Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo is thrilled to welcome you to The Geneva Sessions, Fall 2023, online auction, running from 12:00 PM CET, Friday, September 8, to 2:00 PM CET, Friday, September 15. Featuring more than 60 different high-end luxury wristwatches, the sale covers everything from A. Lange & Söhne and F.P. Journe to Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe. It even includes an example of the Louis Erard × Konstantin Chaykin Regulator Time-Eater featured in this story.
– By Logan Baker
Although the watch dials may read “Louis Erard” front and center, the main character of this story is not a Mr. Erard.
It’s a 51-year-old man named Manuel Emch.
Emch is a longtime Swiss watch-industry executive whose background includes lengthy stints as the CEO of Jaquet Droz and then RJ Watches, née Romain Jerome. A little over four years ago, he joined Louis Erard on a lark, working as a strategic consultant for the board of directors who were desperately trying to revive the company’s fortunes.
Louis Erard was in a tough position at the time. The company was overdistributed, and the product was – in Emch's own words – "generic." It had no identity.
One of Louis Erard’s investors eventually approached Emch asking for advice: How can we fix this? Should we shut the brand down?
After spending the first 15-plus years of his career focused on the luxury side of the watch industry, Emch was ready for a different challenge. He wanted to work at a more accessible brand that almost anyone could enjoy. So he agreed to help Louis Erard navigate its way out.
“I basically came up with a strategy, which was a combination of what I did at Jaquet Droz and RJ, but obviously in its own way,” Emch says. “The philosophy of Louis Erard now is very simple: It’s to make affordable, collectible, seriously well-made watches that are inspired by the higher end of horology but available at an affordable price point. And they're fun to wear. That's it. There's nothing more than this.”
Emch's philosophy has been put into practice by focusing in two key directions: developing collaborative projects with various watchmakers or other well-known industry personalities (Alain Silberstein, Konstantin Chaykin, Vianney Halter, Massena LAB, etc.), and then finding ways of bringing traditional métiers d'art down to they entry-level arena. Emch has somehow been able to offer watches featuring grand feu enamel, wood marquetry, hand-turned guilloché, and hardstone dial for unprecedented prices
As a result, Emch's new-look Louis Erard has turned the brand completely around, attracting attention from an entirely new demographic of watch enthusiasts. It's been a massive success.
Phillips, for example, had never previously offered a Louis Erard watch before 2019. Since then? We’ve sold almost 20. Louis Erard watches were previously rarely ever covered on mainstream watch websites prior to Emch’s appointment. Nowadays pretty much every new release is headline news.
Anecdotally, even, I can’t recall ever running into a Louis Erard watch at an industry or collector event in New York or Switzerland before 2019/2020. These days it’s more likely you’ll see multiple people wearing one rather than none at all.
It’s a genuinely remarkable turn of events that required Emch changing nearly everything about how Louis Erard operated in the past. The company’s target customer transitioned from “tourist on vacation” or “high school graduation gift” to serious watch enthusiasts in the blink of an eye.
“We have two types of clients now,” Emch says. “One is the collector who has everything and just wants to have a fun, exciting product that they can wear every day. On the other hand, we also have younger customers who are basically starting their collection with us. It's an aspirational product for them.”
Emch even completely revamped Louis Erard’s distribution network. He closed 300 stores worldwide, adopting a comprehensive e-commerce strategy, which helps in making sure that Louis Erard's entire current collection stays in a sub-USD $5,000 range. Emch says the brand currently produces a little more than 4,000 watches each year.
“We now have a very simple and straightforward business model,” he says. “We do 50 percent of our revenues direct, which obviously, in terms of volume, is a bit lower than wholesale. Our turnover is 50 percent online, and then 50 percent through a distribution network. The margin system is different between them. The online average margin is much higher than in traditional retail, so that's where we put all our special pieces that we know will sell very well. The online business generates profit, not much, but enough to pay for the entire organization. So the profit we generate online covers every salary, every development, everything that we spend, which means that the remaining 50 percent of revenue that comes from wholesale is pure profit for us.”
The owners of Louis Erard have obviously been astounded with Emch’s leadership and the brand's overall development. Although he still maintains his straightforward title of “Strategist,” the company awarded him with a seat on the board of directors in late 2020, after just two years of work.
That’s despite the fact that, by his own admission, Emch only went into the office six times last year. He spends most of his time leading his team of 12 people virtually.
“We have two watchmakers,” he says. “I have three people in product, which is the most important part of the business in my view. I have one person in sales, and another in sales administration. I have one person handling logistics and shipment, one finance guy, and someone working part-time on marketing. We have an interesting organization.”
Emch remains open and accepting of new ideas and collaboration partners. Ideas for Louis Erard watches have been born unexpectedly in the middle of an unrelated conversation with a friend, or by accidentally pocket-calling an independent watchmaker (which is exactly how Louis Erard's collaboration with Vianney Halter got started).
Right now, Emch says the team has about 55 projects in the works, with plans to release at least one new watch every other month. Of course, not all those projects will come to fruition, but enough of them will to keep the business growing and running smoothly and Louis Erard’s fans guessing at what might drop next.
“I’ve created over 1,000 watches in my career,” Emch says. “What I’m most proud of, however, is the next thing. I’m proud of what I’ve created, but I’m even more excited about what I’m going to create. My focus is always on to the next thing."
You can learn more, place a bid, and view the entire Geneva Sessions, Fall 2023, catalog here.
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 reporting on every aspect of the watch business. 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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