Keeping Time

Catherine Rénier, CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre, was in Dubai recently to open a flagship boutique at the Dubai mall. Gulf business sat down with her to chart the direction in which she’s steering this Swiss watchmaker.

- Varun Godinho

JAEGER-LECOULTRE, a 185-year-old Swiss watchmaker operating out of the Vallée de Joux, is responsible for bonafide cult-level creations like the Reverso and the Gyrotourbillon series.

At the SIHH 2019, the Gyrotourbillon 5, with its soulful Westminster chimes and mechanically avant-garde perpetual calendar function, was one of the breakthrough timepieces at the fair. Helming the brand is Catherine Rénier who was appointed as CEO last year a er spending nearly a decade-and-a-half at Van Cleef & Arpels.

Rénier hit the ground running. She ensured Jaeger showed up at the SIHH with a portfolio full of novelties including several within the Rendezvous collection, and she has focused on rapidly expanding Jaeger’s global footprint across the world.

Part of that latter strategy included the opening of a new boutique in the Dubai Mall in March that will serve as the epicentre through which it expands its business across the Middle East.

What went through your mind on the first day of the job?

My first thoughts were how big, important and impressive the manufacture was. I’m not a person of marketing strategies that are made up for the sake of today’s objectives. I believe strongly in protecting the heritage, developing this history and bringing future innovations. I love working as a team which is very strong at Jaeger-LeCoultre – there’s this collective spirit of the manufacture where you cannot do anything alone. It didn’t take me long to think I can do this, I can be a part of this team.

Last year, the number of watches exported from Switzerland decreased, but the collective value of those watches increased. Are the average prices of Swiss watches going up?