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With the times
His deep passion for mechanics started with motorbikes and boats and evolved into something more sophisticated. Suchitra Bajpai Chaudhary meets Clement Brunet-Moret, the CEO of Swiss watch brand Favre Leuba
- By Suchitra Bajpai Chaudhary, Senior Feature Writer
- Published: 23:40 December 11, 2008
- Clément Brunet-Moret, the CEO of Swiss watch brand Favre Leuba, inherits his penchant for adventure and risk from his famous family.
- Image Credit: Christopher List/ANM
His deep passion for mechanics started with motorbikes and boats and evolved into something more sophisticated. Suchitra Bajpai Chaudhary meets.
Clément Brunet-Moret, the CEO of Swiss watch brand Favre Leuba, inherits his penchant for adventure and risk from his famous family.
His great-grandfather Clement and grandfather Jean were famous bankers; his father, Joel, a high profile industrialist; his mother, Helen, a cosmetologist; his maternal grandmother, Lyne Fiere Cobiere, a well-known poetess of her time. But it was his great-grandmother's feisty spirit that pervaded the family.
There is an interesting story to my surname, he says. "My great- grandmother, Yvonne D'Orjeix, first married Brunet, a casino owner who soon ran out of money. So in her characteristic style, she announced she was going to marry someone who wouldn't run out of money.
So she married my great- grandfather, Clement Moret, who was the governor of the Central Bank of France.
That is how I got both the surnames.
"One of her most famous photographs taken in 1936 shows her standing next to her Rolls-Royce telling industrial workers to get back to work during a lock-out. She was a determined, enthusiastic woman with a zest for life. I inherited these characteristics from her."
These traits are evident in the manner in which this young CEO has reclaimed a pride of place for Favre Leuba, a brand that has existed for almost three centuries.
Last month, Favre Leuba arrived in the UAE with the launch of its latest models in collaboration with Damas. The range here is a tribute to the brand's excellence in watchmaking.
Brunet-Moret was in Dubai for the launch. He spoke to Friday about his life and times. He used to live in Hong Kong before relocating to the heart of the timekeeping world at Basel, Switzerland with Amy, his wife and two daughters Marianne and Victoria.
His lifestyle matches the history of Favre Leuba in strength, stamina and class as he jet-sets around the world launching new watches and makes time for the classic high adrenalin hobby – sailing.
I
I've always cared for the small pleasures of life. This found expression in my early devotion to the sea and adventures on my motorbike. It also explains my love for professional sailing and the mechanical world of clocks and watches.
As children we spent most of our weekends and vacations at our holiday home in Noirmoutier, a picturesque island off the Atlantic coast in western France. We often drove there. We boisterous six cousins played on the beach all day, sailed, climbed mountains and went fishing with my grandfather. We would wake up to the sound of the waves and sleep to it.
We often rode mini motorcycles, exploring the streets of Paris. Every time, we would discover something new. Our small vintage motorcycles were our Harley-Davidsons and my friends and I would spend a lot of time tinkering with the engine, fixing a technical snag, replacing an auto part.
On one occasion I took my bike apart, every nut and bolt, and put it back together. I immensely loved the mechanical challenge.
I am passionate about passion. About uniqueness, meeting new people. Both my sport and my job bring me the pleasure of competition.
My love for sailing spurs my competitive and team spirit. Minutes before the start, I love the whole sequence to the countdown when they announce, four minutes to go, three, two, one and then go. And that is followed by the excitement of racing ahead, pushing others out. At the
end of the race there is a sense of achievement that is so intense and
so different to anything else.
Professional sailing also taught me the best crisis management techniques. When you are facing a storm, it is important to work as a team, stay calm and literally steer out of the storm. I have had so many close calls.
I recall at 14, we went out sailing on the sea near Noirmoutier and we lost the mast. It was a distressing moment, but we managed to reach the shore. Another time during the China Coast Cup Event, which lasts for about a week, we got out our boat in warm and clear weather.
As we pulled out of the Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong, the skies were overcast. It began to rain heavily and the wind inside the harbour went up to 65 knots. Our boat capsized and the skin from my legs peeled off. It was so intense that it brought all our survival skills to the fore, but not for a moment were any of us frightened. We didn't panic and followed procedures. I think sailing brought out the best in me.
I fell in love with my wife at a sailing event. Amy is a sailor too and when I looked at her, I thought to myself,
"I wish I could spend the rest of my life with his woman." And here I am doing exactly what I thought. Amy is Chinese-American, born in Shanghai. She grew up in Vancouver and San Diego.
I am crazy about my family with our daughters Marianne, two-and-a-half-years, and Victoria, 10 months old. Amy and I decided we wanted them to have the best European upbringing and therefore moved from Hong Kong to Switzerland.
I believe in destiny, friendship and loyalty. I think your life is what you make of it. But it is friendship and loyalty to an idea or person that helps you fulfil your destiny. I have a handful of close friends who mean the world to me. In Dubai I have a close friend Omar; when I visit I prefer staying at his apartment. We used to share an apartment in Hong Kong where we would discuss all kinds of subjects through the night.
I treasure time that I am able to get for myself. I'm in the business of orchestrating time. So it is important to earmark time for yourself and your family. I try to make time for things that are important to me. For instance, on a recent business trip to Milan, I insisted on taking my family along so that we could spend time together.
I laugh about how seriously we think about ourselves. People are getting so self-centred and try to purchase the biggest and the best commodities for themselves. Honestly I don't think anyone can love a very expensive car from the bottom of his or her heart. I think the current economic crisis has happened because a handful of people were so greedy.
I'm impressed by people who are so powerful, yet humble. They are the ones we need to learn from.
I admire courage and creativity. Sometimes when you have faith in people, they give their best and often do more than is expected of them. That touches me.
I am a realist and I work on a basic code of ethics at work. That is to be straightforward and loyal. I have always held a very realistic view and prefer to keep my feet planted firmly on the ground. Even before the current recession hit the market I was mentally prepared for it. There were people who were overtly optimistic and didn't believe that things could go bad. The recession is stronger than we could have foreseen. But we were prepared and because our company is niche and historical, it was possible to handle the situation with the right foresight.
Me
Me and the sea
The sea is a definite attraction in my life and you can say I am almost addicted to it. It somehow makes me feel one with the elements of nature. When I step out of my corporate
world into the world of the ocean I
see who I really am.
Me and my family
People often say you don't choose your family. I think you can choose the relationship you want to have with your family. To me this translates as being there for my family, standing up for them and raising my children well.
Me and the world of watches
It had to happen with my deep abiding passion for mechanics. It started with the motorbike and evolved into something more sophisticated, microcosmic and elegant – watches.
(I was 16 when I got my first
Breitling watch.)
Me and my love for boats
The manner in which I got my first job is also linked to my sailing passion. As a student, I had a number of vintage boats and was into boat renovation. I discovered this elegant old boat in the north of France – a 1928 beauty. I wanted to renovate it and start a restaurant.
My idea appealed to Alain Dominic Perrin, the chairman of Cartier, who was a family friend. I got a call from his secretary when I was at the university and at the meeting I presented my business plan. He loved the idea and we purchased and restored the boat.
Later when I finished my studies he called me as an intern to Cartier. He offered me a job in the Cartier pens and lighters department as a market research assistant. I spent ten years there and joined Favre Leuba because I really wanted to do something where I could make a difference.
I met the owner of Favre Leuba through sailing too. We are rebuilding the brand that has high values. We have 27 high-end models and are constantly working to expand that. Wearing a Favre Leuba is like wearing a vintage car on your wrist.
Myself
What do you think of time as the defining metaphor of life?
Keeping time, watching it change, chronicling it are all part of the complex metaphor. This pursuit of the quintessence of time is reflected in the watch-making industry that struggles to discover the ultimate time pieces, watch design, quality and that quest is what keeps me motivated. Did you know that there were about 3,000 complex operations to making one watch? It is this challenge and search for excellence that bears testimony to the competitive times we live in.
Why did you choose Dubai now to launch
Favre Leuba?
I find in Dubai everything that stands for the spirit behind the manufacturing of a Favre Leuba watch. There is
this great attention to detailing, craftsmanship and creativity. Dubai is a dynamic destination. We had to come here.
– Suchitra Bajpai Chaudhary is Senior Feature Writer, Friday
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