On the occasion of GMT Magazine’s 20th anniversary (and WorldTempus’s upcoming 20th anniversary in 2021), we have embarked on the ambitious project of summarising the last 20 years in watchmaking in The Millennium Watch Book, a big, beautifully laid out coffee table book. The Millennium Watch Book is available exclusively now for pre-order at a discounted rate on www.the-watch-book.com, in French and English, with delivery aimed just in time for the holiday season.
In the coming weeks, WorldTempus will be exclusively sharing excerpts from the book, to give you a taste.
Only a few days left to get an additional 10% discount on the Millennium Watch Book. To obtain your code, fill in the information requested in the dedicated area to the left of the article.
Here’s is an exclusive excerpt from our section “Who’s who”, where we name the 80 industry players, from CEOs to Creative Directors to retailers and independent watchmakers, who have indelibly shaped the last two decades of watches, written by those in the industry who perhaps know them best. For more information, visit www.the-watch-book.com.
Patrick Graf, Chief Commercial Officer, Bucherer
The man who gave the world leader in luxury watch retailing a whole new corporate culture initially studied watchmaking from the unusual perspective of airport terminals. Sporting his first ‘proper’ watch on his wrist (a Chopard bought in 1996), he was working in the largest retail group in the travel industry as the third millennium began. His then employer, the Nuance Group, belongs to Dufry, and does a lot of business in aircraft and airports. Switzerland had recently entered into a free trade agreement with the European Union, and the duty-free sector there was undergoing a thorough transformation. Patrick Graf, in charge of luxury products, witnessed these inevitable changes first-hand, and indeed oversaw them in several airports through until 2006.
Meanwhile, his ties with watch brands were becoming ever closer. At a time when Zurich airport was aiming to become the world’s leading airport for luxury shopping, he was appointed as its CCO, playing a part in its conceptual and architectural transformation over almost a decade – and closely involving watchmaking, the perfect embodiment of the Swiss Made ethos. The airport’s store layout and customer experience were both a priority and ahead of their time. In 2016, after a short stint with TAG Heuer as Global Marketing Director, Patrick Graf joined Bucherer to stimulate its commercial and international growth. The venerable Swiss institution also needed to move with the times: the brands it represented were opening their own stores, e-commerce and the pre-owned watch business were taking off, customers were becoming more demanding, and an in-depth response was required. That response included the acclaimed Blue Editions (limited-edition watches created for Bucherer by the brands); the arrival of lounges in renovated stores; online sales websites; the certified pre-owned watch offer; and diversification into other luxury products, such as the Carl F. Bucherer Blue Edition motorbike. At the same time, Bucherer store locations worldwide passed the 80 mark, with Patrick making sure that everyone – not least those in North America – kept fully in step with the new mindset.
