RJ’s new avatar
Marco Tedeschi, CEO of the trail-blazing haute horlogerie marque RJ, chats to “Day & Night” magazine on the side lines of Baselworld. Tedeschi talks about the brand – what has changed, what remains the same, and new watches…
Why have you changed the name Romain Jerome to RJ?
Because it is a very important step for the brand today; we are completely re-positioning it by taking the best of what was done in the past to mark this new change and new beginning. Another reason is that Romain Jerome is a difficult name to pronounce in some markets, so we decided that shorter is better, and are going with RJ only. At first, the brand’s name was Romain Jerome; it then became RJ-Romain Jerome, which is kind of repetitive and that is why we are just RJ now.
At SIHH, you told “Day & Night” magazine that you are planning on many changes. Can you elaborate on that now?
Sure; in terms of image and branding, we completely changed the codes. We went from black and gold to white and red. This is our new image and identity. In terms of product, this time at Baselworld, we are for the first time releasing pieces that are not a limited edition, are not part of a specific concept. We have also changed the way we are going to produce our watches; we have announced the acquisition of a manufacture – a small company of four employees with three CNC machines that will allow us to produce our cases in-house as well as future movements.
Does that mean that in the future all the watch cases would be done in-house?
No, that is not the idea. We actually have the production capacity now but no movement project yet, so we cannot start manufacturing movement components. Meanwhile, thanks to those machines, we will be able to produce some cases. One of the important reasons for buying this company was that we be flexible as we have a very small structure and we need to be able to produce almost anything.
How important is it for RJ to produce their movements in-house?
It is crucial for us; we want to go from being a ‘marketing’ brand to a ‘manufacturing’ brand. Being able to produce our own movement allows us to master our creativity. When you buy movements from an outside supplier, even though we worked on many concepts with our supplier – and we still plan to collaborate with our movements’ supplier – sometimes you are limited by the machinery that your supplier has, or the technology. But when you do your movement in-house, your limits are your production tools only.
How important is it for RJ to have a core line?
Earlier, all our watches were limited editions. Having a core line is key and was one of the requests we got from all our retailers during SIHH as they are willing to have a product that they can sell and repeat. Our concepts have always been very advanced in terms of design, shape, and sizes, but we also want to offer our clients who are buying our concepts a watch that they can wear during the business day with a suit or to attract new customers with something that is easy to wear. Nevertheless, we still want to keep the strong DNA of the brand with the bumpers, shape of the lugs, as well as the arrows on the dial. This will be the link between the old and the new.
How did the name ‘Arraw’ for the new collection come about?
We were looking for a name for our new product line – something that went along with our new campaign ‘Just Raw’. During a brainstorming session, I was explaining all the design elements that differentiate our products, and I ended up with our arrow-shaped hands. That is how the name came about.
Are you planning any watches based on the core line chronographs, but without any chrono functions, in the future?
Definitely yes; our 2019 products will not have a chronograph and we took a decision to have a modular chronograph that can be used with different kinds of modules. So we can have a special date, special calendar, or a special moon – anything is possible because we have the case, and the space of the chronograph can be utilised for any other complication.
What are your future major releases now that you have a core collection in place?
The core collection will allow us to develop our concepts. We have two major concepts in RJ: the DNA concept – centred on historical elements in a watch – and the collaboration lines in which we do collaborations, such as Spider Man and Batman. At the end of this year, we are planning to launch a new Titanic concept, which would be completely different from our earlier Titanic collection, as there is a huge demand in the market for novelties of that kind.
Of all the RJ collections till date, which is your favourite?
My personal favourite, in terms of the design of the watch, is the ‘Back To The Future’ DeLorean-DNA Burnout watch. In comparison with our current collection, the DeLorean is the closest to the new collection as the design is subtle and it has very small detailing; every time you look at the watch, you discover some element that links back to the concept. In terms of design, the DeLorean is my favourite; in terms of concept, the Moon Dust wins.
