Pascal Berkele, president of Quinting watchmaking, a frequent visitor to Dubai. Surprisingly, even the global financial crisis did not affect the sales of Quinting watches. We talked about new brand developments and the Quinting phenomenon with Pascal, meeting again at one of Damas boutiques, the official distributor of the brand in the Middle East. Good afternoon, Pascal. We are very pleased to meet you again in Dubai. We already told our readers about the unique transparent Qunting watch. This time, we would like you to tell us about the new products presented this year at specialized exhibitions in Switzerland, and about those models that you are especially proud of.
The main achievement of Quinting over the past two years has been the development of new watches that do not have a chronograph. This is a collection of Eternity. Another novelty is the Telescopium watch, on which we have installed seven large diamonds that completely repeat the shape of the constellation Ursa Major. Why did we do this? In the watch industry, three dimensions are usually used - the front side of the watch, its reverse side and side view. But if you take our new watch and look at its face, you will see the fourth dimension, since we in Quinting placed the Big Dipper diamonds on different plates of the mechanism of transparent sapphire in such a way that creates the effect of depth. This is an absolute novelty, and I’ll tell you honestly, no one else has done such a thing in the world.
Why did you choose the constellation Ursa Major, and not some other, to create the effect of the fourth dimension?
Oh, this is a symbol! Remember how the ancient sailors discovered the world. They did not have any devices and navigation systems, but what was there, there were not even lighthouses. And the most striking landmark for them were the stars, and in particular, the constellation Ursa Major, because its bucket can not be confused with anything. That is why we took as a basis this understandable and recognizable symbol. By the way, we dedicated another line of Golden Age of Piracy watches to sailors and corsairs, where Jolly Roger smiles at you from the dials.
Pascal, please tell me if the Quinting watch collections have been replenished with new female models?
Yes, yes, of course! After all, it is women who are changing our world. I am simply convinced that women after 40 years old begin a new life. And this trend is not some particular country, but the whole world. It is not easy for us men to realize, but it is true. For example, the Swiss watch industry, which is ruled by men, does not want to admit this - many companies designing new models do not seek to create something special for the fairer sex. They simply make men's watches, and then decorate the same model with diamonds and claim that they are women's watches. But women, there are women. They need a special approach, so we at Quinting are trying to come up with something interesting and original specifically for women. For example, we produce very beautiful jewelry watches that use unique Quinting technologies.
In other words, it is a complex mechanical watch, but at first glance it is impossible to understand. They are just amazingly feminine and beautiful. Today, the collections of our watches for women include more than 120 different models. We decorate them with sapphires, rubies, diamonds. But, you understand, thanks to our patented mechanism, we can create thousands and thousands of different options.
What is the situation with sales of your watches around the world today?
We have very stable sales figures, moreover, the sales volumes of our watches are growing annually. I must tell you one important thing - modern men, in any case, most of them, do not understand anything in complex mechanical watches. And they know less and less about the watch, and less and less, compared to what it was before. This, in principle, is the same situation as with cars. Ask any man who owns an expensive car - Mercedes, Ferrari or Porsche - is he well versed in the device of the engine of his car? Most of the drivers do not know and do not want to go into these subtleties.
The clock is the same story. Today, people do not get the complicated watch movement, which is so famous for, for example, Patek Phillip or Vacheron Constantin, they buy a brand that they know or that is prestigious for a given period of time. After all, the fashion for watches also changes, no matter what they say. This situation suits me, people come to buy Quinting watches, knowing our brand, and not at all because they really like our technical innovations. This knowledge comes later when a person wears a watch and likes how they work. And the first is the brand and appearance. On the principle of "like - not like". And the second is the budget. On the principle of "I want - I can afford it."
Have there been new “ambassadors” at Quinting since our last meeting?
Yes. It so happened that our "ambassadors" are the leaders of many countries of the world, famous people, politicians, businessmen, representatives of different countries at the UN. If we talk about new "ambassadors", then I know that now the wife of the former president of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, Catherine, wears our watch. I know her, we met last year in Geneva. We were introduced by Gerard Depardieu, my partner in the company, who was friendly with the Yushchenko family.
How painlessly has Quinting gone through the period of the global financial crisis, and what are your future plans for brand development?
The financial crisis did not affect Quinting, and I would mention three main reasons why this did not happen. Firstly, we do not work with banks. All our investments are our own funds. Secondly, we work with our own mechanisms. We do not need to purchase a “stuffing” for watches on the side. Thirdly, we own a controlling stake in the company. And, besides, as I said, with our mechanism we have the opportunity to create thousands of variations of new watches. We clearly know where we are going, and we will have enough work for the next 20 years for sure. And one more thing - we can sell our mechanisms to other companies, which we already do. For example, Dior has already released jewelry watches based on our movement. Magnificent, with mother-of-pearl finish, thanks to which every day the dial of this watch does not look like yesterday. So, we have two different markets - selling watches through leading retailers in the world, which is more than 1000 stores, and selling our mechanisms to the famous Dior Fashion House, which has more than 200 branded boutiques in the world. I think we have something to be proud of today and work on in the future. Indeed, in Switzerland there are many watch brands that produce sophisticated movements and have made a significant contribution to the development of the watch industry: Breget invented the tourbillon, Zenith produces the best movements, and so on, but there are no more like Quinting.
You do not plan to open quinting monoboutique anywhere in the world?
Not. Quinting watches are sold in multi-brand boutiques around the world. This is the brand strategy that suits us. In the Middle East, we like to work with Damas, in other countries - with other major retailers. We are well represented in Russia in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and in the near future we plan to open several of our departments in the largest cities of Russia, such as Samara, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk. These are the plans, we will implement them.
Thanks for the conversation, Pascal. Waiting for your new creations.
