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Change of pace for a conquering company

Company takes a new approach, with the focus on building long-term value for the brand while firmly establishing it in the upscale market

Corum continues to brave new territories in accordance with its 'Unlock and Conquer' motto, repositioning itself in the industry with the help of newly appointed chief executive Antonio Calce.

'This is the year we implement our new business strategy,' said Fabrice Dangeli, marketing director of Corum. 'We are aiming for higher standards through mastering the new complications and developing our existing collections.'

He said the strategy was aimed towards building long-term value while firmly establishing the brand in the upscale watch industry, and that the plan was anchored by four main axes - distribution, training, communication and product.

Mr Dangeli said distribution was all about how the brand reached the customer. 'If we are the arm, the retailer is the hand. That's why it is crucial to have a good retail partner because you can't reach the customer without one.'

He also emphasised the importance of exclusivity in the business, explaining that the company did not want to dilute the brand by having too many of its products permeate the market.

Training was also a crucial part of the plan, and the company's staff must be well qualified to handle the many demands that came with the job. For the brand to be successful, the staff must be made aware of the brand's philosophy and values, have a solid foundation of the specific terminology of the watch industry and have the skills and product know-how to sell the product.

The key to successful communication was a good advertising campaign, and Mr Dangeli said that this year the brand would implement a new advertising campaign in which the product would be featured more prominently, and at certain angles that would best show off the product details.

As for product focus, the brand had four existing collections which Mr Dangeli called the four pillars, consisting of Romulus, the classical collection, Admiral's Cup, the sporty and nautical-inspired collection, Golden Bridge, a collection that showcased the brand's fine craftsmanship, and Artisan Timepieces, a line that made room for artistic creativity.

'These are the roots of the brand's history, the four visions of Corum,' Mr Dangeli said. 'We want to work on building the company on this DNA and enrich each line by developing them in-depth.'

The Admiral's Cup collection, for example, has released several new models this year, one of which is the Admiral's Cup Competition 40 for women. The 40mm watch has 12 nautical pennants as hour markers on the mother-of-pearl dial face, corresponding to 1 to 12 in the maritime signals code, a signature of Admiral's Cup watches. Other notable elements on the dial include a date display at 3o'clock, and the seconds hand has the Corum key symbol as its counterweight. The red gold bezel is 12-sided, another Admiral's Cup signature, and is set with 66 full-cut diamonds. The watch is available in a range of pastel colours and black. The Admirals' Cup Leap Second 48, like the Competition model, has the distinctive 12-sided bezel and nautical pennants as hour markers, but the self-winding chronograph also has split seconds and jumping seconds functions that pay tribute to the collection's roots in the world of competitive sailing. The 48mm model, which is water-resistant to 100 metres, has a 30-minute counter at 3o'clock and the jumping seconds at 9o'clock. The jumping seconds rotates once around its dial each second, with eight intervals marked off such that the time measured is determined to within an eighth of a second. The split-second pusher on the titanium crown stops the split-seconds hand so that a separate time can be marked off as the seconds hand continues timing. Another push will restart the split-second hand so that it jumps to catch up with the seconds hand. The black lacquered dial is surrounded by a titanium bezel rimmed in vulcanised rubber, and the watch comes with a black vulcanised rubber strap.

Romulus made a name for itself in 1966 when the watches in the collection became the first timepieces in history to display the hour numerals on the bezel rather than the dial. The line continues this tradition with its current models, and it has become the collection's trademark feature. The new Romulus Chronograph, the first chronograph in the collection, also possesses this engraved 'wave profile' bezel, which requires such precision and care that 50 separate operations are needed to achieve the ultimate result. The dial is in either black or white, with a vertical guilloche motif, and the second and minute counters are at 3o'clock and 9o'clock. A date window is positioned at 6o'clock, and the watch comes with either a crocodile leather strap or a steel bracelet.

Another classic Romulus model comes in the form of the Large Date watch. The red gold 'wave profile' bezel engraved with the hour numerals is set on a satin-brushed steel case, which measures 42mm. The large date function is displayed by two discs and located at 12o'clock, while a small seconds dial is at 6o'clock. The dial is designed with a vertical guilloche pattern and is available in both black and white. The black dial is paired with a black crocodile leather strap, while the white version is available in either a white satin strap or a satin-brushed steel bracelet.

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