Dubai: Marc Hayek, chief executive officer of Swiss watchmakers Blancpain, oozes optimism for the future of the Swiss watchmaking industry albeit tempered with caution.
In Dubai for the launch of Blancpain's latest diving watch, the X Fathoms, at the Aquarium at the Dubai Mall yesterday, Hayek stressed that the hard times that gripped the industry during the economic meltdown were over.
"Blancpain," stressed Hayek, was "currently at cruising speed and the aim is to keep it that way and not to do anything stupid."
Product evolution was the key for future success for Blancpain and the X Fathoms is an extension of this line of thinking. In style and substance Blancpain's latest offering — a product of their famous brand of engineering, research and development — revisits the characteristics of its iconic 1953 ancestor, and combines them with a mechanical depth gauge to create the most high-performance mechanical diving watch ever produced.
"This watch was not developed by the brand because we had a client,' said Hayek. "We did it because of a request that came from the diving world who are well aware of our previous watches [part of Blancpain's 50 Fathoms collection]."
Precision
"The diving world needed something which was real for the diver and we didn't make the watch artificially big — it was the smallest that we could make with all the functions. It has come out well and has precision and readability."
Hayek possesses the spirit of entrepreneurship and the values of a sportsman. Winning is everything to him and he transports his achievements and mindset as a GT race driver into his company's DNA.
This has hauled Blancpain into solid ground when the 2007 economic meltdown literally spelt doom for the Swiss watch industry.
"Sure there was a crisis," he admitted. "Different markets were hit harder than others, but a big contributor to this was a sense of panic. We heard about theories, such as there would not be a pick up for the next 20 years but all that has changed today."
"What we have learnt is that in good times there is craziness, whereas long-term strategy pays. We adhered to our plans, which is why we did not lay off any employees during the crisis. We didn't react badly," he said.
"Yes, it was hard but we formed partnerships with our retailers. We shared the problems and decided not to push our products into the market and take payments later because when that happens then our partners only focus on paying off the old debt and do not prepare to make new sales because there is no cash flow for new products," he added.
"We came out stronger because we were selling and the consumers were buying. They will not buy if you don't have a product and this made us react faster in production and verticalisation in production. This is why the strong players in the watch industry came out stronger. True, we did not post pre-2007 results but that was expected."
Survival skills
Hayek's survival skills during this period were not personal to his company alone, they was adopted by the highend Swiss watch companies because, as he admitted: "We may be in competition with other brands, but in the end we are the Swiss watch industry and if you don't work together then you lose the overall reputation in the eyes of the customers."
With normalcy having been restored, Blancpain is currently overrun with orders.
"We cannot follow the demand in production. This year will be a record one for us," he said.
In these good times Hayek is approaching the new markets with a certain amount of prudence. He is aware of the spending power in China and Asia-Pacific, which has thrown up a fresh new batch of high networth individuals, but he prefers not to overreact.
"This area plays a big role in growth not just in our industry, but in any industry. The Chinese market is dominant in luxury products and for me it important to keep a healthy representation of my company but not at the expense of neglecting another region — things could change at any time."
"China, however, is not a bubble," added Hayek.
"It will not go away in one day. They have developed gradually. The growth may reduce at some point but their foundations are solid and the market will consume, no matter what product you bring before it. This means that even if we are on a level which is flatter it is still a good level than most."
Hayek is adamant that Blancpain will continue to chart its course as a high-end watch manufacturer.
Value for money
"At the same time needs are important," he said.
"We will make big investments in technology and development which means that even if the product is small and expensive one can still say that they have got value for money.
"The research always pays back and this helps the consumer to remain realistic on issues like high end and high prices. Which is why we must go full power in the areas we can afford to."
