The Business of Making Time

What is the allure of the Philippines with our sluggish economy, our chaotic politics and our relatively small upper-class elite that the top officials of the world’s major luxury watch producers Piaget and Rado of Switzerland recently visited Manila to promote their latest collections? Is it true that the wealthy of the Philippines are among the world champions in exquisite fashion sense and are good watch shoppers?

Why is the tiny land-locked nation of Switzerland the undisputed world power in watch-making, especially in the region of the Jura mountains from Geneva to the Rhine area? Why are all watches in photos, advertising materials and even shop display the time of 10:10 as if in a grand worldwide conspiracy?

Are the Swiss people always on time? Is it true that the Spanish and Portuguese peoples of the Iberian peninsula are "more flexible with their time" and from whom did we learn the so-called "Filipino Time"?

Liz Taylor, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Ursula Andres, Michael Jordan

The fourth-generation descendant of the Piaget watchmaking dynasty from Switzerland and chairman of the firm, Yves G. Piaget, 60, arrived in the country on November 29 for the Piaget Polo dinner party at Rustan’s Group boss Ambassador Bienvenido Tantoco’s South Forbes residence.

Piaget, available at Rustan’s Department Store, is part of the Swiss-based Richemont International Group (other sister luxury brands include Cartier, IWC from East Germany and other top luxury brands).

In an interview with the Philippine STAR at Shangri-La Makati, Piaget said: "I am giving your newspaper a scoop. On December 4 (today) in Geneva, Switzerland, the general public and the watch industry will announce their choice of our 1967 model Piaget as the Watch of the Year, which is the most prestigious Grand Prix of Watches."

When asked who among the world’s celebrities Piaget has sold special watches to and who are his dream clients, Piaget laughed and replied: "I was very pleased to have been requested by Elizabeth Taylor to custom-make a few watches for her when she was then the wife of Richard Burton. I sold to Sammy Davies Jr. a special watch. For my dream clients, of course, I would want to create a watch for basketball great Michael Jordan, whom I admire. By the way, Hollywood actor Michael Douglas and his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones have several Piaget watches. Also Jackie Yves St. Martin, the famous champion jockey of France. I would be pleased to sell watches to the French artist Arman, the Colombian sculptor Botero who now lives in New York. I had also made and sold a special watch for the world-famous Spanish artist Salvador Dali. In the 1970s, I launched the first Polo model of Piaget with Andy Warhol and my favorite actress at that time and a Swiss beauty Ursula Andres, who was the first James Bond girl in Dr. No. She looked great with a Piaget luxury watch."

Asia Is World’s Fastest-Growing Luxury Watch Market

A day before the Piaget interview, Rado Watch Co. vice president for sales Peter Kaser also arrived in Manila to promote their brand of luxury watches which are part of the Swiss-based Swatch Group (other sister brands of various categories range from Breguet, Blancpain, Glashutte, Omega, Rado, Longines to Tissot, Certina, Calvin Klein, Balmain, Hamilton, Mido, Swatch, Flik Flak, Leon Hatot, Jacquet Droz). For Rado watches, Asia is the undisputed leader in sales and in fastest growth. Rado watches are made of the best materials from gold, steel to scratch-proof tungsten and titanium-carbides.

Kaser said: "Rado is a distinguished international brand leader. We produce half a million Rado watches per year, with Asia being our biggest market at 40 percent, the Middle East at 25 percent, Europe at 20 percent, and North, South and Central America at 15 percent. Asia has seen tremendous growth in recent years, with mainland China registering the fastest growth in sales due to the emergence of so many wealthy people there. We are this year celebrating the 40th anniversary of the DiaStar model of Rado, which had already sold three million watches since 1962. The Philippines is one of our good markets in Asia, because the people here have very great fashion taste and know how to appreciate good value."

Yves Piaget told Philippine STAR that he was in Bangkok when he was shocked to hear news of the closures of the Australian, Canadian embassies, and the European Commission office a day before his flight to Manila. Piaget said: "Despite the bad news about your peace and order conditions, I and Piaget Asia Pacific managing director Dimitri Gouten did not cancel our trip. I definitely want to come to your beautiful country. Our customers in the Philippines have good taste, they are always people who can afford to pay the difference. I cannot disclose their names for their privacy. They appreciate that we at Piaget are not in the watch business, that we are in the true luxury jewelry business. Though we are known for excellent technology such as having produced the world’s very first ultra-thin quarts movement in the 1960s, Piaget is more of a jewelry watch firm."

Peter Kaser of Rado also a day before gave Philippine STAR an exclusive interview in their Montre boutique at The Podium in Mandaluyong City. The occasion was the 40th anniversary celebration of Rado’s famous DiaStar model which is the world’s first scratch-proof watch.

Kaser said: "Despite the negative international news on the Philippine peace and order conditions, we at Rado still value our important business and our growing number of clientele here in your country. We are optimistic about the long-term future of the Philippine market and we look forward to more sales in this part of dynamic Asia. There are more affluent Asians who want high-quality, elegant and durable Rado watches which are not just timepieces, but also good investments."

Piaget said: "The world’s biggest buyers of the Piaget luxury watches are No. 1, Taiwan; No. 2, South Korea; No. 3, mainland China; and No. 4, the US. I am from Switzerland, a European country, but unfortunately Europe is not among the top buyers. Surprisingly in recent years, China has become the fastest-growing market for Piaget luxury watches. In fact, we had opened a company-owned boutique in Beijing in January this year, and we will open a new one in Shanghai next year, the many rich people there are buying a lot. Japan has also been a traditionally strong market in the past. Asia is the world leader in buying of highest quality and most luxurious jewelry watches. I am confident the economies of this region will continue their dynamic growth and prosperity."

From Religious Persecution To World Watch Leaders

Piaget replied to this writer’s query why the Swiss are the world’s best watchmakers, saying: "It’s a historical reason, because 300 years ago, there was political change in Europe when the Protestant Huguenot people were persecuted and chased out of France. They came to Switzerland, and they came with their genius, their high-precision mechanical abilities, they brought their creativity for watch-making to Switzerland. My great-grandfather Georges Piaget started making fine watches in our farm in la Cote-aux-Fees at night, while he still worked the farm during daytime. The Swiss people have very good hands as high craftsmen. We at Piaget are proud of our artisans, they are more important to the company than I, the chairman, or the other executives. Today, watch-making is the third biggest export industry of Switzerland next to machines and chemicals." Indeed the world’s best watchmakers were among those 200,000 Huguenot French Protestants who escaped to Switzerland, while others fled to Germany, England, America and South America in the mid-1500s.

Are the Swiss people always on time due to their excellent watches? Are Spain and Portugal less on time than the Swiss and Germans? Peter Kaser of Rado Watches laughed and responded: "Swiss people are not always on time, we are still human beings...Here in your country the Philippines, there are also many people who are on time, even though many are victims of traffic (laughs). The most on time people in Europe are the Swiss, the Germans and the Austrians, they are on time without the traffic problems (laughs). The southern Latin countries of Europe are a little bit more flexible with their time (smiles), but I don’t want to be negative."

Why is it that all watches in newspaper/magazine/TV advertisements and on shop window displays are all uniformly set at 10:10 time? Is there a worldwide cartel or conspiracy of watchmakers and watch dealers which had set this time, and why? Peter Kaser of Rado laughed and replied: "I have never been asked that question anywhere by the media worldwide, it’s an interesting question...I think there may be three reasons why all watch sellers and advertisers use 10:10. First, the brand name of watches is usually between 12 and the center, so setting at 10:10 time can highlight the brand name like Rado. Second, the symmetry is better if we set the time at 10:10, it looks better. Third, I guess the smiling face of human beings might be an inspiration for all the world’s watch sellers and advertisers to use 10:10 time. In our business, we are selling happiness, personal satisfaction, so we do not like to have a frustrated face even in our watches (laughs). We want to always be smiling at our customers."

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