Is the Middle East important for Chronoswiss?
It has become important. We used to be quite strong, but this was eight years ago just after we took over, but then it all fell apart, so we stopped here to concentrate on other markets, which were more important to restructure at the time. And now, it has been two years that we have been back. It is a good place for us because we have already been here, and there were no old watches in the market, so we could start again with people knowing the name, which helped.
How has Chronoswiss evolved over the last few years?
A lot has happened, in particular during COVID, when people had time. We set up a new homepage and a new Instagram, not knowing that COVID would hit. So, luckily, we were ready at that time, and people had time to study the Internet, so this helped a lot. We have also restructured the sales and are still restructuring the product families a bit because we only have three families and we want to increase it to four or five. What we have also done over the last four years is to go into colours as you may have seen, but everything is based on modern mechanics and we are pushing the guilloché that we do in-house.
What timepieces have really stood out for you this year?
We have the Delphis Oracle that we launched in Geneva and now we have a couple of launches in the Middle East. It features a three-dimensional plate in gold with guilloché and enamel. This is a new technique and we have used this on the Delphis, which is a watch from 25 years ago. We have an exclusive manufacture movement made by La Joux-Perret using our design. So, this is the start of a new era.
You are known for your incredible guilloché work, is it hard to find artisans?
I think it is hard to find people who will stay with you. In the past, an apprentice would stay with you for four years, and if they wanted to become a master guillocheur, it was five years. The same is true for enamelling. It is three years of education, so you teach them and it takes a lot of time, but often, after the three years, they leave. So, we need to find people who love watches and watchmaking and who are willing to stay for five years. So, we are doing things a little bit differently by looking for people who are around the age of 50, who are looking for something new, and who are willing to stay and grow with us.
How has 2023 been for you?
It has been a good year. We have had the problem of not being able to deliver everything, like everyone. Some of the big watch brands have stopped making small components and are now using our suppliers, placing orders for millions, so we get pushed aside. We had everything planned perfectly, 12 to 18 months in advance, so this hasn’t been fun.
Is there anything big on the horizon that you can share with us?
We are also celebrating our 40th anniversary this year. It has been 12 years since we took over the brand, so time passes. We are going to be doing some different types of content and we are talking with all our major jewellers to have their own events, so this is something special.
