editorials


The positive side of the crisis

Pусский 中文
October 2009


You don’t have to be a masochist to recognize that a ‘good’ slap on the face can sometimes actually be beneficial. Each of us has experienced an accident, an illness or a great disappointment that, once it has passed, turns out to have a positive side. We have all lived, to varying degrees, the rather particular experience of a ‘return to reality’ that arrives, often violently, as a reminder that certain important truths have been forgotten in the euphoria of sustained success. The return of these overlooked truths is one of the major lessons of the current economic crisis.
As the saying goes, ‘that which does not kill you makes you stronger’. This lesson is applicable, however, only to those who are not ‘killed’ by the turn of events. The people who understand it are those who, acting against the tide, have already been trying to build their brands with a vision towards the long-term while, at the same time, often feeling distress when seeing their efforts go unrecognized for their real value. In its own severe manner, the crisis, by redistributing the cards, has dispensed justice even if it has not spared those who understand its lessons. This is the impression we have after talking to a series of independent watchmakers—discussions that you can read about in this issue of Europa Star.
What struck me the most in speaking with these individuals is that none of them seemed to feel disillusioned or discouraged by the difficulties they met. Their energy and enthusiasm remained intact, in spite of the very real obstacles that they encountered in a marketplace that has become increasingly locked up by the large ‘powerful’ watch empires.
And, although these independents are all very different, they are all nonetheless similar since they are strengthened by their faith in their own creativity and their profound belief in the soundness of their own product. By exacerbating the tensions in the marketplace, the crisis has forced everyone to re-examine their positions and to delve ever more deeply into their imagination and into their creative potential in order to find the best solutions.
As for the solutions, they are many and they are quite divergent. Will the future demand the purest and most discreet form of classicism or will it insist upon the most innovative forms and functions? Does the future belong to the most elite and rarest timepieces or, on the contrary, is the future of timekeeping to be found in the innovative mass product? There is not just one response to these questions. There are as many answers as there are designers, and without a doubt, as there are consumers.
The financial crisis has taught us to avoid—like the plague—today’s financial ‘horological gurus’. In fact, the crisis in the watch industry has taught us to beware of ‘gurus’ of all types. The truth is, there is no one single truth. There are many horizons to be explored. It is therefore heartening to see that, while the progress of so many projects has been slowed, it has not been abandoned. Herein lies another hidden virtue of the crisis—it has given time for time. It has taught us to take our time—to place time in our own hands, somewhat like ‘La Clef du Temps’ invites us to do. (This remarkable timekeeper was created by Mathias Buttet and his team at the Conférie Horlogère, from BNB.) A well-learned lesson from the crisis.


Editorial

The mechanism that drives ‘La Clef du Temps’ from BNB allows the wearer to ‘modulate the speed’ of time thanks to a crown situated at 9 o’clock that has three positions. By selecting one of these positions, the wearer can change the speed at which the hours and minutes pass. The time display itself is located at 2 o’clock.
Position 1 of the crown: The speed of the time slows to half (thus one conventional hour is shown as one-half hour according to the display of ‘La Clef du Temps’).
Position 2 of the crown: The speed of the time remains standard (thus one conventional hour is equal to one hour of ‘La Clef du Temps’).
Position 3 of the crown: The speed of the time is multiplied by two (thus one-half of a conventional hour becomes one hour according to the display of ‘La Clef du Temps’).
In this way, it is possible to make pleasant time last twice as long while difficult time can be reduced by half, all while having the possibility, at any time, to ‘return’ to the actual time. Thus, by placing the crown in either position 1 or 3, the mechanism permits the wearer to regulate the displayed time of ‘La Clef du Temps’ for as long as he likes. Yet, with a simple gesture of returning the crown’s position to 2, the hour and minute hands begin to turn and position themselves exactly at the conventional time.
We should mention that the prototype of ‘La Clef du Temps’ was sold for 280,000 Euros during the ONLY WATCH auction held in Monaco on September 24th, for the charity for children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.



Source: Europa Star October-November 2009 Magazine Issue