George Henri Meylan et Guillaume Tétu HAUTLENCE

Guillaume Tétu: ten years of Hautlence

In the shadows for quite a long time, this brand’s vision succeeded in meeting the requirements of connoisseurs from the general public who sought different timepieces.

By Vincent Daveau
Contributor

HAUTLENCE – an anagram of its hometown Neuchâtel – was one of the pioneers of what is today called “new watchmaking”. This innovating maison, which incidentally will celebrate its ten-year anniversary this September, was one of the first brands to integrate into what we commonly call niche markets. Since its establishment, the brand has associated an original and one-of-a-kind in-house mechanical movement with a powerful and deliberately innovating design, which escaped categorization.

Today, a few weeks from the celebration of an important anniversary, it was only natural to interview Guillaume Tétu, co-founder and director of the brand. We wanted to ask him about the highlights of his adventure and about the expectations he has for the maison in the coming months.

Guillaume Tétu Guillaume Tétu

At the top of his to-do list is restoring the brand, as he explains: “Ten years ago, we were kids thriving on the type of ambition that makes you feel you could move mountains. That was in 2004, when we launched the brand with products that stood out from other watches being produced at the time. We wanted to reconsider the time reading trends of that moment. Developing the rod – that mechanical element from the beginning of the Industrial Revolution – was the signature that a young brand needed to stand out from the rest. The craze that ensued for our first products showed us that we were on the right path. The following years enabled us to strengthen our strategy and to be more present in the market. Around 2007-2008, we were very successful and it seemed that we couldn’t do anything wrong. However, success is volatile and the 2008-2009 watchmaking crisis left us no choice but to make some cuts to be able to get over the worst. It was also during this period that Renaud Retz, one of the founders, chose to go back to being a freelancer. Those were rocky times and we had to find new markets and spread the good word in a universe where competition was well integrated”.

“In 2010, things got more difficult and it took George-Henri Meylan and MELB Holding to acquire a majority stake of the brand in 2012 to restore our hopes.

On the bright side, though, these difficult times granted us the opportunity to reconsider the brand’s positioning so as to ensure its smooth-running for years to come. Today, the most realistic option of guaranteeing our long-term existence is to restructure our collections to include more affordable products without ceasing to create unique timepieces. Our current goal is to focus on timepieces that are totally impregnated with the Hautlence codes whilst at the same time being more commercially structured to thus have an impact in the market. Or, to use a more literal term, we focus on more affordable pieces. According to experts, our Destination collection –in spite of featuring a traditional play of hands– is proof that new collections can also undoubtedly be filled with the maison’s DNA. This may seem silly but since we released this new range, we have been faring well and all our efforts are starting to pay off”.

Guillaume Tétu & George-Henri Meylan George-Henri Meylan & Guillaume Tétu

“This feeling of seeing light at the end of the tunnel made us wonder about our brand’s history. It was then when we realized that we needed substance to make the transition from being a creative watchmaking company to being a true brand.

We need ‘story-telling’; we need to have a message that helps those looking for some distinguishing characteristic to identify themselves with the values conveyed or promoted by the brand. This is at the same time a marketing strategy and writing our legend. Today, we have carried out considerable amounts of work with Bertrand Meylan and we are moving steadily forward.

“To stand out from the rest, we had to dare and try a radical positioning. We did so by creating the Gentleman Rebel’s Club. Whatever may be said about Eric Cantona, the fact remains that he is a legend. As he says himself, he has been offered the chance to be the ambassador of watches but he is no “sandwich man”, as he calls it. In order for this kind of strategy to work, an ambassador needs to adhere to the product. Fortunately, this lucky, multi-talented artist felt the manufacture’s potential and accepted the invitation to accompany it in its adventures. Furthermore, the sportsman and actor has a true artistic sensitivity. Our partnership is open to participation on both sides and the maison intends to listen to him for the elaboration of its products, thus combining the brand’s strategic orientation and the vision of the one who is lending his image. Cantona, a fond collector of Street Art, has a trained eye and sees things clearly. As it is, the coming collections will definitely have a little something of the Cantona spirit.”

Muirhead, Meylan & Tétu Bill Muirhead, George-Henri Meylan & Guillaume Tétu

In daring to go forward, Hautlence has chosen to be in the limelight. As Tétu rightly states: “We truly lack something in our public image because we are only familiar to insiders… But big business is not done with only a few chosen ones. To ensure long-term success, we need to reach out to a larger audience. By proceeding differently, by daring to reconsider our position and sell more affordable timepieces, we are not selling our image but rather making ourselves available to those who want access to our creations. At the same time, by daring to take Eric Cantona on as our ambassador, we are indicating that after ten years of maturing we intend to up the tempo to reach the fame we all seek. The product is here, I am a product man, I am a rugby man and my products are ready to blend in and to show their potential. Today, we have received the help of an ex-footballer with the soul of a rugby man. Together, we will give Hautlence collections a new dimension so that they are recognized in the watchmaking world as symbols of what we call the Gentleman Rebel’s Club; the Club being an intimate circle of experts who want to give a new dimension to their ambitions through the choices that they make.”

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