Our first live auction of 2024, the PHILLIPS Geneva Watch Auction: XIX, takes place on May 11 and 12, at the Hotel President, at Quai Wilson 47 in central Geneva. The auction includes more than 215 of the world's finest watches – and though we are loath to boast, we truly think it's one of the best catalogs we've ever put together. We'll be highlighting a number of the most interesting lots and stories featured in the sale over the next month, including the Rexhep Rexhepi Chronomètre Contemporain RRCC01 and Akrivia AK-05 featured here and here, respectively. This is only the third example of a Chronomètre Contemporain – and the first platinum version – to sell publicly at auction, outside of Only Watch.
– By Logan Baker
Rexhep Rexhepi’s career can be split into two distinct chapters.
The first 17 years of his watchmaking journey began after he submitted an application to the Patek Philippe watchmaking school in Geneva when he was only 14 years old; naturally, he was accepted, beginning his studies the following year as a trainee. He continued working at Patek Philippe for two years after graduation, before eventually joining the fast-moving high-concept movement workshop known as BNB Concept, now owned by Hublot. Rexhepi’s role at BNB Concept evolved at a rapid pace over his tenure, and by the time he left, after three years, he was in charge of a team with more than 10 men, some decades his senior.
Rexhepi left BNB Concept to join F.P. Journe for a brief 18-month term before ultimately deciding he was ready to take the next step in his career. At only 25 years old, he established his own company named Akrivia, in 2012. The six years that followed for Akrivia and Rexhepi, however, weren’t always smooth sailing. Rexhepi introduced at least one new watch per year, but none of them were able to gain any real traction among collectors like he had hoped.
Everything changed in 2018, when Rexhepi was 31 years old, with the release of the Chronomètre Contemporain RRCC01 during the year’s Baselworld fair. It was Rexhepi’s first watch with his personal name on the dial rather than remaining hidden under the anonymity of Akrivia. It also represented a significant aesthetic departure from Rexhepi's first six releases, opting for a mid-century officers’ watch format rather than the bolder designs he frequented with under the Akrivia label.
The positivity Rexhepi received while showing the first Chronomètre Contemporain prototype during Baselworld was unlike anything he had experienced before. For the first time in his career, his order book was already rapidly filling up with names. The accolades continued to pour in all year long; Rexhepi ended up taking home his first major award that year with the Men’s Watch Prize at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG).
In the five years since the Chronomètre Contemporain was introduced – changing the trajectory of Rexhepi’s life in the process – things have only grown more and more hectic. He began a partnership with the legendary octogenarian casemaker Jean-Pierre Hagmann in 2019, going so far as opening a new casemaking workshop across the street from his main watchmaking studio in Old Town Geneva. (Plus, if you spend some time exploring Old Town Geneva right now, you might even discover signs indicating a third Rexhepi/Akrivia space is under construction.)
Rexhepi also created a pair of wildly successful unique pieces for the Only Watch charity auctions, in 2019 and 2021 (with the latter hammering for a remarkable CHF 800,000), and he introduced the second version of the Chronomètre Contemporain, the RRCC11, in late May 2022, earning him his second Men’s Watch Prize at last November's GPHG. Oh, and on a more personal note, Rexhepi has also welcomed his first two children with his longtime partner since 2018.
So yes, it's fair to say that Rexhepi’s entire world shifted on its axis during the past five years – and it was the release and wildfire success of the Chronomètre Contemporain RRCC01 that acted as the primary trigger for almost all of it.
To commemorate the five-year anniversary of the original star-turning Chronomètre Contemporain, I recently sat down with Rexhepi at his Old Town Geneva atelier to discuss everything related to the original watch, and what sort of impact he feels it has had on his life. He doesn't shy away from discussing the difficult early years of Akrivia, where he occasionally felt like walking away from it all, to the specific decisions he’s recently made in his life that have guided him to his current enviable position at the top of the watchmaking world.
Logan Baker / PHILLIPS: I want to start by sharing something you told me five years ago, during the first time we spoke for a story. You told me: “The first five years [of Akrivia] were a steep learning curve where I had to face many challenges, but I never lost the faith in my dream, and luckily everything came to fruition as I wanted.”
What do you think of that quote today? Has everything come to fruition as you had hoped?
Rexhep Rexhepi: I was honestly afraid of the future for many years because people would always tell me that I might have less energy, or other things like that. But today, I have the same passion that I've always had. I actually think I have more energy now, and I have an even better understanding of what I want to do in life, what I want to achieve. I've accepted it. As a result, I can talk about it more openly because although I understand that life can be hard, if you have a dream, and if you believe in yourself, and if you work hard, well, I believe that the dream can happen.
You mentioned you have more energy today and a clearer picture of what your future might hold. Have your goals for the future changed between 2018 and today?
RR: It's like if you climb a mountain for the first time – you have to go for a while before you have experience. You're walking, walking, walking, and then after some time, you realize you suddenly have tools with you, and that you know how to use them to get what you want.
My focus today is on history. It's really what I'm interested in, because I believe that if you're thinking about history, you're thinking long term. And if you're thinking long term, you have to have ideas, passion, discipline, and the ability to make good choices. And that is what I'm really trying to do. I don't know if I'll always be ready for everything, but I will do what is possible to be there.
When you mention history, you're specifically talking about your legacy, right?
RR: I hope I will one day do something that will remain in the future. When I read something about important watchmakers like George Daniels or F.P. Journe, they make me even more interested in watchmaking.
I see them like a guide. It's why I do the watchmaking I do today, so that if one day I'm able to leave something in this world that inspires someone else ... that would honestly be a beautiful achievement for me.
When we look at your career at Akrivia, the release of the RRCC01 basically represents the middle point. There were your first six years between 2012 and 2018, where you basically released one new watch each year, typically with a maximalist design and an emphasis on tourbillons. And then, all of the sudden, the RRCC01 comes along in 2018 with a much more traditional aesthetic. Those are the only two watches you've released since the start of 2018; do you consider the introduction of the RRCC01 as the beginning of a new creative era for you?
RR: I think I do in a way, yes. If you look at the stories of different watchmakers, such as F.P. Journe, for instance, he started his company at 40. You're a different man when you're 40 compared to being in your twenties. I believe that. You feel different. You have some experience, you know yourself better, and you know what you really want. I started my company at 25, and at that age, you do what you believe in, whenever you actually have an idea to do something.
I was always like that, you know, I did what I believed in. I believe I could only make the RRCC01 at age 30 or 31, during a certain age. If you asked me to build exactly those same watches today, I would not be able to do it the same. I've learned so many different things since then; my experience is automatically different than it was before, and I think my taste has also evolved a little.
What do you think is the biggest difference between you today, at 36, and the 25 year-old version of yourself that started Akrivia?
RR: I believe that, at the time, I thought I knew a lot. I believe I was a little immature. I had passion back then, and I liked adventure, but today I know I have more of the tools that are required to do a better job.
Do you think the 25 year-old version of Rexhep would be proud of the current version?
RR: I think so, yeah. I think so.
What about nine years from now? What do you want from life at 45?
RR: Too many things, honestly. I can't be happy with everything I'm doing in life right now. I think I can do so much more today. I know that I want to do more, but I also know that, at this moment, I'm very frustrated.
I go home every day and I can't stop myself from thinking about how I want to be further along. Yeah, I'm frustrated.
Would you say you’re a patient person?
RR: I'm very patient, but that doesn't make things any easier. I'm very patient about achieving something, but I won't let myself be happy with what I'm doing right now.
Let's revisit the first six years of your career: How was your patience at that point? You were developing and releasing new watches, and it took some time for people to appreciate them. How did you feel about those responses back then?
RR: I remember having a lot of frustration in those moments because people didn't recognize what I was doing.
If you're doing something that you have passion for, and you put every effort you have into trying to do something good – and you really put everything you have into it – and then people don't appreciate it after you launch ... it's hard.
I wanted to make a living from this. I wanted to build my life on it. And when you're unable to live because people don't, I don't know, they don't really trust you, or they think that you're too young, or they don't believe in you ... it's really tough. I understand it today, but in those moments, when you really have to eat, it's a different feeling. You have to be strong. You have to be really passionate to not let it get you down. But it does affect you. It all affects you.
Honestly, you know, if I think back on everything, it's all so good. It's so good that I felt those things. It's really good. I'm happy now. I'm happy I went through those times.
Did you ever think about quitting?
RR: Yes, for sure. You ask the question in your head but you just can’t do it, you’re too proud to do it. You are too proud and you are too passionate. When you put so much effort into doing something, and you know that you've already spent three or four years working on it, you can't not respect that time and effort and throw everything outside. You can't do that.
Do you remember a particular moment during those first few years where things felt really hopeless?
RR: There were too many. Every moment I met someone new, I had some hope that they might be interested in a watch. That was a problem. I was so lost in a way that I would have hope any time someone said something nice to me. It became a little dangerous.
That's why, today, I'm respectful. People come up to me now and will say that they're happy I haven't changed. I think that's because I can still remember all the hard moments. They will always be in my heart because they were not good, but they were also good, in a way, because they made me who I am today.
What led you to create the RRCC01? What made you want to evolve the Akrivia style?
RR: My education was always in those kinds of watches, you know, I used to work for Patek, Journe, so I always knew I wanted to revisit it at some point. But it's like, when you are a child, sometimes you just want to do something different. You want to show people that you're different by creating something different.
And then with the Chronomètre Contemporain, it represents me as a man of 30 years. It was the watch of the moment for me. I also found it nice to work on a simple watch, something that was more timeless and traditional.
What year did you begin working on the RRCC01? Since it was released in 2018, did you start working on it in 2016 or 2017? How long was the development process?
RR: I was already thinking about and working on a different side of my business in 2016. I was thinking about doing something like this, but honestly, I didn't start working on it fully because I didn't believe in it, you know? I finally started to work on it in 2017, so I would say it took one full year of work to complete.
How did the RRCC01 change as your process went along? Were there any significant evolutions?
RR: The idea I started with in 2016 was different from the final version. I think the last big design decision I made was in September 2017.
At what point did you decide to put your own name on the dial instead of continuing with Akrivia?
RR: Many people were already telling me I should use my real name, and then one of my friends eventually really convinced me to do it. It's obviously been a very good decision.
You have a tendency to explore symmetry in your approach to watchmaking and design. Can you talk a bit about how that interest manifested itself in the RRCC01?
RR: I always saw symmetry when I was looking at other watchmakers I admired, such as George Daniels. You can clearly see that in his work. Many older watchmakers used to do things with symmetry. I believe it's just better for your eyes. And I think it is not being used enough in today's watches. I know why people don't choose to do it anymore, because it's really a constant battle. You start your job with an idea of symmetry, and then you have to put everything together and make it work as you originally pictured it. It's really a challenge, but I like the challenge, which is why many of our watches are symmetrical.
What did you expect the reception would be when the original Chronomètre Contemporain was released? Did you expect all the positivity that came your way?
RR: I always believed in positivity when doing something new, but honestly, I didn't know what to expect. I was stuck between believing in myself while also not feeling very secure. It was a very strange feeling, but if I didn't think the watch was good, I would not have done it.
If I didn't believe in it, I would not have done it.
Is there a moment you can remember during Baselworld 2018 when you realized the Chronomètre Contemporain was a hit?
RR: I remember every single moment, because it was something that I had been waiting for, but what I did after those moments is I forgot about them. I appreciated the feeling for a few seconds, or for a few minutes, and then I moved on from them. I still can't totally appreciate these types of moments because I'm always thinking about how things might change in the future.
Still, all that positivity had to have been building up in you, right?
RR: For sure, for sure. It was one of the best moments of my career.
What would have happened if the Chronomètre Contemporain reception wasn't positive? How would your career have changed if the reception to the RRCCI was similar to some of your previous watches?
RR: I think I would still be working. I've been wanting to do this since I was a child. I wasn't doing it just to have success, I became a watchmaker because I really wanted to make my own watch. But, of course, I realize this is also how I make my living, you know?
Eight months after the release of the Chronomètre Contemporain, you're suddenly on stage during the GPHG and accepting the award for the Men's Watch Prize. How did that experience feel?
RR: It was a really good moment. I was really thankful. I couldn't have imagined it happening in the past. It was a very emotional moment for me; to have this sort of recognition after six years of hard work felt crazy. The funny thing is, and I'm telling you the truth, I was back at the office the next morning, right here in my workshop.
Did you know you were going to win? Were you confident about it?
RR: Honestly, no. I was stressed.
What's your plan with the Akrivia name going forward?
RR: I think I will sign my watches more naturally in the future, so I don't think I will use the Akrivia name on my watches anymore.
But it'll still be around?
RR: Oh yeah, it's my company. It's my history. It's where I started, and it'll always be there. For sure.
What do you want to say to all the watch lovers and collectors out there that know your name today, but maybe didn't know about you five years ago? What would you want them to know about you now?
RR: It's very simple: Everything starts as a dream somewhere in my head. I dreamed, I believed, and I worked hard.
I'm really trying to do my best every day. I feel like I now have even more energy to continue doing something even better in the future. I'm just very passionate, and I thank everyone for their support.
You can learn more about and register to bid in the Geneva Watch Auction: XIX by visiting our online catalog.
Lead image by Logan Baker.
About Phillips In Association With Bacs & Russo
The team of specialists at PHILLIPS Watches is dedicated to an uncompromised approach to quality, transparency, and client service. Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo holds the world record for the most successful watch auction, with its Geneva Watch Auction: XIV having realized $74.5 million in 2021. Over the course of 2021 and 2022, the company sold 100% of the watches offered, a first in the industry, resulting in the highest annual total in history across all the auction houses at $227 million.
About Logan Baker
Logan has spent the past decade working in watch-focused media, reporting on every aspect of the industry. He joined Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo at the start of 2023 as the department's Senior Editorial Manager. He splits his time between New York and Geneva.
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