Anne-Gaëlle Quinet, Head of Complications at Audemars Piguet, looks at how the brand keeps pushing further.
Swiss watch brand Audemars Piguet has firmly positioned itself as one of the world leaders in the watchmaking industry. Over the past few years, the brand has become the go-to for celebrities, and well-informed watchmakers hoping to get their hands on the latest timepieces, which are produced in limited quantities. The brand has found the perfect balance between awareness and exclusivity, creating a hype that can only be found at very few companies today.
At the recent edition of Dubai Watch Week, Audemars Piguet hosted a large-scale immersive exhibition that explored the Manufacture’s endless journey to new horizons. Titled “Seek Beyond”, it showcased some of the most unique and complicated watches it has created to date. It also looked at how the brand has repeatedly ventured outside of its comfort zone to push the boundaries of watchmaking and how this mindset has fuelled the teams’ creativity.
One of those creative minds is Anne-Gaëlle Quinet, Head of Complications. In her role, Quinet is tasked with gathering clients’ feedback and bringing her expertise in watchmaking to the table to help ensure the brand keeps its momentum and continues to surprise clients. Here, we find out more about Audemars Piguet’s participation in Dubai Watch Week and what’s next for the brand.
Let’s start with Dubai Watch Week. Tell us more about the brand’s participation.
The exhibition’s message and title were ‘Seek Beyond’, the same name as the marketing campaign we launched this year. We had almost 100 pieces that were fantastically displayed, expressing our know-how, craftsmanship and innovation. We had more than 7,000 visitors, we were busy all the time, our teams worked very hard, and it was very successful. It was interesting to see how people are interested in watchmaking.
We had different rooms expressing different elements of the brand – craftsmanship in terms of engraving stones. We had a specific area dedicated to the chronograph, and especially our complications, and we had our fabulous Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet Ultra-Complication Universelle, which recently won the “Aiguille d’Or” Grand Prix at GPHG. It was a great exhibition.
Tell us about the Universelle, what makes it so special, and why do you think it was chosen for the award?
It is the most complicated wristwatch that Audemars Piguet has ever created, but it’s not only in terms of the number of complications, it’s because we have created a highly complicated watch that’s also easy to wear and use. To create something complicated is one thing because we combine all the know-how of our master watchmakers but creating it in a contemporary way is special. Nowadays, clients want to wear their watches, and they want to set them easily, that was our challenge, and we did it. That’s why we won the prize because it’s very impressive to have this number of complications that fit into a 42mm case.
The exhibition at Dubai Watch Week paid tribute to your past, present, and future. Why was it important to bring these particular watches to Watch Week, and showcase them to the audience in the Middle East?
I think the audience in the Middle East is very interested in watchmaking in general. We are very close to the Seddiqi family, and this is in fact the only watch fair we participate in around the world. So, this is really the only time we can reconnect with the press and clients, taking this opportunity to showcase different watches, and we need to share those moments.
Tell us what your role entails then on a day-to-day basis, what are your main priorities?
My role is focused on promoting complications to our clients and supporting markets to sell those complications. Of course, I have fantastic teams who help me in different fields and markets. I believe it’s essential to be in contact with clients and to listen to them. It’s also important for me to convey this message to our Headquarters and discuss the future of complications.
How important is it to have client feedback in terms of when you’re looking at what you’re doing moving forward? Is that something that you take into consideration as a brand?
Definitely. This is very important because if you don’t listen to your clients, how do you know what they are looking for? We know that our clients love the brand, and we don’t want to disappoint them, so you must always be creative but also bring client feedback to the company. Then, when you meet clients again, they will see that you have taken their comments into consideration.
So there’s this fine balance between making sure they’re surprised and making sure you’re producing something that is on brand?
Exactly, it’s very important. You must keep surprising, and we do that with new innovative materials that our clients love very much. For example, with the Universelle, no one expected us to create such a number of complications on a small case diameter. Again, this one was the highlight in terms of complications of this year. My role moving forward is to broaden the diversity of complications that we offer, and we have to maintain the attractiveness of our complications for collectors and for new clients.
Can you tell us about the women’s segment?
During Dubai Watch Week, I was really happy to meet with a group of women during an intimate brunch. We talked about their expectations, and it was an interesting conversation. Women are a big part of our consumers, so we must consider them.
What’s the biggest challenge you face in your role, and how do you overcome that challenge?
The biggest challenge is that we have many demands in terms of complications, and as you know, we don’t produce in large numbers. So, the challenge is to satisfy most of the demands of our regular and loyal clients, but also to attract new clients. You have to fine-tune this demand and supply.
Another challenge is the importance of meeting with clients. After the pandemic, we were disconnected in a way, so I think it’s essential to build on this and understand what our clients are looking for.
When it comes to supply and demand, obviously, you want to be able to supply your clients with what they want, but also keep that exclusivity by not becoming too mass. How do you find that fine balance?
It’s about fine-tuning because, of course, even though we might want to produce more watches, we cannot. Why? For several reasons. Firstly, we have to keep our quality standard very high. The know-how is something that we also must maintain and transmit. For example, we created a programme to teach apprentices about our know-how and craftsmanship. This could be in restoration, and we also have some masters on hairspring complications for the tourbillon, which is unique in the industry, so we are working with apprentices to train them on this. It’s impressive.
We have to find the perfect balance between keeping our quality standard and not delivering too much because this is what it means to be a luxury brand.
How do you ensure that you have the best quality and the best-skilled artisans when it comes to your craftsmanship? And can you expand more on the apprenticeship programmes?
Part of our DNA is hand-finishing. Hand finishing has two different sides. The first is the aesthetic side, but it also improves the function of a watch. So, you have these two roles, and with our programme, we are looking to teach apprentices how to maintain this hand-finishing process, which is unique to us. This is what Audemars Piguet is known for. It’s about being contemporary, but also having a boldness, and that’s what makes us a forward-thinking brand.
Again, it’s always a combination between tradition and innovation. So, you teach tradition, but young people can bring innovation, and create a new style of hand-finishing, or bring new ideas to the table, and we are always open to this. To keep the quality criteria, we have quality control to ensure that our watches are to our standards.
How would you describe the universe of Audemars Piguet today, and how would you explain the vision as you see it?
If I had to use one word to describe Audemars Piguet, it would be forward-thinking. If you look at our past in terms of our watches and our collaborations, we have always been forward-thinking. If I talk about complications, back in 1986, Jacqueline Dimier created a thinner, self-winding, tourbillon, for example. Then, if we talk about collaborations, for many years, we have been involved in music, sport, fashion, and collaborations, which are very forward-thinking concepts. I believe in many different areas, we have been forward-thinking, and for me, Audemars Piguet is the kind of brand that’s always looking to seek beyond.
What would you still like to do in your role that you haven’t had the chance to do yet?
I joined Audemars Piguet three years ago, and I have held this position for one year now at this point, I feel I have collected all the clients’ feedback, so I would like to see this feedback come to life and bring my own experience of watchmaking to the brand. It’s a perfect merge of two worlds because I like to share my knowledge of watchmaking with clients and with HQ. Combining this with client feedback and using this feedback in our products and complications is the goal I’m looking for.
What message would you send to our readers to highlight what the brand is doing, and what’s coming up?
Stay tuned because we have a huge surprise coming very soon and be ready because I think it will be very successful. The 150-year anniversary of Audemars Piguet is coming up this year, and we have plenty of surprises, especially in terms of complications. You will see that many, many things are coming. To quote our CEO François-Hnery Bennahmias, the best is yet to come.
