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Business News/ Mint-lounge / Features/  Renaud Pretet | Timely insight
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Renaud Pretet | Timely insight

The regional brand director of Jaeger-Lecoultre, says the Indian shopper isn't particularly fond of retro timepieces

Pretet says JL will not promote the watch in India through advertisements. Photo: Manoj Patil/Mint.Premium
Pretet says JL will not promote the watch in India through advertisements. Photo: Manoj Patil/Mint.

The Indian consumer of luxury watches can’t be bracketed as simply as the new rich of China or the new rich of Russia, says Renaud Pretet. The regional brand director of Jaeger-LeCoultre (JL)—makers of fine Swiss watches—says: “China has a long history of heritage, so their new rich are in the classic (watch) segment. They do not buy sports watches, never. But other new open markets like Russia are changing towards sports watches because they are more of a status symbol and are flashy. We are, therefore, stronger in China than Russia. But it’s very complex here, in India."

“There is the new rich Indian, but there is also the traditional Indian, who has a sense of the elegant and classic. There is a challenge to reposition the brand for the younger people. It’s a mix, like everything seems to be in this country," he says, laughing.

Pretet, whose jurisdiction with JL extends to West Asia, Levant, India Turkey and Greece, was recently on a short visit to Mumbai from Dubai, where he is based. He believes “Indian consumers" should not be defined only as residents of the country, but should include Indians living in other countries. “Business in India is not relevant now, what is relevant is business with Indians around the world, but it is difficult to track those people! They also buy a lot outside the country so we have to grow brand awareness and affinity in places like Singapore, Dubai and London."

Pretet refers to the more than 80-year-old connection between JL and India through the classic model Reverso, first created for British officers in India who would break their watches playing polo. The Reverso, whose dial flips over, has since remained one of the most recognizable watches in the world.

For the 180-year-old company, straddling the traditional with innovation comes easily, says the Frenchman. “We have to pay tribute to our founders and follow that standard of classic watchmaking. But even while following traditional standards you can be innovative. You can find many ways to climb the same mountain. That’s what we do."

“Even if we wanted to play safe, you cannot tell the manufacturer not to innovate; they are driven by invention. When you join JL, you know you are here to invent new things." He says the trend for retro watches is limited to connoisseurs, and is not particularly evident in India.

One spectacle of innovation that Pretet mentions was unveiled three years ago with the “world’s most complex watch"—the Hybris Mechanica à Grande Sonnerie. The €1.2 million (or 8.5 crore) timepiece holds 26 complications in more than 1,400 parts inside the 18 Carat white gold, 44mm-wide and 15mm-thick case. It plays Westminster chimes, has a flying tourbillon, a perpetual calendar with a retrograde day, date, and month indicator, as well as a leap year indicator.

“It’s a mini Big Ben, which has all the complexities required, with five hammers hitting a gong every hour, every quarter. It’s a musical watch," he says, gently humming some of the tunes the watch plays out. “Someone has to create this design; someone has to assemble, without mistake, without even the minutest of mistakes, those 1,400-odd parts."

With just 30 pieces made a year, the watch is constantly sold out and pre-booked to the extent that the person at the end of the queue will probably get it in 10 years. “It’s a logic of investment," explains Pretet. “We are not the most expensive for the sake of being the most expensive, but because of the technology involved. We are the most value-for-money brand in the segment."

Swiss legislators are currently debating—“have been forever", says Pretet, laughing—what makes a product eligible for the precious “Made in Switzerland" tag. While existing lawssay 50% of the value of only the watch movements must be made in Switzerland, policymakers are debating whether these should range from 50% to 60% of the value of an industrial product originating in Switzerland.

Pretet says his company, with its headquarters still in the little village of Le Sentier, Vallée de Joux, is indifferent to the argument. “We will remain a Swiss-made brand. Everything is made in-house. Even if they raise the limit to 99%, we will remain Swiss. It’s an important discussion though; the label of being made in Switzerland is significant because the Chinese, for example, only buy Swiss-made."

He thinks for a moment, and then adds, “Except for the leather straps, we don’t make those because we have no crocodiles in the mountain."

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Published: 23 Mar 2013, 12:46 AM IST
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