Jean-Yves Di Martino, directeur France de Vacheron Constantin
Vacheron Constantin, the oldest watchmaker in the world, is synonymous with excellence. Meeting with Jean-Yves Di Martino, director France of this Swiss firm, who speaks about the ethics of the brand, its position on the market and its different areas of work. A sincere person, just like the brand he represents.
How did you become the head of Vacheron Constantin France?
Ijoined the Richemont Group 25 years ago. I am one of the old-timers! I started with Cartier accessories. Then a position became available in thewatchmaking industry. That’s where I got into this business. Then, in 1996, the group acquired Vacheron Constantin. Two years later, once the group had had time to understand the brand, I was offered this position in the French market.
How has the brand evolved since your arrival?
On the French market, Vacheron Constantin’s main flaw 10 years ago was its lack of notoriety. The brand lacked investment, especially in terms of communication. Our first task was to obtain budgets to bring the brand up to standard on the French market. People knew her but she was a bit forgotten. They could not locate patterns, shapes, movements.
The task was to restore Vacheron Constantin’s position on the French market alongside the other historic Haute Horlogerie brands: Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet and Breguet. It is done, the brand is now very present. We have very good press coverage, thanks to our communication efforts but also because we offer very interesting products. I am thinking in particular of the watches reproducing the masks of the Barbier-Müller museum in Geneva. Vacheron Constantin is one of the few brands that can afford to draw on history and culture. People were not surprised by this project, except for the quality of the pieces.
Isn’t it constraining to have such a rich history as Vacheron Constantin?
We can create without destroying the heritage. This is a phrase from Mr. Perrin when he was at Cartier. It is valid for all luxury brands. The trap to avoid is to go too far. The question is what is the limit that should not be exceeded, moving forward anyway.
The development meets the expectations of our collector customers but also addresses potential customers who might not yet have been made aware of the brand. But it is very difficult to go up and very easy to come down. It is important to maintain a high level of aesthetic, technical and finishing quality.
How did the partnership between the Barbier Müller Museum and Vacheron Constantin come about?
It was born from the meeting between Mr Barbier-Müller and Mr Torres, CEO of Vacheron Constantin. Mr. Barbier-Müller is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, collector of primitive art in the world. Mr. Barbier-Müller, who had already been very often solicited by museums wishing to be inspired by the masks to make “derivative products” to be sold in their store, had never accepted.
When the brand proposed a partnership with the museum by suggesting to reproduce the masks in watches, Mr. Barbier-Müller initially thought it was not possible. We then did some tests. He agreed when he saw the quality of the work and the respect in which it had been done; even the signs of aging of the mask had been reproduced.
We then contacted the poet Michel Butor who, for each piece, wrote four verses inspired by his feelings about the mask reproduced. This is a limited edition.
Every year for the past three years, we have presented a set of four masks. This year is the last one. We stop here by respect for the collectors. This ensures the value of these pieces over time to all those who have invested in these watches, which cost 300,000 euros each.
Do you make custom-made watches?
The brand offers two different axes: the historical possibility, that is to say the made-to-measure inherited from the past, and the Quai de l’Ile family, which allows the customization of a basic watch.
Since 1755, watches have been made to order, because for about one hundred and fifty years, the wealthy bourgeoisie had already been ordering pieces. The notion of series came later.
We have a workshop at the Geneva boutique, the Atelier des Cabinotiers, which responds to requests as long as they respect the brand’s codes. We don’t want to end up with creations that are too far away, in terms of colors or materials, from what we’re used to doing. There are certain specifications to respect. The CEO of the brand must be approved before a custom piece can be made.
How does the production of a custom-made model take place?
The customer meets the store manager and the owner of the Cabinotiers workshop. They define the direction together. There are three possibilities: you can associate an existing box with a new movement, an existing movement with a new box, or proceed to a complete creation. Dominique Bernaz, who is in charge of this workshop, has the designers work according to the client’s wishes and the agreed price range. They meet again, Dominique presents the proposals and they make the changes that need to take place. Once they have agreed on the aesthetics and technique, an estimate is drawn up and the client pays for part of the watch which will be completed in one, two or three years depending on the complexity of the work.
Can you tell us a few words about the Quai de l’Ile family?
Quai de l’Ile is a range we created last year, based on the principle of customization from an existing shape. There is a basic watch that the customer will be able to personalize by mixing titanium, pink gold and palladium, visualizing the result thanks to an internet program or a test tablet. We can therefore arrive at a watch that will have a crown in titanium, the bezel in pink gold and the rest of the case, the middle, in palladium for example. He also chooses the depth of his dial, whether he wants a light, medium or dark dial and the color of the strap. There are about 400 possible combinations. The watch is made in ten weeks. We can also make a personalized engraving. We were the first brand to offer this kind of thing. It is a very complex job.
You offer very varied lines, what is the common thread between the different Vacheron Constantin models?
If we put side by side a Patrimony, a Mask and a Quai de l’Ile, we will find the same quality of manufacture, of movement. They differ in aesthetics and concept. The two classic hands, the watch that has a very cultural orientation with the masks and the Quai de l’Ile which is a very contemporary piece. We are not a brand of big gap, we stay in what we know how to do but we dig within our field of action.
China is the country where you have the most stores, do you adapt some models to this market?
It is possible that, in certain families, models are specific to the Chinese market (or others) but we do not want to push this too far because the offer would be weakened because it would be too focused on the taste of certain customers. But I would cite the example of rose gold. Asia was the first to be very interested in this material and gradually gave it a global impact.
Do you feel the crisis?
No, for now, everything is fine. During the period of five or ten years, which saw an exponential growth in demand in the watchmaking sector, we played an important role, but we were never able to meet one hundred percent of the demand. this craze, because we did not want to increase our production capacity by risking to reduce the quality of manufacturing. We always kept our rhythm. We stayed on our manufacturing guns. As a result, we are now responding to some of the requests that could not be met during this period. This way we keep our usual rhythm, even during the crisis. We have remained very stable, thinking about the long term.
However, we feel that the points of sale are very careful with their investments, they have refocused their brands on safer values, of which we are a part. It came from end customers, who are more cautious, moving towards safe assets.
How do you explain that Vacheron Constantin has lasted so long?
Vacheron Constantin is a very perennial brand, classic but open to novelty. With this very contemporary way of working, she has always been able to reach new points of sale. It has been able to adapt to the demand, to the life of the people. Perhaps it is also the people who have adapted to it. There is probably a bit of both.
If the brand has lasted for 254 years, it is because it has always been contemporary. It has never been a revolutionary brand in terms of aesthetics but it has always been in its time.
www.vacheron-constantin.com
Vacheron Constantin BoutiqueGeneva (temporary address):
1, place de Longemalle
1204 Geneva
Isabelle Huber
Montre masque Indonésie, 2009
Montre masque Chine, 2009
Montre masque Gabon, 2009
Montre masque Mexique, 2009
Patrimony Traditionnelle Chronographe Quantième Perpétuel
Quai de l'Ile, or rose, 2008
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