Jérôme Lambert, CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre since 2001, was very busy at the SIHH. This is not a new state of being for the 41-year-old finance expert with a solid love of watchmaking. Lambert has been on a career fast-track since his early days in Le Sentier under the tutelage of legendary manager Günther Blümlein.
America
The world economic crisis has not been easy on any brand, and it is particularly the North American market that has suffered, in some cases drastically. “[America] can be, well, dynamic,” Lambert confirms. “But I would say there is a strong eastern wind coming, which is also very interesting.”
Jaeger-LeCoultre is a brand that has enjoyed wonderful growth in the U.S. market over the course of the last ten years, thanks in great part to North American president and U.S. FHH ambassador Ronald Wolfgang, who joined the company in 1999 after leaving Ebel. Wolfgang retired in July of 2008, but came out of retirement for a year to lead Roger Dubuis after Richemont’s takeover of that Geneva-based company. Wolfgang will now conclusively retire in April 2010.
Wolfgang was succeeded by Gina Gates-Misrach, who had been with Jaeger-LeCoultre in leading roles for nine years to that point. She is also now retiring from the company for personal reasons. During the era of these two leaders, Jaeger-LeCoultre was able to establish itself the U.S. as a force to be reckoned with.
Jérôme Lambert has been CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre since 2001
According to Lambert, Wolfgang and Gates-Misrach did “fantastic work putting the brand on the map in the U.S.” As Jaeger-LeCoultre continues to evolve, however, so does the brand’s clientele. It began its run in North America with a broader base; customers interested in reliable, innovative in-house mechanics for a modest amount of money. The high complications of the last few years now see a need for the serious collectors to be addressed, however. “The arrival of watches like the Duomètre, for example, the tourbillons before that, and the minute repeaters before that, certainly speak more and more to a clientele that needs to be put in touch with [what we can do as a] watchmaker.”
New challenges
It’s never boring at Richemont, and events have now made changes necessary. Philippe Bonay, previous head of Panerai in the U.S. was installed as director of A. Lange & Söhne seven months ago after enjoying a brief stint at Breitling. Bonay has accepted the new challenge of leading Jaeger-LeCoultre into the next phase from April 2010; Lange will receive a new American head in the form of Gaetan Guillosson, previously Lange’s brand manager for Western Europe.
“Completely the second step now to be done is to bring the brand to a higher level of perception [in America],” Lambert reveals. “Where so many brands have been diluted by not having good partners at exactly at the right time, [our people] have truly already done a great job in choosing the right partners, very important in America. Philippe demonstrated his ability with Panerai, and then Lange, to work with these partners.”
The Master Compressor Extreme LAB 2 is probably one of the world’s most complicated chronographs
U.S. connoisseurs
Lambert’s brand has spent a great deal of time recently getting to know local connoisseurs in the various American markets through collector dinners.
“It makes you develop the relationship that you have with the market,” he explains. “And I am a strong believer in America in terms of [it being a] ‘watchmaking’ market. Whatever the economic situation, I would say America is still a market that is evolving in terms of watchmaking knowledge, interest, and visibility.”
However, he also cites the Internet and technological advances like iPhone apps as direct conduits for getting in touch with the consumer directly. “It is a tremendous way to bring the message and to be in contact with the end consumer in America,” he enthuses.
Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Master Tradition Grande Complication was a highlight of the 2010 SIHH.
Optimists
Lambert reports a better Christmas season than last year, even in the U.S. “As to what the truth of the business is, we will know more over the next three to five months,” he predicts. “At least they [the retailers] were more open again and business could occur. That said, the Americans, as we know, remain optimists even in bad times.”
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