MOVING WITH THE TIMES

It’s been said that what truly makes any timepiece worthy is not just the watch, but the taste and thought that go into designing it for the right customer. And no one understands this better than Daniel Riedo, the CEO of historical Swiss luxury timepiece brand, Jaeger-LeCoultre.

In February, Riedo hopped on a plane from Switzerland to Singapore to open the brand’s second boutique in the island state, followed by a short trip to Malaysia. “My job does require a lot of travelling – not just to visit our markets but to also meet the teams, as well as the collectors and watch aficionados because they can provide a lot of good feedback. This helps me come up with ideas for future collections,” he says. “Travelling to these places is like a piece to a puzzle that helps to create a ‘global picture’, and meeting different people helps inspire ideas.”

This visit is only Riedo’s second to Malaysia. The first took place over a decade ago, for the launch of the brand’s concept boutique at Starhill Gallery, Kuala Lumpur. There are now over 75 Jaeger-LeCoultre boutiques scattered around the globe, with the most recent openings taking place in New York, Singapore and London.

According to Riedo, expanding the brand’s reach begins with securing the perfect location. “The boutique in New York was launched back in December, but it actually took us three years just to find the best location. After extensive research, we boiled it down to two streets – each measuring just a couple of blocks. Anything before or after those blocks would mean missing out on potential customers who are looking to buy timepieces,” he explains. “The key is to always be patient before making any big decision. Seeing that we have been in this industry of counting time for a very long time, we have to ensure that things are done properly.”

Since its founding in 1833 by Antoine LeCoultre, the brand has not only grown from strength to strength, but also remains today as one of the few watch companies able to produce its timepieces entirely within its own workshops. As Riedo explains: “We are a true manufacture, simply because we are able to produce every single element found inside our watches. This can all be seen first-hand at our workshops. And although it’s not open to the public, we still receive anywhere between 3,000 and 4,000 requests for visits per year.“

Riedo also revealed that the manufacture would be restructuring to position itself for a revolutionary way of designing timepieces. “The manufacture currently houses separate workshops for enamellers, engravers and gem-setters. The plan is to place them all together, which will not only improve their working environment, but also allow them to observe each other’s work, which, in turn will help them enhance their craft. I’m confident this will help improve the quality of our future novelties.”

Despite its long history of creating desirable timepieces, Riedo admits there are still opportunities to expand on Jaeger-LeCoultre’s presence in other parts of the world. “The strategy is not just to go into retail, but to also have a good equilibrium between the boutiques, which are the key accounts, and the wholesalers. The last one is especially important; they have been our partners for generations, especially those in Europe. They usually have a good network among the locals, which is something I consider to be truly significant in expanding the brand.”

Another key strategy that Riedo points out involves understanding the mindset of different types of customers. ”Those who visit our monobrand boutiques will already know exactly what they want, so they are usually looking to deepen their brand experience; others might not necessarily have a fixed idea of what they’re looking for, so they would prefer to visit boutiques that offer a good selection of different brands to compare. Of course, we would still prefer that they picked Jaeger-LeCoultre,” he jokes.

As for what the future holds for Jaeger-LeCoultre, Riedo says it has plans to produce entry-level pieces that combine key elements from both the Hybris Mechanica collection and the recently introduced Hybris Artistica collection. In the high-end segment, the goal would be to reduce the size and weight of the watches, but without scaling down the number of complications.

“Based on requests from customers, we feel that now is the time to be a little more understated and that the trend of ‘bigger is better’ is steadily changing. So, the goal is to provide complications but in a more wearable size,” he explains. “The most interesting models we currently have are so thin that they, too, can be considered as complications. This is mainly because we not only have to produce the thinnest components, but we also have to ensure they can function after being assembled. For that to happen, we need to be very, very precise.”

All these and more would be demonstrated following the reveal of the new Reverso models in 2016, which also happens to coincide with the model’s 85th anniversary. “Since it is one of the most iconic pieces found in Jaeger-LeCoultre’s archives, we always make it a point to develop and modify the Reverso every five years or so. It could be things like the size, the content or even the bend of the case

As for next year’s SIHH, we intend to reveal more than 10 novelties, which will include a couple of truly exceptional pieces. This also explains why we only displayed a few novelties for the Reverso this year,” he explains.

“We want to show the world that we are not only technical masters but also ‘magicians’, who can still push the limits in terms of aesthetics and manufacturing high-end movements. Because, once you reach a certain level of watchmaking, you still need to be aspirational. It’s more than just about telling time, but believing in both the dream and the passion of watchmaking.”