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Christophe Golay on watch culture
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Christophe Golay on watch culture

Thursday, 23 October 2008
By Flavia Giovannelli
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Flavia Giovannelli

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4 min read

The debate could seem endless. Fed by tradition and history, the watchmaking industry cannot avoid the debate. What are its values? Have they changed? Do they have any future? Christophe Golay, “custom-made” specialist who is not looking for glory or power gives us his answers.

“Someday, my son, you will be a watchmaker”. No, this is not how the story began for Christophe Golay, contrary to the numerous fairy tales that please so many of the top watchmaking brands. Born into a family of intellectuals, he went into the same profession as his father, that of engineer, and chose first of all to specialise in chemistry. He remembers it today with a smile, that time of his life now seems so far away and removed from his current occupations. Quite quickly, he insists: “watchmaking became part of my genes. One day I discovered that one of my ancestors was in this line, and this represented for me the beginnings of an explanation for the irresistible and a priori inexplicable attraction that I feel for this profession. Because I always knew that one day I would be a watchmaker. It’s a passion, so…. “

A magnet for the passionate

Everything changed upon the death of his father, when Christophe Golay inherited a watch marked “R.Golay”, that he imagined was custom made. Already, he wanted to have it checked out and to meet its creator. After some months of research, his first disappointment awaited him: what he thought was a custom-made watch was nothing more than an assembled group of already-existing elements. However, it was this inheritance that would set him on the path towards watchmaking. One day, in a watch shop, he met an alter ego in terms of watchmaking madness, Emile Spierer. The two men got on well and decided to take it a step further. In August 2000, sharing a common dream, Christophe Golay and Emile Spierer decided to start up a small company, specialising exclusively in custom-made timepieces.

A new way of thinking was born and Christophe Golay, like the company he co-directed, never wavered from it. He went through the industry’s overheating keeping his distance a little and refusing to take the well-trodden paths. To get as close as possible to what he wanted: “What I love in this trade, is the gap that exists between a “useless” product and the strict rules that must be followed to fabricate it.” If he had to sum up the approach of Golay & Spierer in a few words, he proposes: “authentic, with a wealth of encounters and surprises”. Since its foundation, his company attracts those who are passionate about watchmaking and who foster very personal dreams, refusing the heavy artillery of the big brands. “We accompany them, and we discover original solutions ourselves every day”, Christophe Golay sums up.

Golay Spierer was established on January 1st 2001 © Golay Spierer
Golay Spierer was established on January 1st 2001 © Golay Spierer
Never to make an investment

Seeing the general acceleration that is driving a very large part of the industry, it quickly comes to mind that the approach of Christophe Golay is almost part of a counter-current. This man refuses to be taken in by the siren’s song. Small nuance: there are some acceptable concessions for a company like Golay & Spiere. Like, for example, working for a silent partner, which, although it does not operate in a niche as original and exclusive as the company’s, can still share common values.

And the future? Crisis or no crisis, in any case, Christophe Golay is convinced that a turn around is in the offing. “For a long time, those who were at the helm set out some insane, almost unrealistic, requirements. We lived through the period when an aesthetic piece had to look perfect under a three or ten-times magnifying glass. Everyone was trying to outdo each other. Now when everyone is running after suppliers because of the market overheating, standards are being lowered without any mention of it. Therefore, on one side it is common sense that is returning, but we need to be careful not to go too far in the opposite direction”. In a nutshell, his sense of watchmaking values can be contained in only one word: respect. Advice for the upcoming generations who want to take up the profession? “You have to know why you are acting, why you favour this or that solution, so that the approach is not artificial. And don’t forget about the pleasure that goes with it!”

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