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 An Opus XIII crammed full of hands

One example where the dialogue seems to have been a bit lacking is the extraordinary Opus XIII by Harry Winston. Extraordinary because of its display that is unlike any other. Conceived by the independent watchmaker Ludovic Ballouard, who continues his personal research with this piece (remember the astonishing Upside Down, with its reversed hour markers, apart from the one that indicated the exact time), the main characteristic of the Opus XIII is that it has 59 minute hands and 11 hour hands, which undoubtedly makes it the watch with the most hands ever in the entire history of watchmaking.

OPUS XIII by Harry Winston

Without going into all the technical details of this piece, which consists of 660 components and 242 jewels, let us just say that the 59 minute hands are placed all around the circle of the watch, each fifth hand painted red to create a minute track that consists of hands, which is driven by an outer ring.
For any given minute, the hand in question is raised by an angle of 41°. The minute hands are thus raised one after the other, remaining in this position until the hour passes. At this point, an extraordinary ballet starts: a second ring with a grooved contour lowers all 59 hands simultaneously. This complex mechanism is activated by the centre wheel using a lever with two palletts, each releasing or blocking the minute ring, and powered by an independent barrel. The other barrel powers the traditional escapement. The hours are indicated by fine triangles which, thanks to a 180° rotation carried out by an external ring operating in 60-minute intervals, appear and disappear under a central dome of smoked, facetted crystal. This is where the problem lies and we wonder whether the dialogue between the watchmaker and the brand’s designers came to an abrupt end. Because, unfortunately, this exceptional watch, which required total mastery of the dimensions, encumbrance and play of each component by the watchmaker (one of the major difficulties being that of setting so many jewels side by side without altering the shape of the material), is illegible! Not so much for the minutes but for the hours. It’s not the watchmaker’s fault but more likely that of the choice of design, which preferred shades so dark that they subdue any clarity of vision. It’s a shame, because legibility is and remains, above and beyond these accomplishments, one of the cardinal values in high-end watchmaking.

PREMIER FEATHERS by Harry Winston

This is something that Harry Winston demonstrates with an entirely different piece, much more decorative to be sure but a resounding success none the less: the Premier Feathers, the result of a collaboration with Nelly Saunier, a master craftswoman in feather work, who has produced a marquetry of blue, azure, turquoise and sapphire feathers encased simply in a white-gold case set with 66 diamonds. Here, the dialogue was perfect.

 Dialogues between cultures

But the dialogue does not just take place between watchmaker and designer. It also weighs heavily between those who invest in a brand and those who run it. On the opening day of BaselWorld, one announcement quickly made the rounds: “Corum has been bought by the Chinese!” By China Haidian, to be precise, which owns the brands Ebohr and Rossini in China.

TI-BRIDGE AUTOMATIC DUAL WINDER by Corum

Everybody knew that Corum was up for sale, since the Séverin Wunderman foundation never intended to keep it. But the fact that it was the Chinese who acquired the brand surprised many in the Swiss watchmaking community, since all such “transplants” have been rejected so far.
Will Corum be the exception? The purchase of Eterna and the Porsche Design licence nearly two years ago by the same China Haidian group, after its failed attempt to launch a Swiss brand under the name Codex, suggests not. Eterna was not even present at BaselWorld and its boss, Patrick Kury, was recently fired.

“The rules of the game are compatible with and shared by the two cultures.”

But this does not take into account the key man at Corum, its CEO (and individual minority shareholder) Antonio Calce, who, in just a few years, has successfully turned the brand around. It was this clarification of the product range that directly contributed to the success of the CHF 86 million deal. Assuring us that “relations with China Haidian, and in particularly the direct relationship of trust with the majority shareholder in the group, Kwok Lung Hon, are better than excellent,” Antonio Calce, who remains in charge of the brand (and will probably be appointed head of Eterna as well) is perfectly reassuring. When quizzed about the great cultural difference between Switzerland and China, he stresses that “the rules of the game we have drawn up are compatible with and shared by the two cultures.” Corum offers China Haidian a gateway to the Swiss high end, where the group aims to become active. China Haidian, well respected by the Chinese authorities, offers Corum considerable potential for development in China, where the brand already has a favourable reputation. A win-win transaction, then? Only time will tell. Just as the sophistication of the Chinese consumer towards luxury has increased in recent years, we can expect the same of a well-informed entrepreneur such as Mr Hon. And it would be bad form for the Swiss to accuse the Chinese of taking one of the jewels from their crown: Isn’t Richemont in South-African hands? And aren’t LVMH and Kering (ex-PPR) in the hands of the French?

 Dialogue between father and son

It wasn’t the Chinese but Georges-Henri Meylan, a “hard line” Swiss, a Combier (the name given to those who hail from the famous Vallée de Joux), who took over H. Moser & Cie. The Swiss watchmaking fibres were no doubt essential in this particular case for helping to turn around this very subtle brand characterised by understatement.
The former CEO of Audemars Piguet, one of the leading names in high-end watchmaking, handed over operational responsibility for the brand to his own son, Edouard Meylan, who has already cut his teeth in the luxury segment with a front-row seat in the pioneering high-end watchmaking telephone adventure of Celsius. But Moser boxes at a different weight, where competitors have been around for some time, whether they are called Patek Philippe or Vacheron Constantin, even if Moser is still far behind in terms of volume (1,023 units in 2013, 1,800 expected in 2014). “At first I thought I needed to take my time to avoid breaking anything,” the young manager told us. “I needed to feel the essence of the brand, to identify its strengths and weaknesses, to determine its pillars.” But one of the essential characteristics of H. Moser & Cie is that it is also a micro-manufacture that is entirely vertically integrated, today producing six different superb manufacture movements, including springs (produced by Precision Engineering, which is part of the group). So the industrial processes also had to be examined.
“We looked at all levels in depth. One example: by looking at the individual processes we managed to reduce the assembly time for our perpetual calendar by 50 per cent! We have reduced the number of references from 41 to 28, including the new releases, by working on the consistency and coherence of the range. At the same time, we have opened up 30 new prestige points of sale,” trumpets Edouard Meylan.
His youth, which contrasts with the classicism of Moser’s range, seems to be an advantage in this case. Not only does it bring a welcome touch of freshness (keeping things in proportion, the renewal achieved by Jérôme Lambert when he arrived at Jaeger-LeCoultre springs to mind) but it also gives the team of 50 people the welcome spirit of a start-up, whose main pillars have been confirmed in their place. “We are currently very active in the markets, we have redesigned all our communication, set up a new marketing team to breathe new life into the brand and we are not afraid of taking risks. We are entrepreneurs, as are most of our business partners, who are also from entrepreneurial families.” A symbol of this new-found “freshness”: a green apple offered to every visitor. So, apple in hand, let’s move on.