‘Our watches
are like Chanel No. 5, classics that never go out
of style,’ says Alain Spinedi,
CEO, Louis Erard watches.
There’s good news
for all the watch lovers in India. Swiss brand
Louis Erard has recently launched
in our country, bringing their signature collection of classic mechanical
timepieces. And the best part? With
great price points, and superior
technology, they make for really
smart buys. CEO Alain Spinedi, who was recently
in India, tells us about the brand
and its plans
for our market.
What does
the Louis Erard brand stand for?
The brand has
been in existence since 1931. In 1992, the original
family who owned it had
to give up the brand. It was
bought by another owner, but they didn’t
do much with it. We bought
it and are
now planning to relaunch Louis Erard as what
it was always
meant to be – a serious watchmaking Swiss brand that offers
great mechanical watches at affordable
prices.
Alain
Spinedi, CEO, Louis Erard
What are
the challenges that you see with
the relaunch of the brand in India?
The world watch
market is not homogenous and so, with each
country, we have different challenges. In India, the market for mechanical
watches for women is very
limited and this poses a major
problem for us. Also, here
the watch market is already dominated
by brands like Omega, Rolex,
Hublot, Longines and Titan. These
brands take up the luxury and
mid-market segment, making it difficult
for a new brand to get noticed.
How do you
plan to meet these challenges?
We have tied up with
Ethos, the largest retailer of Swiss
watches in India. This takes care
of our main
concern, which is the distribution network. I’ve been
training the sales people and helping
them understand the brand. People buying
watches in the mid-price section are more
flexible and the recommendations of the sales people are
an important factor.
The ‘1931’ Regulator Limited Edition series with hand-wound movement comes in two shades – black
and blue
