Fresh from an invigorating win at the 2023 edition of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud debuted a new model of the FB 3SPC in Dubai. We sat down with Vincent Lapaire, General Manager of Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud to talk about the Dubai collector community, the challenges of producing award-winning watches, and exactly how long is too long when it comes to waiting for a watch to be delivered.
Suzanne Wong
I just wanted to start by saying how nice it is to be in Dubai with these amazing timepieces. I mean, it would be nice to see them in Geneva as well, but then the weather would be sub-optimal. And it also has to be said that the watch community in Dubai is exceptional. The collectors here really know their stuff, and it’s wonderful to be among people who understand the work you do.
Vincent Lapaire
The community here is incredible — people actually study the watches before they come to meet you. And, in fact, they come just to have the watch in their hands, to experience it personally. They don’t need you to tell them about it, because they already know everything about it.
Suzanne Wong
I see it as a sign of respect, the fact that they’ve done their homework beforehand.
Vincent Lapaire
The authentic collectors do this. They take their time, they read about the watch, they reflect on it, they make an effort to understand the watch, and that helps them to decide whether or not they want to buy the watch… It’s a very genuine way to approach watchmaking as a consumer.
Suzanne Wong
Ferdinand Berthoud watches are very rich in detail and context — I imagine you spend a lot of time explaining them to people, so it must be quite a change to come here and find such a knowledgeable audience. Even though Dubai is so different from Switzerland in so many ways, you know that once you’re here, you feel at home, because you speak the same horological language.
Vincent Lapaire
This is why Dubai Watch Week attracts visitors from all over the world. This week, I’ve met with collector groups from Switzerland, Germany, Italy, the US — of course Asia is very well represented here. It’s truly an international event.
Suzanne Wong
You’ve just launched a new model of the FB 3SPC here in Dubai, a version in white gold with an anthracite movement. It’s a great time to see a new aesthetic variation of this watch, right after it bagged the Chronometry prize at the recent Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève. How many pieces of this will be made?
Vincent Lapaire
Currently, for the FB 3SPC, we’re able to produce and deliver 30 watches per year. That’s for all the FB 3SPC models. This one in particular, in white gold with the anthracite movement, we’ll only be able to start delivering them next year. We have projected that we can deliver eight pieces of this particular model in 2024, provided everything goes smoothly for our production team. The quality and performance of the watches have to come first, so we cannot simply pressure the team into producing more watches quickly.
Suzanne Wong
Especially now that everyone knows this watch won an award for Chronometry!
Vincent Lapaire
Exactly, they have to guarantee the accuracy of these watches! We always ask them if it’s possible, if they could… but they already do the best they can, and we can’t ask for more than that. It’s only been a year that we’ve had this movement at Ferdinand Berthoud. It takes time to find solutions for a more efficient process, or to optimise all the steps for production and assembly. It takes one and a half weeks for a watchmaker to work on one single cylindrical hairspring, getting the geometry of the end curves just right in order to pass the COSC certification. Each time the hairspring terminal curve is adjusted or reshaped, you have to leave it for one week so you don’t overstress the delicate hairspring material, and to be sure that the hairspring has kept its new form. It’s so difficult, and we don’t yet have a solution for doing this in less time.
Suzanne Wong
That said, I feel like the audience of Ferdinand Berthoud — correct me if I’m wrong — they understand this. I believe in fact that this is something they love about the brand, that you care so much about getting that level of quality. I wouldn’t go so far as to say they’re happy to wait, because no one likes waiting, but they appreciate the necessity of the complex and time-intensive process that leads to creating these watches. They understand that it's not just a question of hiring more watchmakers or buying more machines.
Vincent Lapaire
We will actually have two more watchmakers joining our team next year. But don’t forget that it takes a long time to train a watchmaker to assemble this movement — between six to eight months of training. And we’re not talking about junior watchmakers — these are guys who have 30 years of experience in watchmaking, in grandes complications. Those who started with us last year, they told us, “I feel like I’m back at watchmaking school.” That tells you how much this movement is really putting their knowledge and skills to the test. Some watchmakers appreciate this. Others can’t handle it, and they leave, because it’s too challenging.
Suzanne Wong
Given that there are these time and personnel constraints built into the creation of Ferdinand Berthoud watches, how do you see the growth of the brand taking place in the years to come?
Vincent Lapaire
At this time, we make a total 50 watches a year, which is a bit on the low side. When we look at the level of demand, we should probably be making closer to 80 watches a year. But increasing the volume of production to this level will take us about five years. And that means that every year we should be trying to produce around 10 more watches than the previous year. My concern is also for the customer; I don’t want them to wait more than two years to have their watch delivered. Any more than two years is too long in my opinion. It’s easy to say yes to more and more retail partners, to pretend that we can produce and deliver all those watches, but in the end the customer has to wait seven years to receive a watch. That’s so dangerous. Who knows what could happen in seven years?
Suzanne Wong
I like that policy a lot. It would be great if more brands adopted that kind of thinking.
Vincent Lapaire
We are very, very connected to our clients. We take care of them; we pay attention to their requests and to their expectations. I should also say that we are really fortunate to have the support and infrastructure of a company like Chopard, which helps us so much in terms of our production capabilities and operations. If we didn’t have Chopard behind us, the price of our watches would probably be at least three times what they are right now.
Suzanne Wong
That’s so true. Thank you for all the insights!
