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A new watch group?
Point of View

A new watch group?

Thursday, 04 July 2013
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Christophe Roulet
Editor-in-chief, HH Journal

“The desire to learn is the key to understanding.”

“Thirty years in journalism are a powerful stimulant for curiosity”.

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5 min read

After buying out Eterna, China Haidan announced its acquisition of Corum at the World Watch and Jewellery Show last April. An interview with Antonio Calce, now at the head of the two brands.

First Eterna, then Corum, and suddenly the China Haidan group, which sells millions of watches through its Asian distribution network, is the owner of two Swiss watch firms. Antonio Calce, the man who orchestrated Corum’s revival and is now also at the head of Eterna, explains the strategy of a watch group in the making.

After China Haidan bought Corum, of which you're CEO, the group appointed you at the head of Eterna, another of its brands.

Antonio Calce, CEO Corum and Eterna: The decision had been in the pipeline for some time. After Corum was acquired by China Haidan Holding, the group’s chairman Hon Kwok Lung asked me if I would take charge of Eterna too. Of course this decision should be viewed in the light of the excellent relationship between Mr Hon and myself. The task in hand is to put Eterna back on track, which will mean starting anew. The brand has evidently lacked a guiding principle, strategy and clear positioning. And yet it has no end of assets, not least its products which are part of a rich history, and Eterna’s strong industrial base.

Is it through lack of resources that Eterna eventually fell off the radar?

No, that’s not it. Eterna no longer exists as a brand mainly because it ran in fits and starts. There was no foresight, no strategic thinking, no real managerial structure. In this respect, I’d say my appointment as chief executive is a good thing for the brand and all its staff. At least that’s how it seems after my first contacts with them. They now know we are working towards the same goal, which is to give Eterna a second wind. Which is precisely what I did when I arrived at Corum. Eterna now has a future and we are going to forge this future together by redefining its products, values, marketing and strategy. We’ve got everything it takes to succeed. The brand lacked a vision and a global understanding of watchmaking today and this is something, in my humble opinion, I can bring. It’s going to go fast. Already this autumn we’ll be meeting clients to explain Eterna’s new positioning. At the same time we’ll be preparing the brand for the next Baselworld, along guidelines that we’re currently defining. Our first priority will be to redeploy Eterna in Europe.

What can you tell us about Eterna's industrial base?

The brand has the capacity to produce some 70,000 movements a year, and has a dozen in-house calibres. Also, a lot of ETA movements are based on Eterna calibres, given the history between the two. To come back to the present, we’ll start by focusing on the 39 calibre, bearing in mind we need to position the brand in the CHF 2,000 – 5,000 (EUR 1,6204,050 / USD 2,0805,200) price range which has room for new products. There’s been a recent spike in the price of Eterna watches, which goes some way to explaining how the brand derailed. And when there’s no-one at the wheel…

So at the end of the day, both Corum and Eterna stand to benefit from this conjunction.

Absolutely. Eterna brings Corum a mature industrial base while Eterna’s distribution will benefit from Corum’s expansion through the subsidiaries we’ve opened worldwide, most recently in Russia and India and soon in Hong Kong. Moreover, the two brands complement each other perfectly in terms of positioning and products.

Does Corum's acquisition by China Haidan open up big opportunities to expand in Asia?

China Haidan, in particular its own brands Ebohr and Rossini, sells millions of watches a year through a very dense network. This is a different business to ours. However, and again thanks to excellent relations with its owners, China Haidan gives us access to some of the most important distributors in the Asian markets. Just one example: I’m currently in contact with someone who might represent us in some fifteen Chinese cities. We could never have envisaged this kind of opportunity under Corum’s previous owner, the Séverin Wunderman Foundation, which wasn’t interested in a long-term investment. Until now Corum has been virtually self-financed, which made the task that much harder. Of course China Haidan is a financial partner. Most of all, though, it is a group that believes in the potential of Corum and Eterna, and intends putting the necessary resources into their development.

Which begs the question, any more acquisitions to come?

From a strictly financial point of view, increasing the number of brands in a group of course reduces overheads. The same logic applies to production volumes and quality standards. In this context, any potentially positive synergy must be given consideration…

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