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Is Georges-Henri Meylan the new Saint Bernard of Fine...
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Is Georges-Henri Meylan the new Saint Bernard of Fine Watchmaking?

Sunday, 27 January 2013
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Christophe Roulet
Editor-in-chief, HH Journal

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5 min read

Former CEO of Audemars Piguet and at the head of MELB Holding, Georges-Henri Meylan now steers the fortunes of Hautlence and H. Moser & Cie.

He worked wonders at Audemars Piguet and is now giving Hautlence and H. Moser & Cie, both struggling at the time of takeover, the benefit of his experience. Is Georges-Henri Meylan Fine Watchmaking’s very own Saint Bernard? We interviewed him at the Geneva Time Exhibition where the two companies were exhibiting.

What's the strategy behind the takeover of Hautlence and H. Moser & Cie?

Georges-Henri Meylan : A group of us, all friends including several ex-Audemars Piguet and not forgetting my two sons who are also in the business, thought to ourselves, why not start something together? Hautlence’s original shareholders, with the exception of Guillaume Tetu who remains CEO, had jumped ship before the company filed for bankruptcy. It was an opportunity worth considering, but only as part of a group of two or three brands that would allow us to develop synergies and in doing so reduce costs and restore margins.

Hence H. Moser & Cie.

Exactly. At the same time as the Hautlence acquisition, I was contacted by Thomas Straumann, who owned H. Moser & Cie. He asked me to carry out an audit of the company and propose ways to turn it around. Which I did, on the one condition I could take the helm. This explains the acquisition of Moser two months ago… and why we haven’t yet had time to do much with it. One of our first steps was to reduce the workforce from 75 to 50 people. The next step will be to redevelop the market with new products and, most importantly, build on the fabulous saga of a brand that originated in Russia at the turn of the nineteenth century, and which has roots both in Le Locle and in Schaffhausen.

Both the companies you bought were in difficulty. Isn't this a little risky?

The alternative would have been to buy profitable firms, but for how much? With Moser and Hautlence, we’re starting from the ground up. It’s a bit of a gamble but I’m confident, and enjoying my new role as coordinator for the two brands. It’s more work than I imagined but I really don’t see myself spending my “retirement” in front of the TV.

What are the implications for the brands?

Moser comes with a certain number of movements, and while we do need to simplify, even stabilise what there is, it means we don’t have to build calibres at high cost, which paves the way for cost-cutting. As for its industrial base, the brand does a small amount of machining and assembly, and can count on a vast network of outside contractors. Then there’s the escapement manufacturer Precision Engineering, which we aim to put back on its feet. We already have quite a high level of demand, particularly for balance springs. Ultimately we want to increase production from the current one thousand or so watches a year to between two and three thousand.
As for Hautlence, where we came onboard earlier and can count on Guillaume Tetu, a product-focused man if ever there was one, the first developments are already on show here. They should allow us to extend the brand’s circle and its distribution. In fact we’re setting up a company in Hong Kong that will represent Moser, Hautlence but also De Bethune in Hong Kong, obviously, and also Greater China.

Are you looking at other acquisitions?

We are looking into something but it’s too soon to go into detail. We are also considering extending the circle of shareholders to create a wider investment platform. But one thing at a time. First we need to put things into place at Hautlence and Moser.

Were the two brands' difficulties the result of strategic errors?

I’d say it’s more to do with the fact that the original investors in the two firms were complete strangers to the watch industry. In fact Thomas Straumann agreed as much himself. As far as we’re concerned, we aim to get both companies on a financial even keel by 2015, the economic climate permitting, of course !

Hautlence rethinks its positioning

Eight years after it was established, Hautlence changed hands, bought out by MELB Holding, an investment company that includes former Audemars Piguet Chief Executive Georges-Henri Meylan. “The takeover, in 2012, has implications on two levels,” comments Guillaume Tetu, the one remaining original shareholder and still at the head of the firm. “Firstly the continued existence of the company which now counts Georges-Henri Meylan among its shareholders, a man whose reputation precedes him and who can open doors for us. In this respect, you could almost say a new brand is born. Secondly Hautlence’s positioning, which was built on what was effectively a single product offering, despite the number of product references, namely watches priced at CHF 60,000. Hence the first step has been to rethink the collections ready for a fresh start.”

The brand has considerably revised the structure of its ranges, making them less complex and, importantly, opening them up to a more affordable segment. “Hautlence has clearly-defined architecture and design concepts, and these underpin the new organisation of our products into two distinct lines,” Tetu continues. “These are Origine which, as its name suggests, takes in the firm’s “historic” watches and Avant-Garde, which proposes more affordable models, starting at CHF 30,000. We still have our concept watches which culminate at around CHF 200,000 for the HL2.2, but we’ll be offsetting this with products unveiled this year and which will sell for under CHF 20,000. We’ve reduced the number of product references from 50 to 16.” Hautlence, which from 300 watches in 2008 saw sales gradually decline, intends building on this new impetus. The brand has set the bar at 250 watches for this year with a longer-term target of five hundred.

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