Longines
He’s the very definition of ‘Intellectual Nourishment’. All you need is 10 minutes and you’ll know exactly what we mean. His passion for Longines in unmatched. Having taken the reins as President of Longines in 1988, Walter von Känel is showing no signs of slowing down. With an estimated turnover of 1.5 billion Swiss Francs, Longines is still clearly among the top watchmakers in the Swiss watch industry. Earlier this year at Baselworld, we were fortunate enough to spend time talking to one of the most charismatic and experienced individuals of the industry. Excerpts….
THE YEAR FOR LONGINES…
Longines kept its 1.5 billion turnover, as Mr. Hayek said in the Swatch Group press conference. It has been positive in most places, except Hong Kong. Australia has been very positive. We grew 15% over last year in this market. So, we are happy!
LET’S TALK LIMITED EDITIONS…
For special pieces, we are open. We have dedicated watches to varied championships. As of now, we don’t have anything in the pipeline. We have collections that are doing well, but I feel getting something on it, like the map etc…would be risky. I don’t think we should have any political aspect to it. But yes, never say never!
THE LONGINES PORTFOLIO…
If we look at the breakdown of materials, we do about 58% of steel. We have also got a tremendous breakthrough of steel and gold cap. In the latter, the thickness of the gold has to be between 200-499 microns. Above 500 is solid gold and below 200 is plated. We have many pieces in this segment. Then there is PVD, or plated collection. We do stick to our policy of consistency and continuation. Ceramic is not my territory.
I don’t trust the quality of black PVD, and so I don’t go into it. When I go to the PVD factories, I am very surprised to see some really high Swiss brands using China’s PVD. We stick to our main business. With respect to the straps, that’s a different world. It is an interesting situation. We have always had crocodile and alligator leather. With NATO straps, there is the advantage of price!
THE FUTURE OF THE SWISS WATCH INDUSTRY…
I have been in the industry for 53 years. From 1963 to 1969 I was in a dial factory and then from 1969 I have been at Longines. With respect to the Swiss Industry exports, the export of last year was almost a miracle. The beginning of the year was not so bad. You are aware that as an industry, we have had non-stop growth for 10-15 years. The general tendency has been that. In 2008 the brands focusing on USA did face a crisis. There were changes. Today, we see Chinese tourists going back to Europe. Hong Kong, we have seen an impact recently. Korea has come back. We have not really blocked any production. We should look at the last 10-15 years. There may be a rest in between….but I feel that the global negative effect will be partially absorbed. I don’t think we will have this momentum in the next 20 years. We will see the strong getting stronger and the weak getting weaker. The name of the game is how we can control the distribution and the points of sale.