The Rise Of The Phoenix: The Favre Leuba Story

As one of the oldest Swiss watchmakers, with a history of 287 years, Favre Leuba has always been known for innovative and reliable timepieces. It is also the first Swiss watch to be imported into India by the East India Company in 1865. This connection with the Indian subcontinent continued after World War II and through the 1960s and 70s. The 1960s were the golden years with the release of some of their most popular models like the Bathy and Bivouac.

Yet, Favre Leuba has had a tumultuous journey with its share of heady success and repeated shutdowns over the nearly three centuries of existence. In 2024, they are revitalised under the helm of Patrik Hoffmann, and the excitement of the industry was palpable. Hoffmann came to Favre Leuba earlier in the year as the chairman—a seasoned professional with an illustrious three-decade career in the watch industry including a highly successful tenure as the Chief Executive Officer of Ulysse Nardin.

Hoffmann is leading Favre Leuba’s most-awaited comeback with speed and scale. We saw a glimpse of it at the recently concluded Geneva Watch Days 2024. Outlook Luxe caught up with the man of the moment to learn about his grand plans to revive the second-oldest watch brand in the world to its original glory.

Edited excerpts

1. Favre Leuba as a brand has had lots of ups and downs, what have you learned from the past to make the future brighter?

When I looked into the roots of the brand, I realised if we have to succeed as a company then the product has to succeed. That’s why I decided to look at the history of Favre Leuba with whatever happened before the quartz crisis in the early 1980s. I wanted to bring those product stories back, especially now that consumers are looking for true values. Generation Y or Generation Z research companies—they want to know about the owners, the company’s philosophy, the sustainability plan, etc. There is also a revival of the past and nostalgia so I think it is the right time to bring them back Favre Leuba classics.

2. You came up with three new product lines in your first phase, Deep Blue, Sea Sky and Chief but we didn’t see Bathy and Bivouac. What’s the strategy behind it?

It was clearly ‘time’; we didn’t have enough time. Every timepiece is an instrument for me but I want to get away from what happened in the past decade where each Favre Leuba was an instrument piece. I know the consumer needs a timepiece that he or she can wear everyday, I call it an active timepiece. I understood early on that the Bivouac had to be reintroduced so I initiated the development of a new Bivouac early on. The new Bivouac will be a wearable timepiece in size and thickness. I haven’t dived enough deep into the Bathy yet, it’s taking shape in my head. As of now, I am concentrating on the Bivouac.

3. The Favre Leuba launches at Geneva Watch Days 2024 were commercial lines. Do you see this strengthening the brand’s market positioning and opening newer markets when compared to niche collections?

That is absolutely the right assessment and our plans are ambitious. I call it a volume brand strategy that will appeal to a much larger group.

4. With this rejuvenation of Favre Leuba, what will be your distribution strategy?

It has to be a practical approach. It has to be volume-driven and we see the main markets in Central Europe, Eastern Europe, the USA, India goes without saying, the Middle East and Japan. Except for the United States, where Favre Leuba doesn’t have a name, in the rest of the countries the brand already has deep roots.

5. What is your messaging for millennials who are being introduced to the Favre Leuba brand for the first time?

I would say one is the value proposition and the second is the design. Then there is the history and credibility of the brand. I will have to play these three primary cards to the new generation of buyers.

6. Can you throw light on the 22 new timepieces from the three collection launched at the Geneva Watch Days?

One of the challenges was to choose which lines to start with from an array of beautiful and powerful product lines from our archives. We had so many to consider, the Moonraider, the Fellowship or even the Harpoon. Instead, the first line we decided to go ahead with was the Deep Blue because it’s celebrating the 60th anniversary this year. Where we take one model and make it ultra-vintage and show what the future is.

The second model we put in the most effort is the Chief collection. The brief to our designer was to go as thin as possible. It is a 100m water-resistant watch with a thickness of just 10mm. It has the handwriting of our designers and myself because we clearly show we have a product offering that is an every-occasion watch. If you are attending a wedding or going to the beach, it’s very versatile.

The third line, Sea Sky, comes with two dials in blue and black. We added superlumina for a vintage look. I like watches with a long power reserve, so we equipped the new watches with La Joux-Perret movement. We chose this movement not just because of the long power reserve—60 hours in this case—but also because we wanted a chronograph with a column wheel. So, we have Deep Blue for the water, the Chief representing the land, and the Sea Sky for the air, all covering the three universes.

7. You started with Favre Leuba as a chairman and now have taken on the role of the CEO. Why?

By designation, I am still the chairman. As you know every CEO wants to become a chairman at some stage because you think it’s a bit less work and less reporting. But somehow I’m doing the job of a CEO that was not planned but that’s where we are right now. I enjoy my hands-on role in running the company on a day-to-day basis. What I enjoy the most is being in touch with the product. I am happy to have created these beautiful products with my team and now seeing the reaction of customers makes me happy.