The Rise, Fall, Rise, Fall, Rise and Fall Again of Daniel Jean Richard

Or is that Jean Richard, no wait - JEANRICHARD!  Like many out there, I continue to scratch my head when it comes to the strategy cooked up by the (former) twin houses of the Sowind Group.  Unsubstantiated reports are that on the first day of this year's BaselWorld there were one or two boxes of JEANRICHARD watches, and that edicts were issued from far up the food chain, and those same boxes disappeared overnight and were never spoken of again.  A lot has changed in just over three years.

Looking back, there was about a 14 month period where JEANRICHARD was an exciting, vibrant, engaging brand.  Great products for the money.  And it finally made sense.  A modular case that could be used for three different models - diver, chronograph, standard (or aqua, aero, terra).  It was scalable.

But as is often the case with JEANRICHARD (and if we're being fair, Girard-Perregaux), somebody got the fidgets.  They just couldn't sit still.  "We need gold pieces!  Oh, and manufacture movements!  Oh, and we need BIG TIME celebrities and partnerships that everyone will identify with - like... a circus performer, no, wait!  Tightrope walker!  Yeah!"  And my suspicion is that marketing pitches for these partnerships might possibly have been accompanied with some lubrication from the absinthe family, because some of them made no sense at all.  The Arsenal Football Club partnership was perhaps the one big-time opportunity. This was on a par with a Biver-esqe, take no prisoners and make no apologies partnership.  And in the beginning it was lauded as a triumph, but about a year later it would amount to Arsenal branded JEANRICHARDs being dumped into the grey market, along with every other limited series that had been produced.  Thus underscoring that, in fact, there was virtually no limit to the number of limited editions!

Things groaned, sputtered and began to grind.  Top management left.  Two years after their triumphant debut at BaselWorld, what had been an equal presence for Girard-Perregaux and JEANRICHARD had been halved to simply a Girard-Perregaux booth with a broom closet sized room for JEANRICHARD to attempt to show watches, and maybe sell something.  It literally resembled the stock room of a Wall Mart where all of the damaged/returned products get dumped.  It was sad to say the least.  But there was one more card to play, and that was to totally remove JEANRICHARD from the booth this year.  Budget concerns were cited.
But just as cutting off the food and oxygen supply will kill life, cutting of marketing, sales, etc. will kill a brand.

It would, seemingly, make more sense to simply try to sell-off JEANRICHARD or to close it down completely, rip off the band aid and move on.  But perhaps the answer is in between these two spaces - a bit of a dormancy like Wonka's factory.  Nobody goes in, nobody goes out.  Hopefully one fine spring day a few years from now, a dynamic, charismatic character will fling open the doors to the factory welcoming all who have a golden ticket and the sky will be the limit!

Yeah, I don't see that happening either...

Giving Stuff Away

I would like to quote  Ian Charleson from one of his memorable moments portraying the great Scottish runner and rugby player Eric Liddell in Chariots of Fire.  And I will need to paraphrase here as unfortunately the quote was not recorded for posterity on IMDB and it was many years ago, but here goes:

One of the great consolations of being famous, if only as a rugby player, is occasionally you get asked to come and give things away!

This was from a scene in the film where he was attending an event (not unlike today's highland games) and awarding prizes to the young boys who ran in a race.  

In many ways, BaselWorld each year is an opportunity for me to have that feeling for myself and Carlo and Samuel Naldi.  Each year, we present the Writing Wrongs Award to a watch brand, or someone working in the industry working to solve seemingly unsolvable problems.  This year, Nomos was recognized for their work with Doctors Without Borders.

I have to be honest.  For a few moments this past year I thought, you know, enough. Nobody cares.  What's the point?  Stop pushing.

And then I realized that maybe more people care than I realized. 

Yes, this is a call to action.  

This is not a request, but a demand that the brands stop talking and start doing!

So - for those of you who think maybe I've mellowed and am just going to sit on the sidelines from here on out (yes, that means you Jean-Claude Biver), guess again!  

Do some good, write some wrongs!  I will be very happy to shake your hand next year.

A New Tetra from Nomos

This is the Tetra Nematik. It was, without a doubt, one of my favorite offerings at BaselWorld this year.

Courtesy of Nomos

One of my favorite aspects, and very sorry to be so attached to the physical, is the playful use of color  on the outer edges of the dial with the 5 minute/second increments

What's Cool at BaselWorld - Sarpaneva

Sometimes pictures speak a whole lot louder than mere words, and when it comes to the work of Stepan Sarpaneva this is indeed the case!

This was just a little something he pulled together to have a special watch for BaselWorld.  The feedback has been pretty resounding, so something like this little "psychotic" bijoux might find an even bigger audience.

Every time I think Mr. Sarpaneva has hit the top of his game, he always manages to find that extra gear to give us something even better!

More details on this special piece to follow, stay tuned!

The Swag Bag

BaselWorld is a treasure trove for swag.  It is no small secret that the lobby of the Ramada becomes a swap-meet of truly epic proportions between the hours of 6 and 7 PM.  And the quality of the swag can either be very good, or very disappointing.   Sorry to be so blunt, so crass, but consider that those of us who spend our own money and vacation days to write about these things tend to view the "swag bag" almost like a combination of our birthdays and Christmas mornings.  And this year was no exception!  Beautiful neckties, pocket squares, pens (fountain and ball point), and perhaps the most extravagant thing - the wireless headphones from Hublot.  Needless to say, this year I reaped the penalty for not smooching a certain backside, but I figure if I have a choice between "kissing the Biver ring" and buying my own headphones, I will visit Radio Shack ; )

One night last week as we were comparing the bounty of our visits to Halls 1, 2 and the Palace (not unlike a bunch of kids haggling over our trick or treat bags) I noticed an interesting phenomenon.  There was nary a trace of catalogs or books.  For those of you out there not familiar with the process of the BaselWorld brand visit, it tends to go like this:

1.  You show up for your appointment - either solo or in a group.
2.  You listen to the pitch, admire the watches, take some photos, propose story ideas, try to sell some advertising.
3.  You receive a thank you, possibly the "triple kiss", and the BAG!

Now it's important to know and appreciate what is generally in the bag -
A.  Chocolate is a popular item
B.  Moleskin notebooks (if not Moleskin, generally something of a similar quality).
C.  Scarves - the woolen type was quite popular in 2015, but nowhere to be found this year.
D.  Neckties, pocket squares, cuff links.  That of course is for the fellas.  I am not entirely certain what shows up in the women's version.
E.  Liquor - and this year a lovely bottle of wine.
F.  CATALOGS, FACT SHEETS, LOOK BOOKS.

If you've read this far, I am sure you know what happens to item F.
As we used to say in Japan -

gomi desu!

Per Urban Dictionary 

Japanese noun: means rubbish or trash

The catalogs, fact sheets, booklets?  Almost all go into the garbage.  This usually happens once you have departed the booth and reached a reasonable distance so that you can jettison the unwanted, unneeded catalogs and brochures with some modicum of discretion.  You have to keep in mind that you will be visiting up to 10 booths per day, and it is highly unlikely you will be able to lug (comfortably) all of that ballast around with you.  So for better or worse, you cherry-pick the stuff you want to keep, and you dump all of the printed materials.  

A colleague of mine did a survey and although the data could best be described as anecdotal, what he found was that the amount of discarded catalogs was so extreme that the hotels catering to BaselWorld traffic needed to bring in extra dumpsters to haul the excess garbage away at the end of BaselWeek.  Now if you took all of the printed materials that get thrown away outside of the hotels it would probably be enough paper wasted to "reforest" a deforested portion of prime land.

So here's my crazy idea -

Brand CEOs, managers, pr /marketing managers -

PLEASE don't produce catalogs, brochures, etc. for BaselWorld.  Almost everything is digital these days, and it is safe to assume that almost nobody attending the fair will want to carry 20 or more pounds of catalogs back with them.  Make a PDF catalog or brochure.  As the journalist or retail partner is leaving the booth, you simply ask them for a good email address to send a link to an online catalog that would also include images and fact sheets - all of them digital.  You type the email address into your smart phone, iPad or laptop and hit send.  They will then have everything they want/need already in their inbox before they step out of your booth.  

Now I know what some of you guys and gals working for the big brands are thinking - we have to spend our entire budget, or else our department will get less money for next year!  No problem! Consult your previous year's budget for what you spent on printed material that inevitably got thrown away, and donate it to your brand's favorite charity!  No, I am not kidding.  Think of what a positive, amazing message that would be, along with all of the positive buzz you would receive for not wasting money WHILE doing something positive for others?  

And if you must spend money on swag for the press, I know a certain fellow in the Metro Boston area who could use a new pair of wireless headphones...

Something Alarming from Eterna

One of the unexpected treats at this year's BaselWorld was this little timekeeper -

The good folks at Eterna told me that they had stumbled upon a cache of "virgin" A. Schild alarm movements that they, in turn, decided to craft into a limited number of alarm watches.

More details to come, but this should keep you buzzing for now ; )

The Tudor at BaselWorld You Probably Didn't Hear About

The Tudor Heritage Black Bay 36 mm -

While all of the other folks are gushing about the other, bigger Black Bays (Bronze and Dark) this year, this "little" 36 mm is the one that caught my attention.

Courtesy of Tudor

While I might be the only one in the crowd who was drawn to this little bijoux, my devotion remains unshakable.  There is a reason why thousands of vintage Rolex and Tudor fans scour the Internet in search of watches JUST LIKE THIS ONE!  And Tudor is wise enough, and brave enough to make a 36 mm watch for men.  

Now I realize that all of the "big swinging dicks" out there say 42 mm or bust, but myself I don't have the same anxieties about size and the need to compensate... but hey, that's just me ; )

So here are the pertinents -

• CASE
  Steel, 36 mm, polished and satin finish
• BEZEL
  Smooth steel bezel, polished finish
• MOVEMENT
  Self-winding mechanical movement, TUDOR calibre 2824
• POWER RESERVE
  Approximately 38 hours
• WINDING CROWN
  Screw-down steel winding crown adorned with an engraved TUDOR rose in relief, with black anodized 
  aluminum tube
  
  
  • DIAL
    Black
  • CRYSTAL
    Flat sapphire crystal
  • WATERPROOFNESS
    Waterproof to 150 m (500 ft)
  • BRACELET
    Steel bracelet or aged leather strap with folding clasp and safety catch
    
    Additional camouflage fabric strap with buckle included in the box

Sébastien Perret wins the Mido Watch Design Contest

Here's the scoop, straight from Mido -

Courtesy of Mido

Designer Sébastien Perret’s proposal has been chosen for the new Mido timepiece inspired by Big Ben. He rose magnificently to the watch challenge set by Mido last March, when three designers were invited by the brand to create a new limited-edition timepiece inspired by London’s famous four-sided clock tower. Sébastien Perret was rewarded for his efforts on 15 October 2015 at a grand ceremony held at the Swatch Art Peace Hotel in Shanghai. This new Mido watch will be released as a limited edition of 500 pieces and presented at Baselworld 2016.

Courtesy of Mido

Squaring the circle

To tackle the challenge, Sébastien Perret started by closely observing London’s famous monument, then taking a step back. The founder of design agency Etude de Style (based in Neuchâtel, Switzerland) was primarily struck by the imposing, monolithic and slender silhouette of the Westminster clock tower. As you draw closer, an infinite array of details reveal themselves in successive stages. Full and fine features, the shadows of orifices, and the light of the clock face are laid bare in a circular vision of time contained within a square. The watch designed by Sébastien Perret is every bit as magnificent as London’s clock tower. The designer streamlined the neo-Gothic style of the monument, managing to square the circle by revealing the former within the latter. This was the challenge he set himself in order to stay true to Mido’s identity.

Courtesy of Mido

The Mido Watch Design Contest

Mido officially launched its Watch Design Contest on 20 March 2015 at the Baselworld international watch and jewellery show in Basel. Three designers were invited by the brand to create a new limited-edition timepiece inspired by London’s famous four-sided clock tower. In late April, the names of the three chosen candidates – Swiss architect and designer Eric Giroud, Italian founder and artistic director of Ultravision Design Studio Lorenzo Vallone, and Sébastien Perret – were published on the website http://contest.mido.ch. The three proposals were presented on 30^th July and the general public were invited to vote for their favourite model on the contest website until 30^th September. The Mido Watch Design Contest’s panel of judges was made up of Esa Mohamed, President of the International Union of Architects, Franz Linder, President of Mido, and, of course, the general public.

The winning designer was announced by president of the jury Esa Mohamed on 15^th October in Shanghai at the international ceremony held at the Swatch Art Peace Hotel.

Courtesy of Mido

Almost 100,000 participants

The public vote was a resounding success, attracting fans of the brand as well as watchmaking and architecture enthusiasts from around the world. In total, almost 100,000 people from nearly 100 countries helped choose the winner.