“We have a responsibility towards our people,
we have a responsibility towards our business,
our company, towards Switzerland.”
The Histoire de Tourbillon and the Opus series are obviously targeted for
the few and select clientele. How important is that segment to the turnover
of watchmaking these days, not necessarily to that of Harry Winston’s?
NH: I don’t think it’s a turnover contribution matter as much as it is an impor-
tant necessity for development because every tourbillon, every special piece
is a development of technique which in itself represents quite an impor-
tance. That’s why high-end brands produce such pieces. For sure there’s a
price factor involved when it comes to such creativity, but the margin (of
profit) on pieces like those is the same as the margin on other timepieces. So,
if you sell ten timepieces of a more affordable watch, you will have the same
gain when selling one of these very limited pieces. Because investments on
such timepieces are made for several years, it’s a big investment.
Taking into perspective the strength of Swatch Group, I have always
considered the Group as the leader of the Swiss watch industry. How pres-
sured are you to behold such an amazing load of responsibility?
NH: This is not our pressure because this is not our goal. You see, when I
do an interview with you, my goal is to come to people to explain about my
brand and not to have my picture on the cover of a magazine. Swatch Group
has one goal: to save and to preserve the Swiss watch industry. We want
to preserve and show what we can do. We have fantastic people, we have
Metiers d’Art skillful people who are fantastic. We want to preserve those
people and their skills and talents. We want to preserve their working place
here in Switzerland; this is the pressure that we have. We want to preserve
the Swiss watch industry, the workmanship, the craftsmanship that we have.
SUMMER 2017 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | 153