romain Jérôme couldn’t have less in common with the Richemont empire Montblanc belongs to: only around fifteen employees, and barely out of diapers and yet this young company continues to box well above its weight. In this year alone the company took 50’000’000 CHF in orders just during the SIHH!
So how then has such a little company, which was no more than a start-up just a few short years ago, risen so quickly? The answer is not strategic like Montblanc, nor marketing like Hublot; it’s product-based.
Around its “DNA of Famous Legends” tagline, Romain Jérôme based its business model almost purely on a highly unique concept. Although timepieces have often been used before to commemorate historic events, this idea was taken one (or several) steps further when the brand introduced watches that would actually incorporate physical aspects of the events within the piece’s design, for example dust from the moon, or parts of the Titanic (and more recently, ash from Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano).
That the young brand actually had the audacity to try something so different in what is a very traditional industry speaks volumes about their approach to be business. Especially when you consider that typically R&D dollars are generally invested in exploring and discovering the new materials of the future, not the past!
Being bold and different is all well and good but what about tomorrow? How will the brand continue to evolve itself, when its name is so tightly linked to one unique concept?
Building A Brand, Or Building A Concept?
We thought this was a pretty relevant question for the young brand and so we asked Romain Jérôme CEO, Manuel Emch. At age 38, Emch is the combined product of a background in marketing studies and a career within the Swatch Group. An intelligent entrepreneur he is able to rely on the support of an investments fund to help in the continued development of Romain Jérôme.
Still, is this enough?
Critics of the brand often draw attention to the fact that Romain Jérôme has little credibility as a traditional watch-maker and instead relies on gimmicks and publicity to sell their products. This could be an issue but for the fact that Romain Jérôme is not looking for acceptance into the traditional watch-making world. A for those who continue to doubt they are able to demonstrate commercial viability. In other words, they are creating a product people want, and they are selling. Just ask their customers.
It is this success then that Emch intends to build on.
“The backbone of our brand is the 3 collections of legends, Air, Sea and Earth. Two of them are already available: the Moon-Dust for the Air collection, and the Titanic for the Sea. We are currently looking for the third legend to illustrate the Earth collection. We don’t have a specific time-frame, it could be 2011 or 2012.”
And so it seems that Romain Jérôme will stay faithful to its “DNA of Famous Legends” strategy. But will this be enough for the brand to remain visible and relevant, especially if we take a more long-term view, say after 10 or 20 years of production?
“We don’t see so far. There are still a lot of things to do on our 3 DNA collections. The Moon-Dust worked very well because we launched it when the 40th anniversary of the man on the moon was celebrated. The Titanic also has bright days coming as 2012 will be the 100th anniversary of the liner. And we will of course follow the same principles with our forthcoming Earth collection” explains Emch.
Perhaps this is the right strategy to adopt? It certainly seems to be working well for Hublot, a company famous for producing almost exclusively just one style of watch, the Big-Bang. And in all honesty, when Hublot CEO Jean-Claude Biver explains his strategy, it all makes a lot of sense;
“We’ll stay mono-product as long as the market will let us! We do 70% of our business with only 10 references or so, and 30% with limited editions that allow our clients to buy a second or a third watch from our collection.”
The Final Word
Romain Jérôme is just one example, albeit an extreme one, of a young brand that is approaching watch-making in a completely new and innovative way. It’s important to note though that when we talk about innovation we don’t just mean the use of new materials or different designs, we’re also talking about taking a completely new approach to the business model, which includes marketing, distribution and so forth.
Naysayers may criticize Romain Jérôme for using what they regard as gimmicks but at the end of day the company is selling watches, and with the exception of only a handful of watch-makers in the industry, that is what everyone else is here to do too.
Like it or not this is a business, it just so happens that companies are better at it than others.
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