Watches are not just a tool to tell the time, but are a personal statement - Mr Matthias Breschan, CEO of Rado Watches
Saturday, November 29, 2014
The Swiss watch Rado has always been one of the world’s best innovators with high-tech ceramic. Rado officially launched their new brand "Rado DiaMaster" here in Kuwait on Wednesday, 26th November 2014 at the 55th floor sky lobby of Al Humrah Tower. Brand President/CEO of Rado Mr Matthias Breschan was present for the launch.
Mr Breschan oversees the global sales and operations of the brand, while reinforcing the Rado passion to create unmatched beauty from simplicity. Prior to his role as CEO, Mr Breschan served seven years as the CEO of a Rado sister brand, Hamilton – part of the Swatch Group family of watches.
Mr Breschan’s twenty year career spans across a spectrum of industries and includes leadership roles in a wide array of positions in both the sales and marketing categories. His versatility and robust knowledge base of consumer goods play a key role in his strategic leadership of the Rado brand.
"We are not anymore in an environment where watches are a tool to tell the time but watch is the exact accessory to make a personal statement and say something about your personality." Says Mr Matthias Breschan President/CEO of Rado in an exclusive interview with IndiansinKuwait.com (IIK).
Mr Breschan speaks about the luxury watch segment, launch of Rado DiaMaster in Kuwait, the importance of innovation and more... Following are excerpts of a IndiansinKuwait.com interview with CEO of Rado Mr Matthias Breschan.
IIK: Welcome to Kuwait! The luxury watch segment has seen a lot of entrants in the last decade, particularly from your home country Switzerland, What is your strategy to keep your place?
Mr Breschan: In 1962, Rado introduced the Rado DiaStar 1 to the watch market, the world’s first scratch-resistant watch. Different from others, we started using hard metals to construct the case of the watches so that they didn’t get scratched easily and would look new even after owning one for years. Most of our watches were used as gifts and we didn’t want them to look aged or depreciate in value which is why we began innovating with hard metals. While gifting a watch to a loved one, the watch should be durable and lasting. These scratch-resistant watches are the ideal gifts that one can give and this keeps us always in the forefront.
IIK: What’s the uniqueness of Rado DiaMaster Collection compared to other brands?
Mr Breschan: The previous ceramic watches were largely black, square and shiny. But the latest DiaMaster range features watches with rose gold, yellow gold, white and platinum finish, besides the traditional black variant. It’s really the material of the future because it offers a unique quality of comfort on the wrist and it's hypoallergenic too. The DiaMaster has its own large open dials for easy readability and unobscured view.
IIK: When was Rado DiaMaster launched internationally and in India?
Mr Breschan: The Rado DiaMaster was recently launched in India this year. I got an opportunity to launch the collection with our brand ambassador Bollywood actor Mr Hrithik Roshan. Rado today is the No 1 brand in the whole Indian watch market. In GCC also we launched this collection recently in Dubai, Qatar etc..
IIK: In the advent of Smart Phones do you think usages of watches are diminishing?
Mr Breschan: This could have happened many years ago when quarts watches were emerging, less expensive and more accurate. But you might have seen in the past 10 -15 years there was extreme popularity for mechanical watches. We are not anymore in an environment where watches are a tool to tell the time but watch is the exact accessory to make a personal statement, say something about your personality. It’s very sensitive and emotional. Yes there will be interesting products coming to the market but traditional Swiss watches with mechanical movements will have a strong growth in the coming years.
IIK: With the launch of Rado DiaMaster here in Kuwait, what are your expectations from the Kuwait Market?
Mr Breschan: It will enhance our position. With the famous Behbehani group in Kuwait, we already launched our iconic products including the popular thin line for ladies which are the ceramic watches, the hyper chrome and now we are launching our third family DiaMaster. This will really complete our comprehensive offer of classic, sport watches for men and women with different styles in the Kuwait market. So I think it’s now complete and making extremely comprehensive.
IIK: What do you have to tell to our readers, especially our Indian Expats living in Kuwait?
Mr Breschan: Rado today is the No 1 brand in India. We will do every single thing we can to stay No 1 because India is dynamic and fast developing country and I think we are on the right track. Even after months despite difficult environment Rado still is the leading brand in the Indian watch market, a big solid double digit growths received in India.
IIK: Thank you for spending your valuable time.
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Deepika Nambiar is part of the IIK team and IWIK core team. She does regular contributions to the news portal IndiansinKuwait.com and also for Timesofindia.com.
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