Roger Dubuis’s CEO Jean-Marc Pontroué wants to get one thing straight from the outset: “This is certainly not a question of simple branding,” he told me over a relaxed lunch well ahead of today’s announcement. Think instead along the lines of what has come to be known as a 360-degree partnership, where the activities of the two brands intermingle and both parties benefit. A partnership where the legitimacy of two sets of brand histories and values have to gel with a third story – namely, why those two brands fit so well together.
Mr Pontroué has enough experience in the industry and enough negotiations about potential partnerships under his belt to understand what can work and what will not. From the start he says his relationship with Lamborghini CEO Stefano Domenicali (former team principal of Ferrari Formula 1) was excellent. “For such a partnership to work, both sides need to be motivated,” he says,”but not just at management level. The entire team and all 140 Lamborghini dealers worldwide are behind the project 100% and it’s the same at Roger Dubuis.”
The new deal comes at an excellent time for the development of both brands. Lamborghini is poised to launch its Urus SUV towards the end of this year, doubling at a stroke its annual production volumes. While the same will certainly not be true for Roger Dubuis, Mr Pontroué is hoping to grow the network of Roger Dubuis flagship stores worldwide from 27 to 40 in the coming years. But more important will be the paradigm shift in the watch brand’s entire planning process. “We will still be at SIHH, of course, but it will be just one event on our annual launch calendar, which will expand to include events such as the Geneva motorshow and Pebble Beach.” It will also see Roger Dubuis accompanying the Lamborghini Super Trofeo with three travelling pop-up stores. Mr Pontroué also expects an “enormous communication boost” from the new partnership, which will be accompanied by spectacular promotional events on key locations in the world such as Wempe on Fifth Avenue in New York, at the world’s biggest Lamborghini dealership that abuts the multi-lane Sheikh Zayed road in Dubai, as well as the façade of iconic hotels in Hong Kong.
For watch fans, the new partnership means not just a new watch but a brand new calibre: the Duotor, with two balance wheels inclined at 45 degrees and a rare deadbeat seconds hand that beats in direct contrast to the oscillation of those two balance wheels. The cases of the new Aventador S models are made of forged carbon that comes directly from the Lamborghini Manufacture in Santa Agata and add a welcome touch of colour to an otherwise dark background. Much like the Lamborghini Aventador that they are named after, they are hard to come by (limited editions of 8 and 88 pieces respectively) and expensive, starting at 180,000 Swiss francs.
