Since 2013, Swiss independent watchmaker Audemars Piguet has worked with Art Basel as a global associate partner. Striving to innovate, the brand chooses art as one of its medium to communicate the brand’s 142 years of heritage to today’s consumers.
Hong Kong Jewellery visited the brand’s booth located in the Collector’s Lounge in Art Basel 2017 Hong Kong and spoke with their chief marketing officer, Tim Sayler, to learn more about their project with Art Basel in relation to the brand’s development.
HKJM: Hong Kong Jewellery
TS: Tim Sayler
HKJM: Audemars Piguet has been partnering with Art Basel since 2013 and had launched the annual Art Commission since 2015. How did these projects help the brand expand its reach and influence in the market?
TS: The purpose of these engagements in art is to put Audemars Piguet in a context that consumers could relate to; it is a context with culture, creativity and style. Consumers today do not buy a watch to tell the time but they buy it for the emotional value and the art. The results of these projects are strong as they open new audiences that we were unable to reach before and it gave us the opportunity to engage with them deeply.
While it is not possible to measure the correlation between these projects and the impact on sales figures, we could see that the performance of the brand as a whole is doing very well, given the current difficult situations in the watchmaking industry and our engagement in art is one of the factors behind our success.
HKJM: This year and in previous projects you chose to work with Chinese artists, is this choice a move to engage the Chinese audience?
TS: It is a coincidence. Each time we try to vary the artists we work with a bit. In the past we have worked with artists from the United Kingdom, France, Austria and Geneva. We work with Cheng Ran this time because his work is relevant everywhere in the world. We also work with Chilean artist Sebastian Errazuriz, who created the tree installation in front of our booth.
Audemars Piguet is not a supporter of contemporary art in general but we focus on two topics that are relevant to us. The first focus is where we are from. We work with artists to help us tell the story of our origin. For instance Cheng Ran’s video installation set in Vallée de Joux, Le Brassus. Another focus is complexity and precision, which is at the heart of our watchmaking tradition. We are interested in what the artists create in the end and how our brand is viewed through their eyes.
HKJM: Today’s high-end customers are more demanding than ever and they have more options. What do you think they are looking for and how does your brand satisfy them?
TS: Competition in the high-end market is getting tougher. People are not only looking for a product but they are buying into a value and a brand, which needs to stand for something. Our brand is extremely unique, authentic and relevant; this is our identity. We are an independent, family-owned brand that is focused in preserving the company that is rooted in one place. People resonate with our story. I think customers today look for experiences and when they step into our booth they can get real life experience, not just here (in Art Basel) but also in other events, exhibitions and of course in our boutiques.
We are not the only watchmaking brand with such heritage and history, but we are the only one who presents it in a cool, contemporary way. Other brands also tell their stories but they do it in a more classic, traditional way. We tell our story with contemporary eyes. For example we are now building a new museum about our history by partnering with the most successful young architects. We found a language that is relevant today to tell the story of our brand; for now it is art.
HKJM: Audemars Piguet has launched the last of a trilogy of haute joaillerie timepieces (the Diamond Punk, Diamond Fury and Diamond Outrage) in early 2017, could you tell us about their inspiration and the message they have for today’s women?
TS: The trilogy is crafted by our in-house artisans with a high level of craftsmanship. It showcases a design that is disruptive, contemporary and expressive. Our watches usually do not go unnoticed and this time we push the envelope and achieve the highest level of in-house sophistication. The watches are inspired by the values of the brand, namely independence and a pioneering, strong spirit. Women today could and should wear watches like these. We have decided that we will not make jewellery but we will continue to craft jewellery timepieces. The first piece of our next haute joaillerie timepiece will be launched in 2018 SIHH (Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie Genève).
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