Bright shine that may be short lived - Financial Times

FINANCIALTIMES SATURDAYSEPTEMBER 11 2010 ★ 7
Ways to make most
of a second identity
Sub­brands
Nicholas Foulkes
on how best to
package sidelines
This year, Francesco Trapani,
CEO of Bulgari
announced that Gerald
Genta and Daniel Roth, the
two haute horlogerie brands
owned by Bulgari, would be
absorbed into the greater
Bulgari watch offer.
Mr Trapani presented the
move as the culmination of
a careful strategy of verticalisation
in which Bulgari
masters all the skills
needed to become a true
watchmaker. His argument
makes sense.
However, the announcement
was controversial,
with watch lovers bemoaning
what they saw as the
disappearance of two small
but interesting brands with
strong individual identities
– although the names will
continue to appear along
with the Bulgari name
where appropriate.
In taking this decision,
Mr Trapani has focused
attention on a strategy that
finds parallels with the
wine trade. Prestigious chateaux
often have second
wines, which, while linked
to the more famous sibling
or parent, also have a distinct
identity.
“In wine, there are different
approaches. There are
chateaux that decide to
launch a second wine, perhaps
to use younger vines
or vinification styles or to
enlarge the clientele and,
with time, some of them
make excellent wines and,
in the case of Mission Haut
Brion, the price has reached
a similar level to Haut
Brion itself,” says Karl Friedrich
Scheufele, who as
well as being co-president of
Chopard is a wine importer.
Mr Scheufele cites Chateau
Faugères, which he
describes as “a very good St
Emilion grand cru”. “They
have Chateau Faugères
cuvée Speciale Peby. It is
not produced every year,
only when the vintage is
good enough – about
12,000 bottles a year as
opposed to Faugères
with 100,000 plus
bottles.”
As chance has it,
the owner of
Faugères is Swiss
and it is the
Faugères approach
that Mr Scheufele
adopted when he
started LUC (Louis Ulysse
Chopard) in the mid 1990s.
What began as a tiny
haute horlogerie R&D opera-
tion employing five people
has grown to employ 150
and turned into what Mr
Scheufele describes as
“almost a second brand
next to Chopard but not a
secondary brand”, making
4,000 to 5,000 watches a year
and spawning a movement
making division.
But while LUC has a distinct
identity from its parent
company, Mr Scheufele
admits that he would not
have been able to create
such a business without the
resources of Chopard.
“What prompted us to do
this was the conviction
that, in order to become a
recognised name in high
watchmaking, we had to
invest in our manufacturing
and make all major
components in house.”
Moreover, since starting
LUC, Mr Scheufele says
that the capacity to produce
movements inhouse has
become an issue of much
greater significance.
“It has brought us numerous
benefits in terms of
technical mastery and a
whole new world of engineering
into our company.
It is like a car factory which
used to import its engines
opening its own engine
plant.”
At about the same time,
Gino Macaluso began to
develop his second brand,
JeanRichard but for completely
different reasons as,
since taking over Girard
Perregaux about 20 years
ago, he has built one of the
most exigent of Swiss manufactures
with a portfolio of
inhouse movements.
What he sought to
explore
with
GeraldGentatimepiece
tobegobbledupbyBulgari
JeanRichard was a different
aesthetic that could make
use of the technical expertise
of his watchmakers in a
way that was a little more
unusual than the classic
design codes of Girard Perregaux
would allow. “It was
very simple I was fascinated
to see if we could use
some skills that are not
totally utilised by Girard
Perregaux.”
“JeanRichard has a different
design language and a
different way of thinking of
the movement. It is a brand
that uses its own movement
designed and produced
inhouse,” alongside the
more complicated movements
made for Girard Perregaux.
As much as being a
brand, he saw JeanRichard
as offering an opportunity
to explore and broaden the
manufacture concept.
But it is the manufacture
concept at its most traditional
that attracted Richemont
when it had the
opportunity to purchase the
venerable Minerva factory
in Villeret. Henry John Belmont,
a consultant who had
previously run Jaeger
LeCoultre, was involved
with the purchase in 2006-
2007 and recalls how this
very traditional operation,
in which everything is done
by hand, was attractive
more for its potential as a
second brand than for the
intrinsic commercial value
of a production of about 20
watches a month.
The three candidates considered
as foster parents,
were Panerai, Cartier or
Montblanc and in the end it
was decided that that Minerva
would come under the
wing of the Hamburg-based
penmaker turned global
luxury brand.
“It is unique in Richemont.
It has no tooling,
instead producing nearly
everything by hand on
demand,” says Mr Belmont,
identifying the defining
characteristics as being a
movement that uses an
extremely large balance
wheel to make movements
of a very low
frequency.
“It is unique
but very
expensive and
there are
very few
brands that
want that.”
Nevertheless
it is
e x a c t l y
those qualities
which
might be
rationally judged
to be utterly uncommercial
that have made it a
perfect ‘second brand’.
Watches&Jewellery
‘Prime colour from which all loveliness arises’
Greenery
Meehna Goldsmith
reports on efforts to
cheer the market up
Pedro Calderon de la
Barca, the 17th century
Spanish poet and playwright,
declared that
“green is the prime colour of the
world, and that from which its
loveliness arises”. Apparently,
the brands agree. Several have
released examples, giving their
rendition of this grassy hue.
You know a colour has hit the
big league when Rolex decides
to use it in its watches. For the
popular Submariner line, the
company released a model with
both the dial and bezel in a rich
green reminiscent of the plant
life a diver might discover on
his adventures under the sea.
Rolex calls this new colour
green gold.
Picking a colour for a watch is
not something that brands do
casually. Many criteria go into
the decision, such as evaluating
fashion trends and looking to
create something different in
the marketplace. Since colours
are associated with particular
images and have been scientifically
proven to evoke certain
feelings, the brands also consider
the connotations of their
choice.
Without a doubt, the turbulence
of the economy over the
past two years has damped the
general mood. Once strong and
thriving companies have shut
their doors, while others have
reduced salaries and staff in
order to survive.
Jean-Claude Biver, the chief
executive of Hublot, says:
Ribbit.ribbit:theHM3Frogwithtwoprotrudingdomesrepresentinghoursandminutes.Brandsaretryingtoshowamorepositiveandvibrantfaceindifficulttimes
“Green is the colour of hope,
and we decided to come out
with this colour in September
2008, as we were at that point
entering the crisis. We wanted
to show our customers that we
were not depressed and that we
would love to take the opportunities
the crisis would bring
rather than to be blocked and
paralysed.”
To represent this bold stance,
Hublot selected the sizzling
sparkle of the tsavorite for the
Big Bang Green Apple Rose
Absorbing brands
was controversial
with watch lovers
who bemoaned
the loss of two
strong identities
Gold, named after the bright
green fruit, and combined it
with a matching strap.
Mr Biver says tsavorite was
chosen as much for its colour as
for its properties. A gemstone of
sensitivity and consciousness, it
encourages self-awareness and
self-empowerment, as well as
possessing healing properties.
Morten Linde, co-founder and
creative director of Linde Werdelin,
chooses colours that keep
the watch case more neutral
while making a bolder state-
ment with colour and details on
the strap. He refers to the limited
edition 3-Timer Green as
“earthy”.
Citing the four basic human
emotions, Mr Linde says green
evokes happiness for him. However,
perhaps most significantly,
the colour also symbolises Mr
Linde’s belief that the watch
industry is sustainable and kind
to the planet. “Introducing earth
colours such as dark brown and
green into our collection very
much links to the Linde Werde-
lin concept and idea that a
mechanical watch is an environmentally-friendly
product,” he
says.
When asked why she chose
the khaki colour for the strap
and dial of the new Malton
Cushion Special Edition line,
Cécile Maye, chief executive of
Marvin Watch C° 1850, replied,
“The colour green? Just because
green is in the air.” She says
that her company likes to introduce
colours in its watches that
will enhance a person’s style.
Ms Maye describes green as “a
very deep colour, reminding me
of the mysterious forest of pine
trees we have around Neuchâtel
in the Jura mountains, where
you can revive yourself when
you need to find peace and
quiet”.
Yet picking a distinct colour
such as green may also limit the
audience because of taste, a season
or time period. Jerome
Pineau, community and social
media manager at Marvin, says
that it is part of the fun
because, in Marvin’s price
range, which is entry-level luxury,
you can easily accessorise
with multiple timepieces.
“I wouldn’t say colour limits a
style,” he says, “but rather
enhances a customer’s ability
quickly to synchronise with the
times and enjoy a more fulfilling
experience that way.”
In contrast to the intellectual
conception taken by most
brands, Max Büsser, founder of
the independent company
MB&F, takes a more visceral
approach. “As in all of our creations,
colour – like shape or
function – stems from a very
artistic, intuitive and personal
creative process,” he says.
“There is rarely any reason to
our creative choices. I more or
less see the piece in my mind
and that is how we try to make
it come to life.”
In the HM3 Frog, two protruding
domes representing hours
and minutes are set into a
shaped case, the overall look
resembling a frog floating in a
pond. As for the rotor, which is
a green PVD over 22K gold, Mr
Büsser says the dark metallic
colour came quite naturally, the
name of the piece taking the
lead here.
For Mr Büsser, green suggests
grass and countryside. He finds
the colour soothing but energising.
“It’s peaceful and mischievous
– just like the frog,” he
says.
In these turbulent times when
consumers might not be feeling
their most optimistic, the
brands have attempted to show
a more positive and vibrant face
with their use of colour. Ms
Maye offers her own perspective:
“I’m not sure my green
would change the trend of the
stock exchange, although I
would like to think so.”