If someone knows everything about almost all watches, it is Gonzalo de Cevallos. Head of the Swatch Group in Spain, the super group that sets the pace for world hours, he has also been the company’s COO for the whole world for a long time.
When De Cevallos joined the Swatch Group 25 years ago, he did so as commercial director of Swatch Spain, that young brand but one that pointed out ways and that today is its anniversary. Yes, the fun watches that whoever else has collected (some, like him, have been doing so since the 1990s) and who saved the Swiss watch industry from the quartz crisis, are now 40 years old. “The restless, fun, groundbreaking spirit and that DNA endures… In fact, with MoonSwatch, it could be said that Swatch has done it again,” he says of the successful collaboration with Omega.
He talks about the version of the Omega with which Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped on the Moon on July 21, 1969 that has sparked madness with its launch… in fact it still does. The demand does not stop.
It has been a complete success. We are talking about a phenomenon, a game changer in the industry. It could be said that there is a before and after of the MoonSwatch that revolves around all areas. Design, marketing, communication, strategy, distribution. It has been great. Absolutely disruptive. It has also shown how strong the brand is, that young people also like watches. They can do many things with the mobile and digitally but they do not generate that feeling, it does not reach the heart in the same way. It does not attract the same emotions.
you wear two watches
An Omega in the right hand, and a SwatchPay in the left. Full color. I’m changing.
What does Swatch have to be forever young?
That creativity that is in the DNA. That transmit positive energy. That joie de vivre of the brand. Are funny. Innovative. They provoke emotions. That goes well with art. What is Swiss Made? It has a very careful design. These values ​​have been updated for 40 years and constant innovation has been made: Sustainability is part of our strategy using materials of natural origin such as the Bioceramic from the MoonSwatch collection that everyone is now talking about. Those of us who feel Swatch are very proud of this always positive evolution.
And it’s not just Swatch. It’s the whole group. The entire group seems eternally young despite the fact that the vast majority of their brands are centuries old.
Yes, centenarians and even bicentennials, but we try to keep everything completely up to date. The secret is that the entire system is verticalized. We work with an absolute separation of one brand from another. We have common services, what we call a matrix structure, but each brand has absolute freedom in everything related to product, communication, marketing and distribution. Each one specializes in a segment or in a type of watches, in a price segment. They are all very important and each one works in their sector, but all the brands add value to the Group. that’s the key
He has had to live a lot of responsibility.
Yes, but it is a privilege. I came to the group as a Swatch consumer fan and soon realized that the entire universe of that corporation has that same essence that makes it so special. The values ​​and objectives of the company are very easy to carry. It is very easy to transmit it to the teams of the various brands, with people of different nationalities and different ages. Very diverse and very Swatch.
Swatch saved the industry when quartz watches appeared, putting manufacturers in serious jeopardy. He got through the Covid crisis without firing a single person. The economic results are brilliant… how does the group achieve so many miracles?
It is this obsession of ours to work long term and as a family. The Group is listed on the Stock Market but it still has a family behind it, the Hayeks, and we are all part of that great family that works long-term and brings together brands with a long history. Each one works their objectives and their strategies.
And each one celebrates its own.
Yes. We are celebrating. Breguet has just celebrated the 220th anniversary of the creation of the tourbillon, but it is a brand that has given many joys such as the magnetic pivot, the Hora Mundi launched last year… The great thing is that its own history and heritage continues to surprise 220 years later, Just like Blancpain, which toasts 70 years of the pioneering diving watch, the Fifty Fathoms, of which the new Tech Gombessa model has just been presented, which allows diving times of up to 3 hours to be measured and has been co-designed by Marc A. Hayek. and Laurent Ballesta, underwater naturalist photographer and founder of the Gombessa project, which Blancpain helped create 10 years ago. And Omega, on a technical and precision level, has gone one step further with the latest Speedmaster that is precisely tuned thanks to the Spirate System. It includes a revolutionary new hairspring that allows for ultra-fine adjustments to the gait cadence. We are watchmakers. That is our essence. We constantly outdo ourselves.
Is Haute Horlogerie a refuge value?
It can be. But, perhaps it is because I am sentimental, for me it is more a matter of love for watches. It is very difficult to measure this passion. But it is that. Love and passion for watches.
Which is growing and growing. The figures are spectacular.
Yes. We are in a very sweet moment but it is not the result of chance. It is the result of that work and that long-term dedication. And yes, sales are growing, and the demand at the local level has grown a lot. As soon as Asian tourism is fully reincorporated, the growth of exports where the United States is now the main actor will be even more accentuated.
Final prices have also increased…
If they have been adjusted. Because the Swiss franc (that’s our value, we are Swiss Made) has appreciated a lot in recent years. But we have adjusted the minimum. We want to defend our watchmaking know-how, but also reasonable prices.
Going back to Swatch, the watch, it has been a pioneer in many things that others have later imitated, but perhaps where it has marked the most has been in its collaboration with art.
It is very good to be a pioneer, especially if you have not been wrong. During these 40 years, we have collaborated with hundreds of artists such as Kiki Picasso, Keith Hering, Almodovar, Sam Francis, Annie Leibovitz, Damien Hirst…. And the 10th Anniversary of the wonderful project that is the Art Peace Hotel in Shanghai was recently celebrated, where we support artists and creators of any discipline and of any age. It is the most magical place in the world full of inspiration. The creators make their request, a group of experts choose the projects and they reside in the hotel for a few months during which we give them all the necessary support. More than 450 artists from 54 different countries have already passed and some of them have also had the opportunity to show their talent at the Venice Biennale of which we are also the main Partner.
And now comes the Art Journey.
It is an evolution. In 2018 we saw the need to take art out onto the street, make it more democratic, and this is how this connection with museums arose. In 2023 we have the privilege of collaborating with MoMA, Magritte, the Louvre Abu Dhabi and Le Gallerie Degli Uffizi… From the most pop to the most classical. But it is not a copy paste. It is an interpretation with that very Swatch wink. It is a non-stop. what was said This is about emotions.
