Omega CEO Stephen Urquhart: A Candid Chat.
Stephen Urquhart has been the President of Omega since June 1999. Prior to that, he was Director of Blancpain, on the Board of Directors of Jaeger LeCoultre, President and CEO of Audemars Piguet, and began his career with Omega in 1964 as a Manager of Marketing.
A Candid Chat With Stephen Urquhart, CEO of Omega
By Art Dakessian
© September 2010
I got the call to interview him when he visited Los Angeles in late June for an event commemorating the Constellation line. My instructions were to arrive at the downtown Ritz Carlton for an 11:50 AM session that would last twenty minutes. Fortunately, traffic was light that day, and made it right on time. I took the elevator to the 24th floor where the Omega staff was ensconced in a closed-off restaurant and ushered into Stephen's temporary office. We exchanged brief pleasantries:
AD: By the way, my name is Art Dakessian, Glashütte Original moderator for PuristSPro, just in case you weren't aware of that.
SU: I saw your name before. You have my name, right?
AD: Stephen Urquhart.
SU: That's right. [smile]
AD: Is there a title involved? Doctor, Professor . . .
SU: No, no Professor, no way, no Doctor [laughs]. I'll give you a card - we'll do it Asian style. [jovial exchange of business cards]
AD: Nothing? Just President?
SU: Just Monsieur in French.
AD: Well, my French is worse than your Zulu. [pause] Actually, your Zulu might be fine, considering that South Africa seems to be the happening place right now.
SU: Yes, I would agree.
AD: [raised eyebrow] We had to schedule this right in the middle of the US - Ghana game.
SU: I think Ghana is winning, that's what I've just heard.
AD: [sigh] Well, that's the way it goes. All right, a very simple question.
SU: Ok.
AD: Will there be a new chronograph movement designed around the co-axial escapement? And if so, will this be an in-house development or derived from Piguet?
SU: Ok, very interesting, this came up before in the previous interview [meaning the session just prior]. We've already said so, so I can say it again, we have an in-house chronograph movement in the works that will be presented next year in Basel. In-house, not based on the 8500, but the same technology, with double barrel, with a column wheel, with three-level Co-Axial. That will be a very important introduction for us. We will keep the Piguet 3313 that will be upgraded to a three level Co-Axial escapement for certain models, mainly - size-wise - ladies chronographs. This will be a more sturdy movement with a 60 hour power reserve with an emphasis on quality and reliability. It will replace a lot of our existing models, especially for men.
AD: And this will be an automatic movement, correct?
SU: Yes. For the moment we have an option conceivably to make it also manually wound. At the moment the only manually wound movement is the Moonwatch movement which we don't want to change. It's an iconic product, I think. It's a fabulous movement, all the connoisseurs love it and we don't want to touch it. We don't have a co-axial in it. One day all the mechanical movements will have a co-axial escapement except the Moonwatch.
AD: Well, you just answered another one of my questions. [note: I was going to ask specifically whether the cal 1861 was slated for replacement or revision] The second question is also from Marcus. Is the 8500-based large date movement with GMT function that can be set forwards and backwards ready for release?
SU: It will be available in the middle of next year. We put the emphasis on the annual calendar because that was the version that was most needed.
AD: That's the movement that offers an instantaneous change of both the date and the month.
SU: I don't want to be too modest, but I think we have it at an exceptionally good price point. And it's so useful as it gives you the two things you need. You never write Saturday. [note: the interview was held Saturday June 26th] You write June 26th. It's good to have that on a watch.
AD: You just answered the question I was going to ask about the Speedmaster Professional - basically, it isn't going to be changed in the foreseeable future.
SU: It's a fabulous movement. One of the reasons why we're not changing it is that we would have to go back and order all the tests again to meet NASA's requirements for manned space missions.
AD: Omega has been reaching to it's past for new releases, most notably the Ploprof, which was received with acclaim. Might the Flightmaster be in line for re-issuance?
SU: I'll refer that question. We have certain plans for the Flightmaster in the next twelve to eighteen months. [pause]
We've just re-done our museum. One day if you're in Switzerland, please come and see us. Before we always had a great museum but it was cluttered. Now we've redone the whole concept and it's arranged by theme. When you see our museum you see the incredible history, and there's so many watches in our collection that we could make museum pieces for the next fifty years if we had to. So obviously, as you mentioned, the Ploprof, which is something very iconic; the Flightmaster, also a fabulous watch in different versions we're working on, and I think that next year we'll have something very interesting.
AD: The Railmaster and Speedmaster haven't been graced with a development of the 8500 series movement yet. Is that a likely development in the near future?
SU: Well, the Speedmaster is a sports chronograph, and your first question was about the new automatic chronograph movement, which obviously will be in the Speedmaster range. I don't mean the Moonwatch, but the Speedmaster Broad Arrow range, definitely.
The Railmaster . . . you know, today it's funny, the Railmaster that has the biggest appeal by far is the XXL . Maybe it's our fault . . . we have so many fabulous watches, we can't promote them all, and the Railmaster we've had for about eight years now. It's received great acclaim, and it's an Aqua Terra case with a different look. It has a fabulous name and a beautiful dial, and we're going to keep it in it's extra large version with manual winding. I say, "Never say never", maybe in a few years time we'll bring out the Railmaster with the 8500 series, it's very possible.
AD: The Constellation line doesn't seem to have as much traction amongst the Omega community as the other lines, at least in the US. To what do you attribute that common perception? Or, is that perception incorrect?
SU: I think it's neither one nor the other. If you're talking about connoisseurs, you know and I know what the original Constellation was - what you're wearing is a very good example.
Very interesting case, top of the line chronometer movement - that's what the Constellation was. In the early '80s, when Omega was trying to find it's way again, we brought out this model with the claws, and we're going to keep it in that configuration. It was redesigned in the '90s, modernized, and became a very strong model, and today it's our leading model "east of Eden" - in Asia. And Asia is a very important market for us. We have to be pragmatic. Look, both you and I know it's not the Constellation of the old days. This is a fact of life, I cannot change it. So, you're right in a way when you say that the Constellation is a very strong model. The revamping we made last year brought an improvement; the ladies model with the integrated leather strap, in the men's range we're coming up with the Sports GMT.
But, for the real Omega aficionado, I agree, it's not the same fantastic design as the Seamaster or the Speedmaster with those unique lugs. That's the strength of Omega - the collection is so varied that it appeals to so many, regardless of age or gender . . . the common denominator of the brand is there.
So, what you say is, in a way, true, but it's not negative, it's just a fact of life. The Constellation has become something very unique, very iconic, to the extent that a friend told me of someone in China wearing an Aqua Terra who was then told by another person, "But it doesn't have any claws!" The strength of the Constellation has become an iconic design.
I'll tell you something: the Constellation by itself would be the fourth biggest brand in the world. The importance of the Constellation for us is extremely high.
AD: Like California would be the . . .
SU: . . . seventh economy in the world, the Constellation would be the fourth largest brand in the world. We cannot cut the branch on which we are sitting. It's a unique product. People buy a product for different reasons, but mostly because it's identifiable. Why spend $5,000 on a watch when you have the time on your phone?
But I agree, for the real Omega aficionados and collectors, the Constellation is . . . something else. We have to be pragmatic and accept that's how it's going to be. We cannot change it, and I don't want to change it.
AD: Which aspect of running Omega do you attach the most importance: business or product development?
SU: Well, I think they're both important. The group that I work for, the Swatch Group, is not profit driven in that sense. Our management made it clear that we would not take any decisions that would be short term just to keep the profit where it was. I think we're willing to put quality and development before profit. If you do a product well, the profit comes automatically; that's a win-win situation.
Given the fact that we have such a fantastic product base - I wouldn't want my product team to think I'm diminishing their role because I'm very fond of product myself also - but I would say that today and in the last few years, the biggest challenge for running Omega is distribution. That's where we've really made the biggest efforts. I think that the watch distribution network is where I've been most active. Obviously, marketing is very important; product, obviously. The Planet Ocean was a great success, the Hour Vision is a fantastic product, the ladies mechanical movement was a real breakthrough for us. All that's very important, but without proper distribution, you defeat your purpose.
Our decision to open our own corporate stores took effect back in December 2000. Now with store #63 - [pause] I was back in Rome on Tuesday . . . we opened in Rome on the Via Condotti. It's important to the image of the brand [pause] . . . it's vital.
AD: #63? I didn't realize . . .
SU: Yes, corporate store #63, and this will increase in the coming years . . . also in the US.
AD: Interesting that the boutique in Beverly Hills closed, though.
SU: Yes, I agree . . . we transformed it into a Tourbillon [note: Swatch boutique]. You know, Beverly Hills - Rodeo Drive, to be specific - Rodeo Drive, maybe it's our fault, but I know more or less the feedback from the other stores there. It's no longer the "Pretty Woman" scenario . . . people walking into a store and buying a diamond ring. Rodeo Drive didn't achieve either the sales or image-building that we expected, so we transformed it into a Tourbillon. People will still be able to buy an Omega if they go there. If you see a store that isn't working the way you want it to, then you have to close it. We'll be opening in Chicago later in the year, Seattle will be coming up . . . we have many other projects in the US. China, of course, three or four or five stores in the works, we opened in Shanghai a month ago. It's an ongoing process . . . we're opening in Paris, also [pause] . . . two in Paris and four in London, I already mentioned Rome, we've opened one in Spain, Germany also.
AD: But poor Los Angeles has one, and loses theirs . . .
SU: Yes, it's a pity, I agree, but I think we did the right thing in deciding to turn it into a Tourbillon. The brand is still visible, and we have other plans for LA and Beverly Hills.
AD: I can see that my time is up. Thank you, Stephen.
SU: Thank you.
Photo Credits:
Omega - Stephen Urquhart pictures
mrsnak - all watch pics
Copyright September 2010 - Art Dakessian & PuristSPro.com - all rights reserved
Comments, suggestions, and corrections to this article are welcome.
