Quel est le rôle du directeur technique produits chez IWC?
Pour faire simple, je fais passer le rêve au poignet. Plus concrètement, dès que nous avons une idée, nous la posons sur le papier et à partir de ce moment, je suis responsable de toutes les étapes nécessaires à la mise en production de la montre. Nous séparons la gestion technique de produits du marketing produits, car ce sont deux entités distinctes. L'une concerne la production de la montre et l'autre la communication sur la montre, et les deux se rejoignent à la fin du processus. Comme le développement d'une montre peut prendre jusqu'à cinq ans, voire plus, selon le type de mouvement et de boîtier, une planification à l’avance est nécessaire.

Présenté à la Foire de Bâle en 1957, le calibre 9P de seulement de 2 mm d’épaisseur offre de nouvelles possibilités d’expressions visuelles. Plus d’espace est ainsi laissé au cadran. Avec lui, Piaget va inverser la démarche créative en travaillant non plus autour du cadran, mais à partir de celui-ci. Sa vocation est de captiver le regard. L’utilisation des pierres de couleur apparaît alors comme une évidence. Les pierres dures offrent une palette chromatique exceptionnelle que les designers explorent en faisant fi de toute contrainte technique. La marque fait alors appel aux meilleurs spécialistes et développe avec eux un savoir-faire unique et dès 1963, plus de trente pierres différentes s’invitent dans les collections de la Maison. L’heure se lira désormais en lapis-lazuli, turquoise, corail, jade, oeil de tigre, malachite, opale… avec ou sans diamants, Piaget allant jusqu’à bousculer la hiérarchie des matières préfigurant de l’une des grandes tendances de la joaillerie contemporaine. Quoi de plus légitime pour Piaget que de présenter dans un écrin Altiplano, ambassadrice émérite des Métiers d’Art, une nouvelle interprétation de la marqueterie de pierre.

The changes we have seen in the watch retail landscape over the past week or so put the relatively modest adaptations to the format of our newsletter into the shade. As you hopefully noticed last week, we have aimed to streamline the appearance and content of our weekly newsletter, which we will continue to send out every Monday morning with a look ahead to the week's news.

What is the role of the Product Manager Technics at IWC?
To put it simply, I bring the dream to the wrist. More specifically, this means that when we have an idea we put it down on paper and from that moment on I am responsible for all the steps required to bring the watch into production. We separate Product Management Technics from Product Management Marketing because they are two separate strains. One is about how to produce the watch and the other is about how to communicate about the watch, so the two sides meet at the end of the process. Since the development of a watch can take up to five years, or even more, depending on the movement and the case type, we really have to plan in advance.

As Official Partner and Timekeeper of the XXI Commonwealth Games, Longines launches the Conquest V.H.P. Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games. This special edition is meant as a tribute to this multi-sport event where athletes from 70 Commonwealth nations and territories will gather.

The Glashütte Original-Documentary Award is endowed with € 50,000, funded by Glashütte Original. The prize money will be split between the film’s director and producer. A total of 18 documentary entries from the current programmes of the Competition, Berlinale Special, Panorama, Forum, Generation and Perspektive Deutsches Kino sections and the special presentation Culinary Cinema are nominated for the Glashütte Original-Documentary Award.
The prize will be presented during the official Award Ceremony in the Berlinale Palast on February 24. In addition to the prize money, Glashütte Original will also provide the trophy, which will be finely crafted in the company’s manufactory in Saxony.

First presented at the Basel Fair in 1957, the 9P calibre measuring just 2mm thick opened up whole new vistas of visual expression. Its slenderness left more room for the dial, enabling Piaget to reverse its creative approach by no longer working around the watch face, but instead taking the latter as its starting point. Its purpose being to catch and hold the gaze and the use of coloured stones was a natural choice. Hard stones provide an exceptional palette of colours that designers explored making light of any technical constraints. The Maison called upon the finest specialists and cooperated with them in developing unique expertise, and as of 1963, more than 30 different stones were to find their place in Piaget’s collection. Time could now be read in lapis lazuli, turquoise, coral, jade, tiger’s eye, malachite, opal… with or without diamonds, since Piaget overturned the existing hierarchy of materials and thereby heralded one of the greatest trends of contemporary jewellery. What could be more legitimate than for the Maison to present a new interpretation of stone marquetry in the setting of the Altiplano, its eminent ambassador of Art & Excellence timepieces?