Many luxury brands strive for stock-market listings to facilitate expansion, but not Swiss luxury watch brand Parmigiani.
"What's more important than being independent is not to be listed," said Jean-Marc Jacot, chief executive of the brand. "Because as long as we are not listed, we are not pushed by shareholders to produce more pieces and faster. Luxury goods need time to make. You just can't rush it."
The executive was in town on Friday for a lunch at the Peak Suite of the Four Seasons hotel, followed by exclusive cocktails at the brand's pop-up shop in Central's Emperor Watch & Jewellery. To celebrate the opening of the pop-up shop, a range of pieces from its Atelier Collection were shipped to Hong Kong for the first time.
"We created this collection to cater to those who want something different from everyone else," said Jacot, who flew in from Zurich especially for the event earlier that morning.
"We try to make pieces in small quantities. We are only able to do that because everything is done in-house. Imagine if you go to a supplier and ask for just one dial, they probably wouldn't bother because of the high cost."
Following Parmigiani's well-received collaboration with the makers of the Bugatti Veyron sports car in 2006, Jacot announced a collaboration with a gun manufacturer based in northern Italy which is to be launched in the first quarter of next year.