On Louis Moinet, tourbillons, and emperors

“Day & Night” magazine sits down with Jean-Marie Schaller, CEO & Creative Director of Louis Moinet, and speaks of the brand, tourbillons, and the direction the marque is taking…

How has the year 2017 been for Louis Moinet?

It has been extremely good; we have had some very good product launches, one of which was the Space Mystery – a very special watch with very special technology. The mechanism is a satellite tourbillon, decorated extensively with hand engravings. We had introduced this watch in a special colour – the Magic Blue, the result of a secret recipe. The watch is called Space Mystery because it has on its dial not only meteorites from the moon and Mars but also a meteorite from an unknown planet    that contains amino acids, which are the building blocks of life containing the basic elements of life. This meteorite, which has come from space, has amino acids – implying that there could be life in space. That is why it is called Space Mystery. We made four editions of eight pieces each, and today, happily we are sold out. So the past year has been a strong year for us, with good products, good customers, and good markets. I have travelled a lot, met a lot of people, have made new friends and I am very happy about it.

Will Louis Moinet continue to concentrate on making more new tourbillons as in the past few years?

Louis Moinet is the inventor of the chronograph, so the backbone of Louis Moinet is our set of watch chronographs, and the Memoris, which has won numerous awards across the world including the Middle East. For us, it is not the technology that is important, rather it is possibility it offers to create new emotions. We have created beautiful, upscale watches with tourbillon technology: the Astrolabe and tourbillons dedicated to different countries.  We have made some with real pieces from the moon and Mars, we now have made other limited editions that we will release soon.

Tourbillon is a wonderful technology that provides what collectors want. It looks stunning and spectacular; has something moving on the face of the watch, and we use it as a support to provide unique emotions by connecting them to planets, fossils, natural stone, hand-painting – all of which look very different. We have two projects now: we will definitely proceed with one; the other is very complicated, and we are not sure if we can achieve it, but we are working on it.

Are you planning to bring out any new versions of Memoris during Baselworld?

Yes; we now have three different versions of the Memoris. We need a little bit of time to work; when we make something, it has to be unique and appealing. We gave some time for the initial pieces to sell, but we have a very special expression of the Memoris to unveil at Baselworld.

Why is Louis Moinet bringing out a women’s line?

Because women compose 50 per cent of the world’s population and I think it is unfair if watch brands only make products for men. There is the constraint of size and dimension that makes it difficult to make high-complication watches for ladies. I am not even sure if ladies want high complications; they want a genuine product with special emotion. We have now launched a new line, the Skydance; in Basel, we will debut a new concept with a new watch for ladies that will be offered with a jewellery piece.

How many colours can you make with the same intensity as the Magic Blue and Magic Green?

You have not yet seen our Magic White, which is very beautiful; we can make Magic Champagne, and a few other colours – basic colours used in the watch industry. The only challenge with the Magic is the black actually.

Were you surprised by how the new rose gold edition of the Tempograph looks like a completely new watch?

Yes, I am as it is even more powerful and stronger, and more elegant – definitely one of my favourite pieces.

What are the markets Louis Moinet is strong in, other than Russia?

Other than Russia and the surrounding region, the Middle East is a very important market to us. Louis Moinet stands out from the other brands because of its unique history. Louis Moinet was the inventor of the chronograph, watchmaker to Napoleon, the American presidents, and to the rulers of Russia, England, and France. Because of our cultured history, when we have access to royal courts in the region, they really like the brand. Even if it is not very well-known, it has quality and very high standards.  Due to this, we do customisations for kings, sultans, and prime ministers of many different countries.