Section iii / baSel previewWWD Hermès

Louis Vuitton

Swarovski

Harry Winston

Boucheron

Patek Philippe

Elements of TimeAs some of the world’s most influential watch brands present their new collections today at Baselworld, the industry faces some serious issues.

Dior BreguetKenneth Cole

00 WWDSTYLE XXXXXXXXX, XXXXXXXX XX, 2011

WWD / BASEL PREVIEW

By JOELLE DIDERICH

PARIS — When Jean-Frédéric Dufour took over as president and chief executive offi cer of Zenith SA in June 2009, purists breathed a sigh of relief.

An industry veteran, Dufour was charged with bring-ing the Swiss watch brand back to a more classical positioning after his fl amboyant predecessor Thierry Nataf ’s fashion-oriented approach fi zzled out with the onset of the sector’s worst crisis in three decades.

Fast-forward 18 months, and Dufour has been named “Man of the Year 2011” by a jury of journalists specialized in the watch industry.

As he heads into Baselworld, the executive can pride himself on having turned around Zenith with a radical approach that involved cutting the number of styles to 120 from 850, and put-ting the focus back on the heritage of the house, including its legendary Elite and El Primero movements.

“We have returned to products that are more in line with the DNA of Zenith,” Dufour told WWD. “When you have a heritage that rich, and archives that complete, you have to take advantage of them, and that is what makes the difference in the end.”

Getting there was not easy. The fi rst thing Dufour did was to lay off a third of staff, though he has since rehired half that number.

“I arrived at the worst moment of the crisis,” he said. “It’s like arriving in a forest after a hurricane and fi nding all the trees on the ground. In a way, though, when all the trees are down, it gives you the opportunity to plant a stronger spe-cies or reorganize the land. It gave me the opportunity to completely turn around the brand and I took a 180-degree turn.”

From cost control to inventory manage-ment to the supply chain, Dufour set about reorganizing Zenith, set up in 1865 in Le Locle by Georges Favre-Jacot, a 22-year-old who created the concept of manufacturing by bringing together all the artisan watchmakers, who had previ-ously worked independently, under one roof.

“I did it with a lot of pleasure, passion, explaining, communicating, exchanging, persuading, because

when you operate a 180-degree turn, you need all hands on deck,” he said.” That’s probably what took the most energy at the start: Convincing everyone that the direction we were heading in was the right one. That was the challenge.”

Dufour is not short on energy. His conversation is peppered with maxims that appear to have been lifted straight from “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” As he sipped a diet juice on the courtyard terrace of the Park Hyatt Vendôme hotel in Paris, the executive spelled out his philosophy in no uncertain terms.

“There’s no point even thinking about what an-noys you in life, it’s a waste of energy,” he said. “It’s better to concentrate on creativity, on tomorrow, on what you can offer that is different from what every-

one else is offering.”A graduate in commercial and industrial sci-

ences from the University of Geneva, Dufour cut his teeth at Chopard, Ulysse Nardin and Swatch Group. Before joining Zenith, part of

luxury conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, he had served as head

of product development for Chopard Watches and Jewelry since 2001.

Though LVMH does not disclose numbers for its individual watch brands, Dufour said Zenith reg-istered double-digit growth in 2010. Philippe Pascal, president of LVMH’s watches and jewelry division, added that the brand was

profi table last year.“The hard work done in 2009 pro-

duced some very encouraging results in 2010, so I think we’re on the right

track,” Pascal said. “The brand has re-bounded stronger from the crisis with a

positioning which I think is very attractive.”Though Zenith has a handful of stand-

alone stores and will open a fl agship in Hong Kong’s Times Square later this year, it is dis-tributed mainly through multibrand retailers. Dufour said the total number of points of sale remained stable in 2010, as the brand closed

some underperforming doors and opened others.“It’s quite funny because we are seeing something

that the Zenith sales team hadn’t experienced for a long time: Retailers are ringing us to ask if they can take on the brand,” said Dufour.

Among those who started carrying Zenith after visiting the brand at Baselworld last year was

Laurent Picciotto, owner of Paris-based fi ne watch retailer Chronopassion. Picciotto said he was con-quered by the “formidable job” accomplished by Dufour, though he added that the message is still fi l-tering down to the end customer.

“Customers today have still not realized the im-portant transformation that has taken place between the Nataf exploits of the past and what Jean-Frédéric is doing today,” he said. “We are pretty confi dent, but we are still some way from our target.”

Not that this kind of feedback is likely to dent Dufour’s confi dence. His latest endeavor harks back to the spirit of Zenith’s early days, when Favre-Jacot broke new ground by creating the most precise and reliable watches of his era.

Among the documents Dufour found in the ar-chives was a testimonial letter written by French avi-ator Louis Blériot, who used a Zenith wristwatch and altimeter for his landmark Channel crossing in 1909. The brand’s long-standing link with the world of avia-tion has inspired one of Zenith’s Basel launches this year, the El Primero Stratos Flyback Striking 10th.

Zenith will also produce a Stratos Pole2Pole chro-nograph in a limited edition of 500, one of which will be worn by Swedish explorer Johan Ernst Nilson as he embarks on a one-year trek from the North Pole to the South Pole starting March 30.

And last month the brand unveiled its partnership with Alain Thébault’s Hydroptère project, a high-tech sailing craft that broke Blériot’s fl ight record for the Channel crossing by four minutes.

“What is very funny is that there is a link between our history and the present, and if you had told Blériot when he set his record 100 years ago that it would be beaten by a sailing boat, he would have called you nuts,” Dufour said.

The fl ying trimaran will feature in a new Zenith advertising campaign. As offi cial timekeeper, the watch brand wants to accompany the Hydroptère team in eventually setting new speed records for crossing the Atlantic and sailing around the world.

“That’s the pioneering spirit which characterizes Zenith,” added Dufour.

Zenith Reaches for New Heights

2 WWDSECTION III THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2011

Jean-Frédéric Dufour

The Zenith store in Shanghai.

Zenith’s El Primero Stratos Flyback Striking 10th.

WWD / basel previeW

4 WWDSECTION III thursday, march 24, 2011

By Joelle DiDerich

PAriS — The watch sector may be out of the dol-drums, but on the eve of Baselworld 2011, one thing is clear: Uncertainty is the “new normal.”

Despite a roaring start to the year for exports of Swiss timepieces, talk at the annual watch and jewelry fair that starts today and runs through March 31 is likely to turn to gloomier subjects: the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis in Japan; political turmoil in the Middle east, and a record high Swiss franc, to name just a few.

“it’s hard to view the economic outlook in a positive light when you see what is going on,” said Jean-claude Biver, chief executive officer of luxury watch brand hublot. “You can be optimistic, but you have to remain vigilant. it’s like being on the edge of the ocean and see-ing a black cloud and thunder on the horizon. it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to rain, but you might want to think about taking in the beach umbrella.”

Jean-Daniel Pasche, president of the Federation of the Swiss Watch industry, or FhS, said the ongoing cri-sis was likely to further weaken an already struggling Japanese market, but he added the outlook elsewhere was overwhelmingly favorable.

“We have said previously that 2011 could be a new record year and we maintain this view,” he said.

The latest FhS data supports a bullish outlook: Swiss watch exports rose 17.8 percent in February after a 16.9 percent increase in January, despite tough-er comparatives. This comes after Swatch Group, the world’s largest watchmaker, posted a record net profit in 2010 and said it aimed to achieve sales of 10 billion Swiss francs, or $11.07 billion at current exchange, in the medium term, up from 6.44 billion Swiss francs, or $6.19 billion at average exchange, in 2010.

Baselworld director Sylvie ritter was also upbeat, noting that a number of smaller watch brands had re-turned to the fair, signaling a definitive return to nor-mal after the sector’s worst crisis in 30 years.

“Baselworld always reflects the mood of the market

and we are feeling serenity both on the part of exhibi-tors and of buyers,” she said. “if there is no major in-cident that throws the brakes on global consumption, i think we are on track for a record year.”

Adding extra sizzle to this year’s edition, lVMh Moët hennessy louis Vuitton’s recent $6 billion deal to buy rome-based jeweler Bulgari has stoked speculation of another round of M&A activity in the luxury sector.

however, with watch behemoths like rolex, chopard and Patek Philippe tied up in the hands of family shareholders or foundations, investors are likely to circle around smaller players, analysts said, citing Maurice lacroix, harry Winston and Franck Muller as possible targets.

rené Weber at Bank Vontobel noted the number of potential acquisitions was much more limited than in the fashion field.

“The real small ones are not of interest to the big players,” Weber said. “if Swatch Group or richemont would like to get something, then we’re talking about at least 50 million Swiss francs [$55.6 million] in sales, otherwise it doesn’t make sense, especially for Swatch. They really cover all the price points, therefore they don’t need an additional brand.”

Despite the positive sales momentum globally, in-dustry observers expect the situation in Japan and the Middle east to weigh on sentiment, even though their market share is modest. The two regions are strategi-cally important, since political turmoil in Arab coun-tries drives up the cost of oil, thereby stoking already high production costs, while a prolonged crisis in Japan threatens to disrupt the supply of components.

Japan accounted for just 4.6 percent of Swiss watch exports in 2010, down from 11 percent in 2005, accord-ing to Weber. This compared with its overall share of 11 percent of the global luxury goods market last year.

likewise, the Middle east represents around 10 percent of the Swiss watch market, but most of this is concentrated in the United Arab emirates and Saudi Arabia, which have been relatively spared by political turmoil, while troubled Tunisia, egypt and libya are

minor markets for luxury goods, he said.Jon cox, analyst at Kepler capital Markets, said de-

spite the uncertainty, he was maintaining his forecast for Swiss watch exports to grow by around 10 percent in 2011.

“obviously, the question is how long this Japan situ-ation goes on for and what will happen in Japan. if that gets a lot worse, then actually you might find the industry is not growing this year, and that is a major risk,” he warned.

According to retailers, the crisis is already having an impact as the tumble in global stock markets fol-lowing the Japan earthquake undermines the buying intentions of affluent consumers.

laurent Picciotto, owner of Paris-based fine watch retailer chronopassion, said he saw an immediate drop in the presence of foreigners — who represent 75 to 80 percent of his customers — in the aftermath of the March 11 quake, compounding what he qualified as a “relatively catastrophic” month of February.

“We have had a pretty difficult start to the year and the catastrophe that is unfolding in Japan is probably having more immediate and lasting effects than we can imagine. right now, we are really monitoring the situation day by day, hour by hour,” he said.

ruediger Albers, U.S. president of watch and jew-elry chain Wempe, was more circumspect.

“it’s too early to tell, but i think everybody is a little bit more cautious than just a few weeks ago,” he said.

Nicolas Beau, international director of watches at chanel, said that while timepieces were usually among the first luxury goods to benefit from an economic recov-ery, they were also more vulnerable to any slowdown.

“if you don’t have the latest handbag, you’re doomed, you’re no longer with it,” Beau said, referring to chic shoppers. “if you don’t have the latest watch, it’s not such a big deal.”

Philippe Pascal, president of lVMh’s watches and jewelry division, said: “We have seen and registered growth on every single market, including markets which were under strong pressure, such as Japan or the U.S. Today, with the exception of the Middle east, which is a

External Factors Weighing on Watch Sector

Tag Heuer Mikrograph

Chopard Haute Joaillerie

Glashütte Original Seventies Panorama Date

Hublot Big Bang Gold Tutti Frutti Brown

Bulgari Octo Quadri-Retro Chronograph

De Grisogono Uno DF S42

Jaquet Droz Petite Heure Minute Art Deco

Corum Admiral’s Cup Seafender 46 Chrono Dive

Raymond Weil Maestro Phase de Lune

5WWDSECTION III thursday, march 24, 2011

little bit shaky because of what’s happening, the rest of the world has more or less given us a green signal.”

Pascal said the steady improvement in sales last year was initially fueled by retailers rebuilding their inventories, but that consumer confidence has been continuously building steam.

“What we are seeing on our brands is that month after month, the sellout performance is improving for every brand and in every market,” he said.

For example, Tag Heuer’s Carrera Mikrograph, a lim-ited edition of 150 which the company describes as the first-ever integrated wrist mechanical chronograph with a central hand displaying 1/100th of a second, is sold out in preorders, despite a price tag of $50,000.

Luc Perramond, ceo of La Montre Hermès, also reported growth across all regions, though Greater China clearly remains a key motor for the industry.

Hermès plans to reinforce its core fe-male offering this year with a new Heure H collection, featuring redesigned dials and interchangeable bracelets, and the lat-est addition to its Arceau line, the Grande Lune, which is designed to appeal to the growing number of women interested in mechanical movements.

Nonetheless, Perramond cautioned that any significant dip in stock markets could jeopardize growth prospects for this year.

“When Wall Street drops, luxury spending falls, so we are not protected from a new slowdown,” he said. “I remain rather cautious, even if the year did get off to a good start, even if there is this huge Chinese engine driv-ing growth. We must be vigilant and I don’t think busi-ness will continue to grow at the same rate as in 2010.”

Gary Cohen, the newly appointed ceo of Timex Group, echoed the sentiment.

“We’ve seen a pickup in the business internation-ally, yet there’s enough political and economic uncer-tainty with commodity pricing and political pressures that I think we still have to treat this year as a cautious one and effectively use the mind-set from a couple of

years ago: Caution and restraint, yet figure out where the best opportunities to invest are,” he said.

The Timex Group, which encompasses an umbrella of licensed brands including Salvatore Ferragamo and Versace, in addition to owned brands such as Timex and Marc Ecko, also plans to make a bigger play for the female customer. Timex’s Callanen International subsidiary also makes Guess brand watches.

“From a long-term technology standpoint, one of the areas that we’re focusing on is how to take advantage of the wellness opportunity for women within Timex and bring more female-relevant designs and features to the Ironman and sports watches, and we’re going to be making a big push there, as well, because that is a growing segment,” said Cohen.

In terms of trends, the atmosphere of tempered op-timism is likely to result in a continued focus on clas-sic pieces with a timeless bent. This is reflected in a drop in demand for limited edition timepieces, which used to fly off shelves in the heady pre-2009 era, ac-cording to Albers at Wempe.

“There was this major urge to be the first, to have something new, but now people are scaling that back a little bit and buying what they really love,” he said. “People are more into classics. They want something that is not just fashionable but really able to stand the test of time for decades to come.”

Cohen, who has been making the rounds of retailers

since joining Timex in January, said black and white remained popular color choices, and there was also good demand for tortoiseshell designs.

However, retailers are bracing for more sticker shock. Those brands that have not already hiked their prices in response to the rising cost of gold and other raw materi-als, and a soaring Swiss franc rate against the dollar and euro, are set to implement increases ranging between 7 and 12 percent, depending on the currency area.

“It’s inevitable,” said Biver at Hublot. “Those who held off from price increases in 2010, after 18 months, they can’t put it off any longer. They are losing margin.”

Albers, a Basel veteran who has been attending the fair for 23 years, said that although affluent consumers will be aware of the factors behind the increases, retailers would

still have to justify their price tags.“Buying a fine watch is not always an impulse

buy, so you might have kept an eye on the watch of your dreams for a while, and when you see it a few months later and it costs a couple of thousand dollars more, you bet you will get questioned on it,” he said.

Picciotto of Chronopassion said even though inventories were relatively high in the aftermath of the SIHH trade fair, held in Geneva in January, he was heading to Basel with an open mind and order book.

“I’m not going to set myself a budget because if I have an emotional reaction to a piece, I have to have it,” he said.

Among the pieces he is excited to discover are Max Büsser’s latest creations for MB&F and Hublot’s La Clé du Temps, available in a limited edition of 28.

While the mood of the fair might be one of caution, Baselworld still will have its share of flashy events. Milla Jovovich will host a cocktail as the new face of Jacob & Co., and Bulgari is flying in members of New Zealand’s All Blacks rugby team for the launch of a special edition of its Endurer Chronosprint that fea-tures a Maori tattoo-patterned dial and will come in special leather packaging in the shape of a rugby ball.

’’’’

Baselworld always reflects the mood of the market and we are feeling serenity both on the part of exhibitors and of buyers.

— Sylvie RitteR, BaSelwoRld

External Factors Weighing on Watch Sector

Rado True Thinline

Tissot T-Race Nicky

Hayden Limited Edition

David Yurman

Ancestrale Small

Seconds

Ted Baker About Time collection

Gc Sport Class XXL Blackout

Movado Bold 3-7-11

Girard-Perregaux 1966 Full Calendar

Blancpain Villeret First Half-Time Zone Watch

Timex SL Series Fly-back Chronograph

Versace Krios

WWD / basel PrevieW

Brands Make Moves To Control Distribution

By SAMANTHA CONTI

LAST SuMMer, DAvID SADIgH, managing partner of the geneva-based marketing consulting firm IC Agency, made a trip to Florida and remembers feeling sticker shock during one of his shopping trips.

Sadigh, whose company publishes the annual World Watch report, an analysis of consumer demand for the top watch brands in key markets, said he saw luxury watches on sale at 30 to 40 percent off.

“It’s a luxury brand’s worst nightmare, seeing that level of discounting, isn’t it?” he said. “During the credit crisis and the recession, so much inventory was discounted or ended up on eBay, sometimes at cost price, just so the watch distributors could get their cash back and move on.”

In May 2010, a few months before Sadigh took his Florida trip, Compagnie Financière richemont SA, one of the biggest watch companies and the parent of brands including Cartier, IWC, Piaget and Officine Panerai, had just begun to bounce back from the credit crisis. To keep the new momentum going, it unveiled plans to invest in retail units and clean up its whole-sale distribution, terminating accounts it no longer deemed appropriate.

Norbert Platt, then chief executive officer, said dur-ing a video conference: “I’ve created the slogan ‘Less partners for more partnership.’”

That slogan has not only become a rallying cry for richemont, but for other luxury and midmarket watch brands, as well. The period of economic hardship fol-lowing the credit crisis has forced brands to build more of their own stores, bulk up profit margins and rethink relationships with wholesale partners.

“One of the big trends we’ve seen over the past two years with brands like Cartier, Omega and IWC has been the opening of retail boutiques and the rational-izing of wholesale channels,” said Alastair Laidlaw, co-founder of Jura Watches, a multibrand retailer that generates 50 percent of its sales online and the bal-ance at its flagship on London’s Burlington gardens. “The brands are opting for fewer, better retailers.”

Sadigh of IC Agency agreed that, “Many of these brands see store openings as advertising investments, a place to tell their stories. They want to control the color of the walls, the scent you smell when you walk in. And it’s not only the watch brands that are doing it. You see a similar strategy with espresso companies.”

The only exception to the latest trend is rolex, the lux-ury market leader. Famously press shy, the company de-clined to comment for this story. A spokeswoman, however, confirmed that rolex does not own or operate any of its own stores and sells exclusively through authorized deal-ers. There are, though, stores branded rolex — Tourneau is opening one on Fifth Avenue in New York this spring.

richemont-owned Piaget and Panerai are two brands taking the retail route on their own while pre-serving select wholesale clients. Piaget currently has 71 stores, which generate well over 50 percent of the company’s revenue. The remaining sales come from wholesale clients, of which there are 500 worldwide, according to Philippe Leopold-Metzger, the brand’s ceo.

“retail is definitely our route for the future,” Leopold-Metzger said. “We will continue with wholesale, but retail will lead the way. Brands need to be more and more in control and sell as close to the retail price as possible.”

The recession, he admitted, may have quickened the pace of the expansion, but it did not precipitate the retail strategy.

“ultimately, from a luxury point of view, it’s all about control,” he said, adding that Piaget plans to add 10 to 15 stores annually.

For Piaget, a retail-heavy strategy makes sense on other levels, too. In 1992, the brand launched jewelry, which thrives on customer traffic and costs a fraction of a Piaget watch. Together, the product categories complement each other and generate the sales to justify a stand-alone space.

Panerai is pursuing a similar plan.“It’s all about the image of the brand: When a boutique

opens you cannot imagine the enormous impact it has on brand recognition,” said Angelo Bonati, the company’s ceo. “And with your own store, you can offer the total product assortment. Something you cannot do at wholesale.”

Panerai has 24 stand-alone stores and plans to open 25 in the medium-term, mainly in Asia, the u.S. and europe. And while the focus is on retail, wholesale re-mains an important channel. “You cannot reach all your customers through retail,” Bonati said. “A boutique is like a club. It attracts people who know and love the brand, people who know they want to buy Panerai. Multibrand stores are for watch lovers, people who like to collect, and to see what is happening in the watch world. They may or may not decide to buy Panerai.”

For Piaget and Panerai, the own-retail strategy is a must in Asia.

“In Asia, you’re dead if you don’t open your own boutique,” said Bonati. “For the Chinese people, if you have a big space, you are important. If you have a small space, you’re not.”

It’s no wonder, then, that richemont wants to have its own stores in China in tier-one cities and is rolling back franchises in those places. richemont has also set up its own distribution infrastructure to service the Chinese market, as well as an after-sales service program and training schools to improve service among Chinese staff.

Hermès is taking a similar retail route in China and beyond.

Luc Perramond, ceo of La Montre Hermès, said the French luxury brand was pursuing in-store shop formats or stand-alone Hermès watch and jewelry stores in China. The first stand-alone store opened in Beijing in January 2009, with similar stores following in Taipei and Shanghai.

About 10 other units are planned for key cities, includ-ing London, New York, Dubai and Moscow. Perramond said he thinks of single-brand stores as “an opportunity to draw the client into the watch or jewelry universe, to

work in-depth with complete collections, and to benefit from appropriate technical advice because the staff will be specialized. All of this takes place within an environ-ment that is fully controlled by the brand.”

That said, wholesale does have its place with Hermès. “We can’t replace [multibrand retailers] who are local experts,” he said. “However, we can comple-ment their distribution through single-brand, single-product stores.”

even with the trend toward opening branded stores and pruning wholesale accounts, the future appears to be bright for the multibrand channels.

Laidlaw of Jura Watches said, “When a brand opens a boutique, it does not mean that another store closes. In a high-traffic area, the multibrand stores tend to increase their sales because of the branding impact of the new unit. New openings drive demand.”

Laidlaw believes there is enough business out there for everyone.

“It’s not commercially viable for smaller, niche brands to open their own stores, so they need multi-brand retailers to bring footfall and an established customer base,” he said. “And there is no shortage of small watch brands available.”

Not all big brands are going full throttle with their retail rollouts. Some said they are reliant on their re-lationships with wholesale channels, especially in par-ticular markets.

“I think we even have a stronger partnership with American retailers than we had before the crisis be-cause we decided that we needed to reinforce our sup-port for them when times were difficult,” said Philippe Pascal, president of the watch and jewelry division at LvMH Moët Hennessy Louis vuitton.

Watch brands belonging to LvMH include Tag Heuer, Hublot, Zenith and Chaumet. This month, LvMH doubled the size of its watch and jewelry divi-sion with the $6 billion acquisition of Bulgari.

Pascal said in the u.S., LvMH will continue to nur-ture its partnerships with the top multibrand retailers, as well as opening a few stand-alone stores “where we think it makes sense both in terms of economics and image.” A Tag Heuer store is in the works in Las vegas, and Hublot units have recently opened on Madison Avenue in New York and in Bal Harbor, Fla.

ToyWatch, the midmarket Italian brand known for its brightly colored plastic watches, is playing the re-tail and wholesale game with vigor.

“We’re in expansion mode and we’ll continue to support both distribution channels,” said riccardo Ciprian, sales development manager.

The brand, which began selling through fashion stores such as gio Moretti in Milan, expanded distri-bution to watch and jewelry retailers, and eventually began opening its own stand-alone units. Today, it has 30 stand-alone stores in major cities and resorts, and 1,600 wholesale distributors worldwide.

“We’re about affordable luxury and innovation, and we choose our outlets carefully,” Ciprian said. “It would be crazy for us not to be in stores like Selfridges or Harrods.”

running counter to both trends is georg Jensen, which currently sells the bulk of its watches through its name brand stores, but plans to ramp up wholesale distribution. About 85 percent of watch sales come from the georg Jensen stores, with the remainder com-ing from wholesale outlets.

“Over the next three to five years, we’d like sales to be 70 percent wholesale and 30 percent retail,” said ceo ulrik garde Due, adding that distribution would be highly selective.

— With contributions from J.D.

6 WWDSECTION III thursday, march 24, 2011

Piaget strikes a balance

between retail and wholesale

distribution.

Piaget strikes a balance

between retail and wholesale

distribution.

’’

’’

When a boutique opens you cannot imagine the enormous

impact it has on brand recognition.

— Angelo BonAti, PAneRAi

Jura is a multibrand watch retailer.

PHOT

O BY

TIM

JEN

KINS

7WWDSECTION III THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2011

By Joelle DiDerich

PAriS — For the launch of the latest ver-sion of its cult J12 watch, chanel built an elaborate set in the basement of the Palais de Tokyo contemporary art muse-um that conjured Stanley Kubrick’s film masterpiece “2001: A Space odyssey.”

After passing through a dark corridor, visitors emerged onto a pristine white circular space dotted with 12 doors, each the gateway to a room featuring installa-tions including a giant white pendulum and a fascinating ferrofluid sculpture by Japanese artist Sachiko Kodama.

it was reminiscent of the mythi-cal black monolith in “2001,” and almost as mysterious. As for the J12 chromatic, chanel is billing the watch as the most important development for its top pillar since it was launched in 2000 and spent four years devel-oping a ceramic compound mixture containing titanium. Dubbed titanium ceramic, the material is nearly as scratch-resistant as sapphire, giving it the light-reflecting qualities of steel but without the wear and tear usually associated with metallic watches.

“it is a living material with one great advantage, which is that, depending on the hour of day, depending on the light, it veers lighter, darker or more chrome-colored,” said Nicolas Beau, interna-tional director of watches at chanel.

“But a new material is perfectly use-less if it doesn’t bring something new in terms of comfort or aesthetics.”

Beau noted that, in addition to being durable, titanium ceramic adapts to the wearer’s body temperature, making it eminently comfortable on the wrist. The downside is that working with the material can be difficult.

“once the watch is polished, how-ever, its luminosity and brilliance

never fade,” Beau explained. “The word ‘timeless’ really has a meaning in this case. it’s not just a concept; it really is physically timeless.”

come June, seven versions of the J12 chromatic will go on sale alongside the brand’s iconic black and white versions,

the brainchildren of chanel’s late artis-tic director Jacques helleu, which have been credited with popularizing the use of ceramic in watch manufacturing.

“i think we are the house that transformed ceramic into a precious material,” said Beau.

The J12 chromatic comes in three sizes — 33 mm, 38 mm and 41 mm — priced $5,200 to $5,800. Four addi-tional versions, in 33 mm and 38 mm, feature bezels set with either round or baguette-cut diamonds, with matching diamond hour indicators, retailing for $11,600 to $50,000.

Beau said the idea was to start with a pared-down assortment, which will be gradually built on to add to the pil-lar’s 50 references. Titanium ceramic will also feed through into chanel’s high jewelry collections. it’s part of the house’s strategy of creating products designed to withstand the test of time.

“Some years, people tell us: ‘You don’t do enough launches.’ We do, but at our pace. There is no point launch-ing products if they don’t add any-thing,” said Beau. “it’s almost an act of faith to buy a watch that costs 10,000 euros or 5,000 euros. it’s something you buy for the duration, that brings you pleasure, that you desire. it has to be creative and to have a little substance.”

Beau hopes the approach will also reap dividends in cementing chanel’s credibility in the world of watchmak-

ing, a category it entered 24 years ago with the launch of the Première.

its haute horlogerie division is based in the watchmaking cradle of la chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland, and Beau bristles at the notion that some still consider the company a maker of “fashion” watches.

“it’s up to us to show them that we are in it for the long run, that we are serious and that we bring things to the market,” he said.

Chanel Goes Chromatic With J12

Chanel J12 Chromatic

38 mm with diamond-set bezel.

’’

’’

A new material is perfectly useless if it doesn’t bring

something new in terms of comfort or

aesthetics.— NICOLAS BEAU, CHANEL

A solar panel combined with a large-capacity rechargeable battery enables these impressive

solar timepieces to run smoothly underany light with no battery replacement.

S O L A R P O W E R E DS O L A R P O W E R E D

Multi-Band Technology receives time calibration signals automatically from several transmitters

around the world. This technology adjustsfor Leap Year and Daylight Saving Time.

AT O M I C T I M E K E E P I N GAT O M I C T I M E K E E P I N G

Japan

JapanNorth America

United Kingdom

GermanyChina

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