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RED8 : DESIGNED ON EARTH, MADE IN ASIA

RED8 : DESIGNED ON EARTH, MADE IN ASIA

Red8 is the latest offering of 'luxury' watchmaker, Christian BÉDAT, a surprisingly young chap considering his past achievements with RAYMOND WEIL and BEDAT & C°.

Christian BÉDAT, Founder of RED8WORLD S.A
Headquatered in Geneva, RED8WORLD S.A launched RED8WORLD . COM as an exclusive online platform offering lifestyle products, with RED8 watches as its first product.

I caught up with Christian during his promotional tour through Asia. Although his previous exploits in designing watches are known, I've never met him before. A potted history of his experience seems in order.....

Christian is not a bench watchmaker; having graduated from the H.E.C. business school in Lausanne in 1987, he left for Hong Kong to work for 'Eco Swiss China Time', heading the production of 'Benetton' watches by Bulova. A few years later, in 1991, he returned to Geneva to join RAYMOND WEIL, the company founded by Mr. Raymond Weil and Christian's mother, Simone Bédat. He worked in the purchasing, production and sales departments and eventually charged with the design function as well. His last collection was the W1.

Together with his mother, they jointly founded BEDAT & C° in October 1996. At the 1997 Basel Show, just six months after the brand was created, Christian Bédat presented its global concept and the seminal two collections: N°3 and N°7, which were an immediate success. Christian was also the creative designer of BEDAT & C° watches, each imbued with his personal reflection, his knowledge of watchmaking history, his experience and his desires.  In 2000, the GUCCI Group took a 85% stake of BEDAT & C° and Christian Bédat continued as the brand CEO as well as Creative Director of all GUCCI GROUP WATCHES. He left the BEDAT & C° in October 2006 with a load of cash to try early retirement. Failing miserably as a retiree and bored with leisure, he founded RED8WORLD S.A. and launched the RED8 watches in 2009.

Christian did not want to go down the traditional 'Swiss watchmaking' route again. He wants to bring luxury to a new audience, with a new world perspective and re-interpretation of a new era in timekeeping. The keywords seem to be "value of simplicity", "accessible and personalised luxury" reinforcing their motto, “Designed on Earth, Made in Asia”. Each Red8 watch expresses their inter-racial philosophy, combining values and colours that, they belief, results in a contemporary timepiece with the iconic red crown.