Bloomberg Businessweek USA - October 30, 2017

WATCHES Bloomberg Pursuits October 30, 2017

S

eeing the attention his letter to Swiss
National Bank President Thomas
Jordan drew within the indus-
try, Meylan decided to address another
threat, the smartwatch, with a stunt. In
early 2016, Moser unveiled a spoof of the
Apple Watch, which had made its debut
months before. The 24,900-franc Swiss
Alp Watch was a mechanical replica of
Apple’s device without any functional-
ity other than telling time. (It was also a

creative way to use some leftover rectan-

gular cases Meylan was trying to get rid

of.) In the low-budget video that promotes

the timepiece, Meylan encourages people

to “get a life and upgrade to a mechani-

cal watch.” Because it can’t make phone

calls or send messages, he argues, the Alp

reconnects people face-to-face. How’s that

for functionality? Moser sold about 200.

Meylan says his love of timepieces and

his sharp tongue were both inherited.

Raised in Le Brassus, a little town that’s

home to watchmakers Blancpain and

Audemars Piguet, he spent his teenage

summer holidays working at the latter,

where his father, Georges-Henri, was

CEO for almost a decade. “Being born into

watchmaking gives me more legitimacy

to criticize. It’s like self-criticism,” Meylan

says. “I got that from my father: to be direct

and provoke a discussion.”

That contrarian attitude at first led

Delicate watch components are kept safe from dust in the Moser workshop

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