While I was in Switzerland during the week of April 16th I had the pleasure is sitting down with Julien Marchenoir, Vacheron Constantin’s Brand Equity and Heritage Director. Our hour long discussion was largely focused on vintage watches.
PuristSPro: Please tell us about your career at Vacheron Constantin.
Julien: I joined the Richemont Group in 1999, becoming the marketing assistant to the international marketing director of the group based in London. I did this for two years. Then the chairman of Cartier and of the wristwatch division, Mr. Franco Cologni, asked me to join him and be his “right hand man,” an offer I could not refuse. I worked with him for all the watch brands of the Richemont Group, in particular integrating the newly acquired brands like Jaeger leCoultre, IWC and Lange so that they could take advantage of what the Richemont Group had to offer.
Naturally, I came in to contact with Vacheron Constantin and they were preparing for the 250th anniversary, and I became the project manager for that occasion. Then in February 2004, as we were approaching the celebration, the CEO, Claude Daniel Proellochs and Mr. Torres (Vacheron Constantin’s current CEO), asked me what I was going to do after the celebration. I told them that I wanted to get my hands in the grease and work for a brand operation, and they invited me to work in marketing and communications, which had previously been handled directly by the CEO. Since October 2010 I have held my current title of Brand Equity and Heritage Director, and with Mr. Torres I work toward building the future while respecting our heritage and history.
My work week is usually three days at Plan-les-Ouates and two days at the Maison.
PuristSPro: What are the responsibilities of the Heritage Department?
Julien: It is a tremendous responsibility. We are the guardians of our history of almost 257 years. We have 40 cubic meters of archives, a real treasure, of hand written production and sales registers, and a lot of correspondence with all the countries we’ve been exporting our watches. Starting in the early 20th Century, with a visionary approach at that time when we were already at 150 years old, we started to compile a collection of timepieces which today represents 1200 items, with pocketwatches, wristwatches, and clocks. There are also several hundred machines, some of which are used in our restoration department, and some are in our boutiques for display. All of which we have to take care.
Beside this collection and the archives, we have to authenticate all the watches that come in for service, because we cannot service a watch that is not a genuine Vacheron Constantin. And we will services all watches produced since 1755, which is a strong commitment.
PusitSPro: In the secondary marketplace we are seeing a lot of watches that have authentic parts that were not born together from the factory. Will you service those watches?
Julien: No. We have matching case numbers and movement numbers in our archives, and if the combination does not match, it is not a genuine Vacheron Constantin. There are examples where Vacheron Constantin has made a new case for a movement, but we have records of that.
PuristSPro: How would you recommend collectors protect themselves? Just recently we saw a lot at the upcoming Antiquorum auction (Lot 383 of the April 25, 2012 sale) get withdrawn.
Julien: We have offered to work with all the major auction houses, when they receive a piece, to make sure that the watches at auction are not fake watches. Sometimes they receive pieces close to the date of the catalog and they do not consult us. We try to make sure that “dirty” pieces are not put in their catalogs. This is a win-win situation for collectors and the auction houses.
There is a nice minute repeater in the upcoming Christie’s auction that we verified as being from 1961. This exact watch was previously auctioned at another house and the catalog stated that it was made in 1959. They had not consulted us before publishing , and so there is incorrect information out there and a lot of people contacted us with questions about the date of production of this watch when Christie’s stated that it was 1961.
PuristSPro: I now see that Vacheron Constantin is offering vintage timepieces for sale at its boutiques. How are you acquiring those pieces. Are you pulling them from your Heritage collection?
Julien: We actually buy them on the market. We actively look for them. Some people want a vintage piece from Vacheron Constantin, but do not feel confident enough themselves to check by themselves that the piece is authentic, or do not want to spend all the time that is required to make sure what they buy is what they are looking for, everything is perfect, and that the watch will work. We thought we could offer that kind of service to Vacheron Constantin collectors. We find them, authenticate them, restore them, and warranty them.
Some collectors are not necessarily thrilled by the quest for a piece, and the emotions of the auction. Some just want a watch without problems, and have recourse if there is a problem.
PuristSPro: What goes into servicing a vintage watch compared with a modern one?
Julien: Servicing a vintage watch depends so much upon how it was maintained. You can buy a vintage piece and be lucky and it was kept in a safe for years, like the Packard watch last year. When we looked at the watch it looked brand new. But most of the time pieces have been worn, or not taken care of correctly, and just the movement requires replacement or making of components, this requires, long hours and specific skills. If you have to remake a bridge it can take time. Then you can look at the dial and the case, and there can be so much you have to do to make it look nice . We don’t want to renovate it, we want to restore it.
PuristSPro: Madison Avenue Watch Week is coming up soon. One of the press releases encourages owners of vintage Vacheron Constantin watches to make an appointment at the NY Boutique to inspect, authenticate, and appraise their timepieces. Tell us what the process will entail.
Julien: We have seen rising interest from a lot of our clients, to learn more about the history of the vintage pieces they own. Some people may not think of contacting us themselves to get information. We thought it might be a good idea to show that we can offer that kind of service to our clients. There will be an expert from the Heritage Department in Geneva there to identify the watch and get the information on the watch that is presented to us, and a Christie’s expect will be there and will be able to give a value of the watch on the market.
We will provide them with a document, short of a Certificate of Authenticity, more like an Extract from the Archives, which will contain the information that we have gathered on their watch. They will liaison with an archivist here in Geneva to coordinate the authentication. There has been demand for appointments and we might like to replicate this service elsewhere in the future.
PuristSPro: The President of Vacheron Constantin North American has told me that one of the unexpected benefits of opening the boutique in New York has been a lot of local residents brining in vintage watches, often inherited, either to seek information on them or to service them.
Julien: I think people feel they have someone to talk to securely about a watch. Sometimes clients don’t want to go though third parties to take care of their pieces. They want to deal directly with the maker. We can also give them information on their pieces so they can learn more about them.
PuristSPro: I suppose you have a role to play in the development of new timepieces, especially in the Historiques collection.
Julien: The Historiques collection is a way for us to revisit the icons of the past of Vacheron Constantin. We don’t want to remake an old watch. We like to revisit it, to keep the vintage aspect, but make it make it with the advantages of new watches. With the 1955, we made it thinner and waterproof. It helps us tell part of our story at a different angle.
PuristSPro: Which watch are you wearing today?
Julien: Today I am wearing a Patrimony Contemporaine with a grey dial. It is a classical and contemporary watch. When you are wearing a grey suit it goes well with it.
(Julien and I then had a short conversation where I relayed that I was disappointed to have learned that this particular model was no longer in the catalog, despite it being only two years old, and he insisted that it was still available. Julien called the manufacture to confirm that it is still available. There is hope still for you, Dr. Kol and respo!)
PuristSPro: Is there anything that you would like to share with the PuristS.Pro community?
Julien: It is a passionate community! They really play a role in helping people that may not be as knowledgeable about Vacheron Constantin to learn about the brand and appreciate the watches. Like with our and with retailers, they help people to appreciate and value our watchmaking. Thank you you to the Purist community.
PuristSPro: Thank you, Julien.
