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Exclusive Interview with Wilhelm Schmid, CEO of A. Lange & Söhne: Satisfied with the Brand Development in the Middle East
What kind of impact does SIHH have on a premium brand such as yours in the Middle East?
The SIHH is the key platform for haute horlogerie where we showcase our coming year’s novelties and a fantastic opportunity to congregate with retail partners, selected media and a key group of connoisseurs. The fair offers a good forum to highlight our performance in fine watchmaking as well as the brand’s innovation and engineering excellence.
What are your expectations at SIHH 2015?
To share the brand direction for the year ahead and present our novelties whilst emphasising on our continuous quest for perfection. It is also a great moment for us to take some time to reflect with our partners on the brands success and future planning.
What are the foreseen trends and directions with watches in 2015?
The market for fine mechanical timepieces is highly diversified, which is only logical since we are catering to an increasingly discerning clientele that regards timepieces as an expression of their personality. In my opinion, fine mechanical watchmaking is marked by two currents: On the one hand, there is a strong trend towards traditional watchmaking and classic design, on the other hand, the race for the most sophisticated complications will go on.
Any particular trend(s) that your brand is keen on in terms of movement and or designs?
Both aspects – the classic and the avant-garde – will be reflected in our upcoming collection.
When would we expect the SIHH novelties to be available at boutiques and POS in the Middle East?
We shall start delivering novelties from the summer onwards, yet it will all depend on the model we are referring to. Due to labour-intensive production and our high standards of quality, complications may take a little longer.
What are your priorities for 2015?
In 2015, we will be celebrating the 200th birthday of Ferdinand Adolph Lange the founding father of our fine watchmaking tradition. In the anniversary year, A. Lange & Söhne will present itself as brand that makes a difference.
What is the percentage of women’s watches introduced compared to the masculine watches introduced? Are there any plans to change the current equation?
As a matter of fact we do not publish sales and production figures. However, 14 out of our 85 references are designed to appeal to the increasing audience of female watch lovers. A. Lange & Söhne has reacted to women’s interest in mechanical watches right from the beginning and will continue to do so.
How is your brand faring in the Middle East?
Middle East markets have been playing an important role for us ever since we opened our first point of sale in the region more than ten years ago. It is not without reason that two of our 14 worldwide boutiques are located in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. GCC countries are characterised by a sophisticated watch culture and offer huge potential for our brand.
Do you propose to open more independent boutiques in the Middle East?
As our production capacity is limited in order to maintain the quality of our handcrafted timepieces it is not our aim to open multiple retail locations but to enhance consumers’ experience of the brand in our key markets. In the near future, there are no plans for further boutique openings in the region.
What are the markets that you plan to focus on in the region to achieve your brands potential?
With our two boutiques and twelve points of sale, we have managed to establish a strong presence in the region’s major shopping conurbations. We will concentrate on retaining and strengthening this position.
Did your export figures increase in the Middle East for 2015?
We are very satisfied with the development of A. Lange & Söhne in the region and expect the positive trend to continue in 2015.
NOVELTIES:
Audemars Piguet Diamond Punk
Audemars Piguet presented Diamond Punk, a stunning haute joaillerie watch that brilliantly reflects the traditions and savoir-faire of the Le Brassus Manufacture. 7,848 snow-set diamonds define the sharp, clean-cut geometrics of a cuff bracelet, which is expertly engineered as a piece unique of 56 dazzling pyramid facets. Beneath a secret sliding cover, the cool beauty of the dial is revealed : set with a further 300 diamonds. Diamond Punk is the result of 1,440 hours of work by these highly skilled designers and makers and is only made possible using traditional methods passed on through centuries of Haute Horlogerie practice.
Lady Arpels Jour Nuit Oiseaux de Paradis
Van Cleef & Arpels has enriched its Poetic Complications collection with two new pieces that fully express the watchmaker’s art and perpetuate the constant renewal of nature. Depicting ladybirds and a bird of paradise, these creations accompany the emotions and moments of happiness bequeathed by the passage of time.In white gold with a bezel set with round diamonds, this 38mm timepiece is fitted with a 24-hour movement that offers an illustration of the Maison’s watchmaking savoir-faire. A technical feat, this automatic movement revolves almost imperceptible in each 24-hour period. The two new models, their dials richly adorned by traditional craftsmen, depict ladybirds and a bird of for each cycle of the sun and moon.
A.Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk Minute Repeater
A. Lange & Söhne presents one mega important watch and this year’s hero piece is arguably the Zeitwerk Minute Repeater, it is unusual because it displays the time digitally. The only thing traditional about it is its case design, with the subsidiary seconds dial and the power reserve indicator at 6 and 12 o’clock respectively. Even the movement, though decorated classically, is a tour de force in haute horology, featuring many innovations including a patented jumping hour mechanism. The movement in the A. Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk Minute Repeater is called the caliber L043.5, manufactured entirely in-house. Like all A. Lange & Söhne watches, the Zeitwerk Minute Repeater has a hand-engraved balance cock. It beats at a relaxed 2.5Hz, has a power reserve of 36 hours, a remontoir mechanism, and features a whopping 771 components.
Cartier Rotonde de Cartier Grande Complication
Cartier Manufacture introduced an exceptional skeleton caliber with some rare technical characteristics. The caliber 9436 MC combines a tourbillon, perpetual calendar, single push-piece chronograph and eight-day power reserve. If it is wound once a week, this movement will indicate the date, day and month with no correction needed until the year 2100. Individually numbered movement comprised of 457 parts. Skeletonizing the movement and decorating it by hand requires almost 200 hours of work by our finest craftsmen, followed by another 200 hours by our master watchmakers for its assembly. As a final touch, the mirror polish added by hand to the tourbillon bridge in the form of a C affirms the Cartier signature.
Parmigiani Bugatti Type 370 Révélation
The Bugatti Type 370 Révélation is styled on the motifs of the Molsheim-built racers of the previous century. The rose gold body uses the lug-to-lug arches astride either side of the case to mimic a leaf-spring suspension while filigreed ‘Grille’ opens and closes over the top of the vertical movement to proudly display the engine beating beneath. The tobacco leather strap is shaped and patterned in a way to immediately remind the wearer of the seat of a vintage race car.
Montblanc Tourbillon Cylindrique Geosphères Vasco da Gama
The Tourbillon Cylindrique Geosphères Vasco da Gama also performs an unconventional horological performance. The 47-mm-diameter case surrounds a three-dimensional dial that positively invites admiring scrutiny. The 281 components that comprise hand-wound tourbillon Calibre MB M68.40 support numerous functions in an unprecedented combination: a triple time zone with local time is displayed in the form of hours and minutes; the continually running and independently adjustable display for the home time is presented on a three-dimensional twelve-hour compass rose at "6 o'Clock"; and a pair of globes depict the World´s 24 time zones in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere, along with the passage of the days and nights. Engraving and miniature painting on these two halved balls indicate in relief the outlines of the continents, their borders and the oceans that separate them.
Cartier Crash Skeleleton Watch Caliber 9618 MC
Created in 1967 in Swinging London, the Crash watch expresses the sparkling, carefree spirit of an era that was all about complete freedom. With its asymmetrical dial, the Crash watch very soon became a collector’s watch, produced in very limited editions. Today, it is not simply the case that Cartier has subjected to radical transformations, but the entire movement which finds itself transformed, “crashed” in order to sit within the concave form of the case. The caliber 9618 MC is not a traditional movement that has simply been modified to adjust to the shape of the case. It was designed from the outset as an openwork movement, conceived by watchmakers to achieve the best effect in terms of arrangement and aesthetics. The result is spectacular. The plates are sculpted and the entire movement has become the watch’s dial. This aesthetic choice firmly places this watch in the world of Fine Watchmaking because the skeletonised movement ranks among the most emblematic complications. Through the transparent case back, the gear trains of the caliber 9618 MC with manual winding can be admired.