{"id":39804,"date":"2022-04-18T22:00:37","date_gmt":"2022-04-18T20:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.horbiter.com\/?p=39804"},"modified":"2022-04-24T09:41:52","modified_gmt":"2022-04-24T07:41:52","slug":"in-conversation-with-matthias-breschan-president-longines-watch-co","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horbiter.com\/en\/in-conversation-with-matthias-breschan-president-longines-watch-co\/","title":{"rendered":"In conversation with Matthias Breschan, President Longines Watch Co."},"content":{"rendered":"

We recently sat down with Matthias Breschan<\/strong> in Greenwich<\/strong> during the new Spirit Zulu Time<\/strong><\/a> collection\u2019s reveal, and we took this chance to ask three questions regarding the product, the present and, most importantly, the future of the Swiss brand.<\/p>\n

Q \u2013 First of all, congratulations on this new product family release. My first question regards the Spirit Zulu Time and the so-called \u201cCollector\u2019s Corner\u201d score that you\u2019re growing alongside the Spirit Zulu Time. Um, I see a brand that is looking forward to connecting more and more with watch connoisseurs; this is something that we discussed this morning. May you please share some more thoughts and insights regarding the Collector\u2019s Corner, and now it goes alongside recent projects like the Zulu Time. Thank you.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"matthias<\/p>\n

A<\/strong> \u2013 It\u2019s two years since I joined Longines<\/strong>, and I think it\u2019s always essential to remind that it\u2019s never the brand to adapt to the CEO<\/strong>, but the other way round. Longines<\/strong> didn\u2019t have any problems; it was a powerful brand, probably one of the most excellent success stories in the past 20 years. My task is to determine what made Longines<\/strong> so strong in the past 20 years to ensure we can evolve and improve the points that help the brand perform in the coming 20 years. And, um, I think that one of the things that surprised me the most when I joined Longines was the following: I knew, of course, the brand very well because I\u2019ve been in the watch industry for more than 20 years, but I was still surprised about the unique, exceptional and fantastic heritage that the brand has.<\/p>\n

\"longines<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take the example of the GMT<\/strong> movement; if we asked today Italian people who invented the GMT<\/strong> movement, the Flyback<\/strong> movement, the high-frequency movement, or the turning bezel who created it, most people would not mention Longines<\/strong>. We must respect that the brand is equally vital for classic watches and sports watches. Women and men equally admire the brand. So this balance made the brand very strong, and we have to respect this; of course, under the umbrella: \u201cElegance is an attitude\u201d<\/em>, but we have vast potential, I think, on the one hand in the classic watches, for her, but I also think we have considerable potential among watchmakers for him. For example, our sports watches are linked to history yet express a contemporary style.<\/p>\n

\"Longines<\/p>\n

When we look today at our sports segment, we have aviation and diving watches, and we have a third segment that we call performance. In all three of them, we have vintage watches and contemporary watches. We have vintage watches like the Weems<\/strong> or the Lindbergh<\/strong> in aviation, but the modern collection is the Spirit<\/strong>. In the diving watches, the historical pieces, like the Legend Diver<\/strong><\/a>, and the contemporary piece, like the HydroConquest<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"longines<\/p>\n

And we\u2019re one of the very few brands that offer a vintage diving watch, which is a huge advantage. In the performance segment, we have the Conquest family that historically introduced many innovations, for example, making the watches more shock-resistant to be used in different sports. We can use a lot of other sports where we are just sponsors, like the Equestrian or skiing but we can still, from our heritage, recall a lot, lot of things like what we just said earlier, all our relationship with Ferrari<\/strong>, Le Mans<\/strong>, the Rally Montecarlo<\/strong> or whatever, but there are many other domains also.<\/p>\n

Our plan for the coming years is to pick the best iconic milestones of our heritage and develop exclusive movements while reissuing these historical models. The Italian fan base is very knowledgeable, and it\u2019s younger than ever before. Via our collector\u2019s platform, we meet people 20 to 25 years old<\/strong>, and they\u2019re super expert; they know a lot about watches. And of course, this trend is fantastic for Longines<\/strong> because the most important thing is their authenticity. It would be best to be authentic and credible with them because of our DNA and heritage.<\/p>\n

\"longines<\/p>\n

There are so many brands that bring something out, and then they build artificially something around the brand; these people do not accept this and destroy them. We have something in our hands that is fantastic, which is our heritage. It allows us to develop products like the Spirit Zulu Time<\/strong> that has a heritage because we invented the first GMT watch and because we were one of the brands with the richest history within aviation. But we also bring it in a contemporary version with the latest technology available, like the Silicon balance spring. When you look at the finishing of the case, there\u2019s a very high end, satin finish throughout.<\/p>\n

Regarding our vintage pieces, we chose to call our new section the \u201cCollector\u2019s corner\u201d<\/em>. We don\u2019t like the term \u201cPre-owned\u201d; it\u2019s not like selling a used car but the opposite. It\u2019s noble, rare, and has a higher value than what we are selling today. We instead have a problem; we can\u2019t find enough products on the market to fulfil the strong demand. We have started now in Geneva but<\/strong> we have a project to extend this process to another point of sales soon.<\/p>\n

We also get many questions that reference what we\u2019re doing for sustainability, but among all consumer goods, watches are probably among the most sustainable products per se because you never buy them just for six or 12 months. You buy them for a lifetime, for a generation, for even several generations.<\/p>\n

Q \u2013 The second question is somehow connected to something you were about to tell about another category of watches. The brand is as famous for its anal\u00f2g three hands mechanical timepieces as for some of the most alluring and refined chronographs in the industry, but the brand has also paved the way for new technologies, and it\u2019s among those brands that best value technology; the VHP is an example. Are you planning to preserve your presence in this product category, or will you gradually turn to an old mechanical watches company?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A<\/strong> \u2013 today, a large majority of our products have a mechanical movement. Quartz keeps being interesting for specific needs. It is still a superior technology for those unwilling to rewind the watch or looking for thin, small timepieces.<\/p>\n

For example, if you take the VHP<\/strong><\/a>, I think it was a fantastic product, technology-wise, but I believe that we explained too much when we launched it in stores. It would have been more than enough if we had said that this watch is the most precise in the market. Period.<\/p>\n

\"longines<\/p>\n

Instead, we also explained how to adjust or re-adjust it, making it too hard for our salespeople to get to know the product\u2019s features. As a result, they never took the piece out since they were too afraid of not answering their raised questions.<\/p>\n

Yet, all the people with sound technical knowledge love it. So I think this quartz technology is something we\u2019re not pursuing in the future; we embarked on other journeys, bringing several innovations in this area. Expect the majority of our product portfolio to include mechanical watches in the future.<\/p>\n

Q \u2013 So the last question concerns connecting with the product owners\u2019 base; is there anything new in the works in this area? It\u2019s very much related to further connecting with the watch enthusiasts.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"matthias<\/p>\n

A<\/strong> \u2013 First, we are putting in place a massive customer relationship program, but the most important thing is that we need to do something clever. I think it\u2019s useless if it\u2019s just helping us send a Christmas or birthday card; we need to do something interesting for them. If we start to segment this clientele and take our collectors, we might invite them to product presentations or conferences about the brand\u2019s history. We have a massive opportunity in front of us, and you will soon hear about our project in this domain, but yes, it\u2019s exciting. And we have also started now in Italy; you are probably aware of the activation of the warranty card. For the time being, it\u2019s just linked to the watch\u2019s serial number, but of course, we could ask people to join the Longines community in the future.<\/p>\n

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