n a Swiss watchmaking scene that has been completely reshaped over the last two decades, certain brands continue quietly along their chosen path, following the old formula of “slowly but surely”. By dint of consistency and persistence, they end up occupying a space that many others have abandoned, as the profits generated in the luxury sector have sucked up an entire ecosystem: that of truly affordable Swiss watches.

This is the case with Roamer, which remains faithful to a simple philosophy: producing beautiful, high-quality watches at affordable prices and exporting them all over the world, including to countries that are not necessarily on the radar of the major Swiss brands.

©Archives Europa Star

©Archives Europa Star

Selection of Roamer archives in Europa Star, from 1946, 1952 and 1966 respectively

©Archives Europa Star

Founded in 1888 in Solothurn under the name Meyer & Stüdeli (Editor’s note: which incidentally has kinship ties with the Europa Star publishing family through Mary Stüdeli, great-grandmother of the author of this article), this company has long been run by Swiss watch industry veteran Christian Frommherz, entrusted with this role by Hong Kong investor Chung Nam who has owned Roamer since the 1990s. Here’s what he shared with us.

Europa Star: What was your career path in the watch industry before joining Roamer?

Christian Frommherz: I started out in watchmaking somewhat by chance. While my dream was to become a professional footballer, my father told me: “You still have to learn a trade.” A watchmaker took me on as a business apprentice – and that’s where I caught the watchmaking bug.

At a very young age, I became the director of this firm, which was taken over by the SSIH group. Later, I joined Bulova, where I launched the Benetton by Bulova collection in 1986, before being appointed CEO for Europe and head of international sales. Italy was a key market at the time.

I then opened my own company in Hong Kong, where I developed watch collections for various fashion brands. Upon returning to Europe, I helped create the ILG group and developed the Police watch brand, as well as Roamer. I then left ILG to launch my own company. Today, we are partners with the Miserino family in Mendrisio as part of the JDM Swiss Group, which develops several brands and OEM licences, including Roamer, Jacques du Manoir and Aigner. Our Mendrisio site employs around 140 people, plus another 15 or so at our Wallbach headquarters for marketing and administration (Editor’s note: the company produces nearly 600,000 Swiss-made watches per year).

I have known the Chinese family that owns Roamer for a long time; for me, they are almost like a second family. The Hong Kong-based Chung Nam Group acquired Roamer at a difficult time. Previously one of the Swiss giants in terms of mechanical watch production volumes, the brand had suffered greatly from the quartz crisis.

Christian Frommherz

How do you position Roamer today, within a watchmaking scene once again dominated by mechanical watches?

We revived the brand in 1999. It enjoys strong recognition in China, where the owner manages it directly. Internationally, we occupy the niche segment between CHF 250 and CHF 999. While this is a demanding space, we have built a fine reputation. Our strongest markets are Eastern Europe, the Middle East, India, China and Turkey, where we work with powerful local partners. In India, we have been working with Helios (Titan Group) since 2010: they are reliable partners, with whom I worked before during my time with the Police brand.

Historically, Roamer has been very strong in the Middle East, Italy and the United Kingdom. We are gradually returning to these markets, as there is still a lot of goodwill and brand recognition. Our philosophy is simple: stay below CHF 1,000 while offering the best value for money and attractive margins for retailers. As I often say, I’d rather be king in my village than a beggar in the big city!

The Allegra, a bestseller from Roamer. The brand generates half of its sales with ladies’ watches.

What is your product strategy and what does your range look like today?

After the pandemic, we adjusted our mix and increased our women’s offering: previously, 25% of our watches were for women, while today, it’s an even split between men and women. There is a real niche in classic elegance involving refined, sometimes gemset, watches that are still very affordable – and it’s one that the big groups tend to neglect. We also now offer a seven-year guarantee representing the best on the market in this category and our watches are sold in more than 60 countries.

Today, around 75% of our models are quartz; although mechanical watches are slowly gaining ground, mainly through skeleton models. We use Ronda movements for quartz watches and Sellita and Soprod for mechanical watches. We remain focused on our core business: designing, assembling and distributing, without becoming a full-fledged Manufacture. Our customers often buy our watches as gifts, so we devote special care to their presentation in beautiful boxes and sometimes accompanied by a pen, for example.

How does Roamer stand out from other Swiss brands in the same range?

We offer distributors better margins than the big groups, along with real flexibility. We nonetheless all exist within the same ecosystem and everyone has their place. Above all, it is important that Swiss-made products continue to be available in this segment and we contribute to that.

What is your vision for the near future?

To continue our international expansion, particularly in the American market. It may seem paradoxical to say this right now, but I’m convinced that Swiss-made products will emerge stronger from the current tariffs episode, because people will gain a better understanding of why a Swiss watch has value on the one hand, while awareness of the label is increasing. For our part, we will remain faithful to our strategy based on quality, fair prices and authenticity.