A year after taking over the reins of Jaquet Droz, what is your assessment of the situation?
First of all, I feel enormous satisfaction with the adherence of the teams to the new strategy, because without a cohesive team, we cannot move forward. I found an exceptional climate of benevolence within Jaquet Droz, which I owe in large part to my predecessor Christian Lattmann, whom I thank. It is essential to all pull together, as the brand has taken a radical turn. We defined this principle JD 8.0 A Disruptive Legacy with the Hayek family and the Swatch Group. This benevolence was even more necessary in the destabilizing context of the Covid. However, the vast majority of employees have joined the project with enthusiasm, which is observed by visitors to the manufacture who see their pleasure in working at the workbench. In addition, we have an average age of 31 in the workshops, which is young in a factory. This desire is shared by a large part of our distribution partners, for whom the rules of the game are also changing drastically.
The second satisfaction therefore comes from the results of our first actions taken last winter, resulting in an average price of high-end watches (above CHF 100,000.-) up 250% and a doubling of six-figure product sales. This enthusiasm can also be seen in auctions, not only Only Watch but three others in its wake. Jaquet Droz is considered a very high-end exceptional brand, as it was originally almost three centuries ago at the courts of Spain and England or at the Forbidden City in Beijing. . It is at this level that the brand is in the process of repositioning itself.
Alain Delamuraz, CEO Jaquet Droz © Jaquet Droz
Your new slogan evokes the Jaquet Droz 8.0: “A Disruptive Legacy”, what does that consist of?
From 1738 Pierre Jaquet Droz was so pioneering and innovative with his automatons that he was already disruptive for his contemporaries. He was even almost imprisoned because his ability to create objects that sang, wrote or played music earned him the suspicion of making a pact with the devil! I wondered what he would do in our time. Pierre Jaquet Droz was clearly a pioneer. To respect his heritage, it was necessary to shake up conventions, take risks and show the way. To remain a great brand, you have to be followed and not a follower, and therefore break the codes. Our heritage is six-digit and automaton art watches, so we’ve removed anything that didn’t fit into that category. Some brands have an average price of 100,000, our watches start at CHF 150,000.- and will never go below CHF 100,000.-. They are therefore aimed at customers who no longer go to the store, which means closing all our points of sale. We focus our relationship with the end customer, through ambassadors and people, not places, a circle in which the end customer feels comfortable. Our only point of sale becomes our factory, where our customers interact directly with our artists for an almost permanent personalization of the pieces. The 8.0 is a nod to just-in-time Industry 4.0, but our arts and crafts and automatons go far beyond that, hence the 8.0 which also refers to our double dials reproducing the 8 of our heritage. . The questioning naturally extends to the products, but also in the support of our customer and those well beyond the sale of the watch which is only a step located halfway in the relationship.
How ?
I forbade 3 sentences: “we’ve never done it like that”, “we’ve always done it like that”, “it’s not Jaquet Droz”. My trips to the Galapagos gave me a better understanding of Darwin’s theory of evolution, for which the species that survive are not the strongest or the most intelligent, but those that adapt best. Today more than before, you have to be very flexible. Jaquet Droz must not forget its roots, which are illustrated in animal themes, the bucolic or the romantic, but must also question itself and know how to offer, alongside the remaining gold cases, new materials such as sapphire. , but also offer alternatives to black alligator straps such as recycled fishing net or more colorful materials. With an average age of Chinese billionaires of 33, Jaquet Droz must project themselves into a new emotional universe close to their passions. At the same time, we will be particularly vigilant about our eco-responsibility, because it is those who have the means who must set an example.
What objectives are you aiming for in the medium term?
There are several aspects to these objectives, all of which follow our philosophy of JD 8.0 A Disruptive Legacy. Let’s respect the roots of the brand by bringing up to date some of the automatons of yesteryear. With the explosion of digital and virtual, the need for authenticity is growing and it’s almost reassuring to see a creaking automaton. Watch the wondering eyes of children at the circus in front of trained horses! We must protect and perpetuate the know-how of our craftsmen before it disappears. Who else but Jaquet Droz could give work to an artist who assembles dials made from quail eggshell fragments? Jaquet Droz is distinguished by its manufactory on a human scale of around fifty craftsmen, but which is fortunate to have the support of a fantastic group supporting the preservation of heritage and the encouragement of crafts.
Of course, this must remain compatible with the company’s profitability. We are therefore ramping up one-off pieces, eventually aiming for an average price of 400,000.- per watch for a hundred customers in the first year. I want to meet them all personally, before entrusting them to the hands of our artists. Our watches are works of art, whose cases will also be works of art.
Is your Tourbillon Skelet Saphir the new face of Jaquet Droz?
A brand needs strong faces and beautiful values on which to rely to move forward, and this watch is one of the future stumbling blocks for Jaquet Droz. It embodies the basic principle that presided over its creation: when we decide to create a sapphire case, we create super Swiss quality. We are the only ones to design a 100% sapphire case, 100% machined and assembled in La Chaux-De-Fonds, without any screws in the case, magnifying an 8-day tourbillon. These new materials and colors perfectly represent the more contemporary and playful JD 8.0 A Disruptive Legacy. These modern technologies can be combined in a spectacular way with the ancestral techniques of spangles or transparent opal, it is an absolutely unique offer! Naturally we can also respond favorably to customers wishing to maintain a more classic approach, thanks to our configurator.
At the same time, we keep this historic stumbling block that are automatons like our dragon drawn by John Howe, the artist of The Lord of the Rings. The customer can decide on the material of his case, which can be sapphire, gold or titanium, for example. Finally, other collections will follow, already under study, particularly around women.
Tourbillon Skelet Sapphire © Jaquet Droz
What changes does this imply for the manufacture?
It becomes our shop, and we open it even more than before. Customers discover our crafts there, it’s the place where we travel. We have also equipped it with a very elaborate professional video studio with high definition cameras pointed at the drawing board, the workbench and the craftsman, who can thus work remotely with the customer on the progress of his part. . It has an access code, makes an appointment with our craftsmen who devote time to it and personalizes it as if it were physically with them. This customer loyalty also requires a very successful after-sales service. In the customer’s journey, we want to accompany him before, during and after, and with his friends! Nobody remains indifferent to our crafts, but the unboxing ceremony will be sublimated: an experience (optional) will accompany each sale in the universe of each customer’s favorite, at the top of a mountain or on a yacht, but with his three best friends. Marketing is modeled on the customer’s DNA, Jaquet Droz adapts to it.