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Q&AElevating The Newness Quotient Is Crucial Now Says Raymond Weil President

People are now looking for newer things, like more colour and positivity in their watches and in their lives, opines Olivier Bernheim, president, Raymond Weil

Ranvijaysinh Jhala February 20, 2023

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How do the latest novelties take the brand’s story forward?

Raymond Weil is having a tremendous time. Even through the pandemic, we have been consistent with our launches and promotions. Limited editions have become a strong part of what we do. Our 2022 novelties have proven to be a success. We realise that not only do we have a dedicated team, but also a dedicated distribution network.

Raymond Weil interview president Olivier Bernheim Freelancer complication watches mechanical accessible luxury watch collections — “Raymond Weil is having a tremendous time. Even through the pandemic, we have been consistent with our launches and promotions,” says Oliver Bernheim, the brand’s president

Tell us about the Freelancer Worldtimer GMT.

It’s not the first time we’ve done a world-timer. We take pride in offering such complications at far more accessible prices than a lot of other brands do.

There has been a lot of attention on Freelancer. Is it a conscious effort to focus on one collection at a time?

All our other collections have also had new releases. Image-wise and strategy-wise, we promote our strengths, the complications that we do, and Freelancer represents that. Promoting quartz watches is not really a priority for us, because they sell anyway, and mechanical watches have a greater aspirational value.

What are the biggest trends you’ve observed in recent years?

People have been very cautious for two years. Now, they’re looking for new things, so we must offer newness with our products. We see ladies’ watches getting bigger today. We see many more colourful dials now. Everything was so classic, and now there’s more colour than before. People are looking for more positivity and colour in their watches and in their lives.

Today, are skeleton dials more popular to showcase mechanical aspects of fine watches?

Everyone wants to see technical aspects. Don’t forget that men don’t really use much of the fine objects like cufflinks and pens anymore. Watches are pretty much the only thing left. Smartwatches don’t offer that kind of value.

Raymond Weil interview president Olivier Bernheim Freelancer complication watches mechanical accessible luxury watch collections skeleton watches — Seen here is one of the brand’s flagship skeleton watches, the Freelancer RW1212 Skeleton

Has the smartwatch impacted the Swiss watch industry positively, by making people wear watches in general again?

When Swatch came in, it was a jolt for the industry. Someone was trying to take away our market. The same thing has happened now. I wouldn’t say that only the fashion brands have been affected by it. Smartwatches are not all that cheap, so even watchmaking brands have been affected. And what creativity can you offer watches priced less than the smartwatch range?

Above, Bernheim is seen wearing the new Freelancer Diver Geneva edition, which pays tribute to the Swiss city that is home to the brand

With products becoming more gender-neutral, can Raymond Weil ever remove the ‘men’ and ‘women’ labels?

When you think of technical advancements, you find larger sizes. The sizes of women’s watches cannot support that. You can take any of our watches and pretend that they’re also for ladies, but look at the sizes! Ladies have shoes, bags, jewellery, etc. Men have watches. I wouldn’t want to remove gender labels from my products.