Hitting The Right Notes

Can you tell us about your collaboration with the Royal Albert Music Hall?

Raymond Weil has always placed music at the center of its universe as an independent Swiss watch brand: it believes music is a force that brings people together and changes the world. This vision shared with prestigious iconic music venues leads to various partnerships where Raymond Weil has become the Official Timing Partner: Royal Albert Hall, London, The SSE Hydro in Scotland, The Prudential Center in the US, etc.

When was the Raymond Weil International Award formulated? What was the idea?

Nordoff Robbins is a national music charity dedicated to transforming the lives of vulnerable children and adults across the UK. Each year, Nordoff Robbins organises the O2 Silver Clef Awards to honour musicians whilst raising funds for charity. The event gathers the most successful artists of the music industry for an awards ceremony. Raymond Weil, as a partner for the charity since 2000, has supported the Best International Artist Award. Recipients include Pharrell Williams, Gladys Knight, Kylie Minogue, Michael Buble, Swedish House Mafia, Kelis, John Legend, Foo Fighters, George Benson, Bob Geldof, etc. We are extremely proud of our partnership with Nordoff Robbins and have witnessed the relentless efforts to transform lives through music therapy first-hand.

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Freelancer Piper is a wristwatch inspired by the founder’s airplane Piper. Can you tell us about that?

Mr Raymond Weil was not only a visionary and daring entrepreneur, but also a passionate pilot proud owner of a Piper plane. We partnered with legendary aviation manufacturer Piper Aircraft Inc. to present our first-ever pilot watch, the Freelancer Piper. Titanium and stainless steel, diameter 45mm, Freelancer features a mechanical self-winding chronograph movement with date and functions. The shiny blue minute and hour hands resemble the aircraft’s rotor blades while the GMT hand, with its red pointer, references a compass. The small seconds sub-dial at 9 o’clock is inspired by the attitude indicator and the open work black leather strap completes the aviator look of the timepiece. Each Freelancer Piper watch will be offered in a special box, which will include a miniature model of a Raymond Weil branded Piper aircraft. This timepiece is a fitting homage to the brand’s founder and the invaluable heritage he left us.

You have been a family run brand for almost 40 years. What are the challenges you have faced to survive in a competitive luxury market?

Every market is different. Marketing to Indian consumers is not easy; we furnish a lot of information to them about our novelties. We highly count on our very reliable partners with whom we have built long-term relationships since the beginning. The success of a family business lies in rich human contacts, close relations with its clients and a precise knowledge of its distribution network.

You have been a musically inclined brand and have incorporated guitar and cello strings? (Frank Sinatra and Gibson timepiece)

Music and the arts have been driving Raymond Weil’s creativity since the beginning. We teamed up with the Sinatra estate to celebrate music icon Frank Sinatra’s 100th anniversary by creating a watch in honour of a career constantly crowned with success. The Maestro Sinatra special edition watch, (1,212 pieces) as a reminder of the artist’s date of birth, features a mechanical movement with date function. The stainless steel case shelters a silver dial with blue hands, indexes and date window as homage to Ol’ Blue Eyes and sits on a genuine leather strap. We also partnered with legendary American guitar manufacturer Gibson, to present a limited edition timepiece, the Nabucco inspired by Gibson, that features unique design elements echoing Gibson guitars: a guitar head and Gibson logo, sub-dials resembling knobs and pickup selectors and motifs that remind of the guitar body and the six strings of the instrument.

Nabucco Cello Tourbillon has been your most ambitious piece so far. Tell us about that?

The Nabucco Cello Tourbillon is my son Elie Bernheim’s brainchild. He is our CEO and also a cellist himself, since an early age. He created a watch that blends the music DNA of the family with the most sophisticated and advanced horological technology.

Tell us a bit about the associations with musicians for your watches?

Raymond Weil continuously ties more and more partnerships with the music industry, be it major venues, talent shows, charities or rising artists. Violinist Nicola Benedetti, guitarist Miloš Karadaglić, cellists 2Cellos and electronic musician Labyrinth represent the young and dynamic generation. These music ambassadors further emphasise the modern image of our brand.

Which is your most expensive watch and how long did it take you to make it?

Our most expensive watch is Tribute to Mr Raymond Weil Maestro timepiece designed to pay tribute to the man and his legacy. The watch is a 44mm COSC certified chronometer in 18K rose gold. It is a limited edition of 100 pieces and costs Rs 13 lakhs.

What do you think makes RW a reliable and quality watch that can be worn for generations?

With almost 40 years of experience and a succession of three generation, we benefit from Switzerland’s centuries of carefully handed-down watch-making skills and know-how. The brand harnesses the industry’s top-most expertise in components and materials supply. Our movements are Swiss-made, while the entire life cycle of a product is supervised by the expertise of our in-house R&D Department.

Who do you think will make a fantastic brand ambassador for your watches in India and why?

A great creative and innovative musician would make a fantastic brand ambassador to match with Raymond Weil trend-setter attitude.

Five stylish women you think you would like to see wearing your watch and why?

German soprano Diana Damrau for her incredible voice and musicianship, Angela Merkel for bravery and visionary spirit, journalist Shobhaa De for her exceptional writing, model Bar Refaeli for a philanthropic work and actress Katheryn Winnick for her strength of character and entrepreneurial spirit.

Tell us about a few state-of-the-art products which are in the pipeline?

As we will be celebrating our 40th anniversary next year, our designers have been working hard for the past two years to create a unique, memorable and iconic product that gathers Raymond Weil’s technical and design heritage in an incredibly visionary watch that will definitely please the new Indian customer overwhelmed by globalisation.

What do you think Indian women like in terms of patterns, colour and size?

The Indian woman is passionate about accessories and the watch has always been one of her favourite. Raymond Weil aims at continuing to offer a unique and diverse choice that will please all Indian women and respect their dear local traditions.