Rado Centrix Automatic Silver Dial Brown Leather Men's Watch R30939125

WORLDTEMPUS - 14 March 2011

Unlike previous years, the Raymond Weil brand chose not to unveil any new line of timepieces at Baselworld in 2012, opting for some fine tuning instead to complement its existing collections. That fact alone speaks for itself: the Geneva-based brand didn't feel the radical urge to satisfy any new demands coming from emerging markets or adapt to any kind of aesthetics in order to play to the classic Asian tastes that have been molding the industry in recent times. It is a fact that Raymond Weil has always boasted that classic touch since its inception - largely inspired by classical music.
The brand was founded in 1976 by its namesake, Raymond Weil, whose daughter - a talented pianist - became a professional musician. The timepieces have always been more classic than rock n' roll, starting with the baptism of the various lines throughout the last three decades. Raymond Weil did try to go upmarket when it was time to and adjusted the collection at the entry level when the going got tough a couple of years ago, always displaying remarkable versatility and never betraying its own classic style that seems to be the main trend in watchmaking these days.

Maestro and soloists
"This year we are celebrating several successful lines with creative variations and new masterpieces," says Olivier Bernheim, who is Raymond Weil's son-in-law and the brand's CEO since 1996. "For instance, the classic Maestro collection has welcomed a few more elegant and finely crafted models such as the Quantieme a Aiguille and the Phase de Lune Semainier."
These two particular timepieces are clearly imbued with Raymond Weil's DNA and boast the kind of aesthetics the Chinese clients are looking for: guilloche-patterned dials, small mechanical complications and elegant proportions. The importance of the Chinese market is evident through advertisements hanging in the brand's booth at Baselworld, which feature two well-known Chinese actors: Jiang Wen and Zhou Yun.

Another quite important factor from China's perspective is a cultural one: the familial ties. Raymond Weil is among the best known independent watch brands and likes to underscore those ties - be it through images in the catalogue or during media appointments, with Olivier Bernheim bringing his sons Elie and Pierre into the limelight. Even though the maestro conductor has the reputation of having a b grasp on the company, he likes to see his sons playing solo.
China catching up
"When we were preparing this year's new products for Baselworld, the mindset was to evolve and not to revolutionize our catalogue," Elie Bernheim says, as his father listens at his side. "We wanted to work on what we already had and add some more variety and price accessibility, consolidate what we had, especially making the Maestro line ber. Maestro is the classic and elegant horology product China has been looking for - with an affordable price on top."

The Maestro line, which includes classic horological elements and even women's mechanical models, has a strategic price point for Raymond Weil, an important price point for European retailers in times of recession because most people still come looking for that price range when they look for a quality watch. But how has the Chinese market evolved since emerging as the industry's new El Dorado?
"China has been great for us year after year, with triple-digit growth," Elie Bernheim discloses. "It's almost scary because it can induce a certain dependence. But we are lucky because our market share is also b elsewhere in the world; even if our catalogue provides what China is looking for, the same kind of product is also appealing in other markets. Right now the United States is our first market, with around 750 sales points." However, there has been a slight shift regarding Asian interest. "After all those years looking for pure classic features, China is slowly catching up, asking for more chronographs and bigger sizes."
From bigger to big
The powerfully designed Nabucco chronograph has been quite successful, boasting a 46 mm case. "People with smaller wrists were a bit frustrated because they loved the watch but felt it was too big for them. The new Nabucco 43 mm size is dedicated to them - and on top of it the demand for such a watch is growing in Asia," says Elie Bernheim. "Just like the 46 mm Nabucco, there will be a different 43 mm Nabucco model each year."