FHH - Time to Act

Fine watchmaking continues to map out its future – in words, at least, thanks to the FHH’s third annual Forum de la Haute Horlogerie.

WORLDTEMPUS - 6 May 2010

Elizabeth Doerr


Now that the worst of the crippling economic crisis of the last three years has subsided, the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH) provides food for thought by declaring that it is time to act. At least that is the message that the third Forum de la Haute Horlogerie, which took place yesterday at Geneva’s World Economic Forum, wanted to get across to its participants.

Like last year, more than 100 participants comprising leading decision-makers of the FHH’s peripheral and partner brands, independent watchmakers, state dignitaries, ambassadors and functionaries of the FHH and globally renowned journalists attended. Notably – and regrettably – absent were any representatives of the Swatch Group, the world’s largest watch group. “Our challenges are global,” said chairwoman and managing director of the FHH Fabienne Lupo upon opening the conference moderated by André Schneider, former managing director of the World Economic Forum. “This Forum is not for administering facts, but rather to open avenues, suggest ideas, and provide some food for thought.”

Her sentiments were echoed by state councilor of the canton of Geneva François Longchamp, who said, “Our world is undergoing a process of far-reaching change.”

Luc Ferry, French philosopher and former French minister of youth, education, and research spoke yesterday in Geneva © Worldtempus /Elizabeth Doerr

Bohemian rhapsody

The Forum opened with a genuine bang: the much-anticipated talk by Luc Ferry, French philosopher and former French minister of youth, education, and research. Ferry magnetically spoke on the importance of culture and ethics. Much of his message centered around the ideal of the Bohemians, which he pinpoints as the start of modern values in Europe. “It was an ideal of life that broke away from tradition,” he explained. “To invent a new world you have to get rid of bourgeois traditions and start fresh.” He cites the importance of this as having led to the age of mass consumption, which exceeds the thresholds of traditional values. In other words, without the Bohemians there would have been no Steve Jobs. “Innovate or die,” seems to be today’s maxim according to him. “History is being pushed forward by benchmarking.” However, constant innovation is also a traditional theme. Ferry thus summed up that he believes that consumerism will continue, thanks in great part to new consumer groups in countries such as China and India.

Surprising facts

Laurent Haug, founder and CEO of Lift Conference, which provides consulting services to help organizations understand and anticipate technological change, explained that upon the twentieth anniversary of the Internet in 2009, 40 percent of all its users are located in Asia – compared to only 13 percent in North America. He also stated that the web is ephemeral and that “we need to be pragmatic” in choosing what buzz to pay attention to there. “It is a world in constant change,” he underscored.

Martin Wolf, associate editor and chief economics commentator for the Financial Times, declared the United States fully out of the economic crisis © Worldtempus / Louis Nardin

His talk was followed by the dynamic Martin Wolf, associate editor and chief economics commentator for the Financial Times. Wolf entertainingly presented data to explain that – surprisingly – the United States is now fully out of the economic crisis and back to the point it started from before the fall of 2008. According to Wolf, it is the only country that can be declared as having returned to its previous level. He also explained that the way China –currently the world’s number two economy in terms of GDP – is growing, “it will be the richest country in the world in 20 years.”

Emerging

A talk with leading Bollywood actress Shabana Azmi, former member of Indian parliament, social activist, and the first Indian recipient of the Gandhi International Peace Prize, provided insight into Indian culture. “India lives in several centuries simultaneously,” she explained.

Leading Bollywood actress Shabana Azmi, former member of Indian parliament and social activist, spoke with the FT’s South Asia bureau chief James Lamont © Worldtempus / Louis Nardin

She was followed by China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador He Yafei. Yafei provided much background to the Chinese way of life as it relates to consumerism and explained that the average Chinese only had 343 yens’ worth of disposable income in 1974. Today, this figure is about 19,000. “Our government tries to maintain a balance between economic growth and the quality of economic growth,” he explained. “The reality in China is that it is fast-growing, but that there are lots of pressures.” He stated that one way to avoid a future crisis in this populous country would be to shift the country’s economy from being export-driven to promoting domestic consumerism. “Globalization has provided us with opportunities that have never been there before,” he said, citing inflation as a very real danger and avoiding it should be the number-one priority.

China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador He Yafei © Worldtempus / Louis Nardin

A segment entitled “new directions” featured talks by design historian, critic and head of the Jewellery Design Lab at the Politecnico di Milano Professor Alba Cappellieri; Net-a-Porter’s CEO Mark Sabba on its Internet sales of haute couture; and Tom Savigar, strategy and innovation director at The Future Laboratory, a London agency. Savigar admonished the high-powered group to “think more laterally” and associate their brands more with art in a well-rounded way. He also highly recommended continuing down the path of “apptailing.”

Business as usual? These speakers collectively told us yesterday that this would not be advisable in the current era.