Tiffany has made a strong comeback with the CT60. What’s different this time around?
The CT60 was the way for us to return, making sure that we respect the heritage of Tiffany and our history in watchmaking, while at the same time communicating the right message to all who approach the brand for the first time. The watch is directly derived from one that was gifted to Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945, so in a way it’s the quintessential American design, which was why we kept the same styling, but adapted it for men today. We did it pretty successfully too, in the sense of connecting two different worlds – New York, which is where Tiffany was born and founded, and Switzerland, where we manufacture our watches. We also wanted to talk about craftsmanship, to tell everyone that not only do we make watches, we make beautiful watches that are of Swiss standards; this is the first ever mechanical (automatic) collection launched by Tiffany, and that speaks to our ability to apply the same quality standards to every single product we do.
Why did Tiffany decide to start making watches again?
It’s simple; we see two opportunities. First, our customer base is 95 per cent women, and it was time for us to start talking to men. What’s the best piece of jewellery a man can wear? A watch. Not only that, it’s something that tells a lot about the personality of the wearer, showing his intimate world on the outside. Second, we want to become – well, partly we already are – a global luxury house, so we needed other categories within Tiffany’s offerings. Watches were easy not only because of our long history in watchmaking, but also because the business model is close to what we have with jewellery. There is still a stretch; after all, Tiffany is a female brand that makes jewellery, and not many people know we’ve always been making watches. Beautiful, complicated, Swiss-made watches, for men no less. So there is a challenge, and we know it’s going to take time for this to be successful. We gave ourselves 10 years to work on this new legacy, this new initiative at Tiffany to revamp its watch business, but really, it’s nothing new to us.
How do you distinguish Tiffany as a proper watchmaker and not a jeweller who makes watches?
We have to build credibility. Tiffany has owned its watch business since the beginning, but very few people know that we have almost the same history in watchmaking as jewellery. We were already selling watches since 1847; our collaboration with Patek Philippe (to show their collections in New York) endures even today; Charles Lewis Tiffany even made the courageous move of going to Switzerland to open a factory himself, in a time when the journey itself could take more than a month! So there’s a long history of our presence in watchmaking, and that’s one way of showing our legitimacy. This is just the beginning and we know we have a lot to catch up. The message of the CT60 is that of craftsmanship, heritage, and the disconnect between a New York-born brand and the Swiss world where our watches are designed and manufactured. We started with the right step back into this world, and we expect more to come in the next couple of years.
Tell us about Tiffany’s approach to men.
We expect to be talking to self-purchasers, men who come and look for what they like or want in our offering today. And the idea is to give them a place where they don’t get disoriented; I’ve seen so many men come into Tiffany stores that cater mainly to women and they look so lost! We want to change that perception by creating a more welcoming environment that puts men at ease when they select something they love, specifically our timepieces. It’s an effort that started last year with three stores – the flagship in New York (clearly), the flagship in Tokyo (our second biggest market), and the recently opened store in Geneva, which has a watch room. All our newly renovated stores will have a watch room, an area that’s a little more masculine in its use of materials and colours. In fact, Tiffany originally started out as a retail store selling accessories to men in New York in 1837, but then our jewellery started winning prizes at world fairs and things worked out very differently.
How often will Tiffany’s watch designs be guided by its history?
The very first thing I did when I joined Tiffany was to go to their archives, not just to find inspiration, but also to understand the values of the brand. Tiffany has been around for so many years, it was important for us to interpret exactly its core designs. The CT60 was a specific exercise in making an American watch, which differentiates us from the Swiss crowd, and we achieved that successfully. Now we have other messages to communicate to the world, and we have plenty of beautiful creations that nobody has ever seen in our archives, over 400 pieces that we’ve kept acquiring in auctions, so we will continue with that. The low-hanging fruit for us is probably jewellery watches; we have amazing metiers d’art, specific ways of transferring our craftsmanship in jewellery to watches, and that’s something we want to use as much as possible.
What are the attributes of a perfect American timepiece?
The main value is simplicity. Specifically (for our watches), it means clean lines and subtle use of materials. Nothing too sophisticated that would make it difficult to please the eyes; it has to be easy to interpret and read. That’s why we have open dials and readability in the form of Arabic numerals. The use of simple complications, also. Something that makes life easier. The chronograph is very intuitive (there are two pushers that operate it), and even the annual calendar (set it each 1 March, and it runs for the entire year). For us, this is the way to make something American.
This article was originally published in Men’s Folio Magazine April 2016
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