A feminine touch and a record year for Vacheron Constantin

Vacheron Constantin will end its financial year 2012/2013 at end March on yet another high. “The 2013 SIHH has confirmed that we’re performing well,” comments Chief Executive Juan-Carlos Torres. “We’ve also seen that the quotas we were forced to apply were properly evaluated.” And as Juan-Carlos Torres goes on to confirm, quotas mean that demand is outpacing production capacity. “Vacheron Constantin is experiencing the same difficulty as other brands in our segment, namely an incapacity to meet demand. Nevertheless, quality remains our priority even when this means sacrificing quantity. We will have manufactured in the region of 24,500 watches over 2012/2013, yet this isn’t sufficient to rebuild stocks. Production is constantly chasing demand.”

Hence why Vacheron Constantin will be developing its production capacity in 2013. The new 5,400 square-metre manufacturing site in Le Brassus, which will bring together staff from four sites spread across La Vallée de Joux, should be operational in August, ready to accommodate between 250 and 300 employees, including some 50 new recruits. Work to extend the site in Plan-les-Ouates, led by the architect Bernard Tschumi, is under way and will double floor space there. The handover is scheduled for 2014. As well as increasing production from the 24,500 watches of this year, this new bricks and mortar will enable Vacheron Constantin to concentrate movement-making in Le Brassus, and group assembly and exteriors in Geneva. As work progresses, so does recruitment: “We expect to exceed a thousand staff by March 2014, ahead of schedule,” says Juan-Carlos Torres.

Vacheron Constantin is performing well in China. So well, in fact, that concerns have been raised, behind the scenes, about the brand’s exposure to a market that is growing less rapidly than before. “That’s nice of them to show concern,” laughs Torres, “but tell them there’s nothing to worry about! For one thing, the Chinese market is still expanding and for another, a brand that’s strong in China enjoys success in proportion among the Chinese that travel. Their number is forecast to rise from 70 million last year to 100 million this year. A brand such as Vacheron Constantin can sleep soundly.” Let’s not forget that two years ago, Juan-Carlos Torres was one of the few voices warning against being overly dependent on China. Since then, the brand has built up its presence in the United States, Europe and the rest of Asia.

Proof of this is the recently opened Vacheron Constantin store in Paris, at 2 Rue de la Paix, with more to come: London in April, Beverly Hills (Rodeo Drive) in May, two new stores in Korea and others programmed for China. There are currently 34 Vacheron Constantin stores worldwide and a further 320 points of sale. It’s unlikely that Juan-Carlos Torres will upend this balance to any significant degree, given that the brand’s primary orientation is to sell its timepieces through the world’s leading retailers.

While Vacheron Constantin put ladies first at this year’s SIHH, not least with Malte and Patrimony models, and a remarkable Métiers d’Art Florilège collection, the end of the year should be distinctly masculine. The Genevan Manufacture will be in Hong Kong in September at Watches & Wonders, the first fair to be organised by fine watch firms in Asia, where the men’s watches it will show shouldn’t go unnoticed.

Article published in WtheJournal.com