"We are with people who have the knowledge and the respect from this industry"
Hautlence watches are some of the most beautiful and intricate watches in the world. The company which is based in Neufchatel, Switzerland, was formed by Guillaume Tetu and has recently been acquired by MELB Holding SA, which is propelling the brand to further success. With limited numbers and limited collections the brand is not only luxury, but also exclusive. The breathtaking designs speak for themselves and are climbing to similar status of luxury watch brands that have been around for hundreds of years.
Guillaume Tetu, it’s a great pleasure to meet you. Could you tell our readers what is the essence of your brand?
HAUTLENCE is a brand made of architecture and design. We created the brand in 2005 around this frame of mind, and we wanted to create something of inspiration that was new on the watchmaking market.
Which is the most precious piece that you have in your collection right now?
The HL2. The HL2 is the piece that we have here, and it is a concept watch that we launched in 2011. It is a masterpiece. We have three patents on this and we have 550 pieces at the moment. We have been working on the development of this watch for more than four years. It’s really exciting to work on the HL2.
We are planning to do more editions of this watch with diamonds and will continue to make it really unique. It is quite exciting.
The former CEO of Audemars Piguet recently joined Hautlence. How important is his involvement in the company?
When you have a partner like Georges-Henri Meylan who’s the former CEO of Audemars Piguet, a family owned company, it's pretty important. Now we are with people who have the knowledge and the respect from this industry.
We are all committed to the vision and we thank him for the doors he has opened up all over the
Is your brand currently present in the US?
Currently we have one point of sale in Florida, and only have two points of sale in the USA. One is the on the West Coast and the other is in Naples, Florida. People in the US and Florida like the brand. We know that we have a lot of interest on the coast of Florida, so we are in the position now to open one or two more points of sale.
What do you have in store for the future?
The years 2012-2013 were monumental for the brand. We have been clarifying the strategy; we have been creating new architecture, creating a new picture and a new universe. Now everything is clear in my mind and everything is clear with my partners so we can go ahead to continue to develop the brand. As of now we are a brand that serves 250 people a year. Our goal is to reach 800 to 1000 people a year. I think this is very attainable with the new collection, the new partnership movements and the continuation to develop amazing masterpieces. In parallel we also need to be consistently working on the design and development of the network to expand our institution
DEC- JAN 2013/14
Are Hautlence timepieces mainly marketed to men?
Historically Hautlence watches are very mechanical and the design is strong. We have developed a lot of our products for men, but on the other hand we have many women who are now looking to purchase from our brand.
I would say about five percent of our customers are women, it seems small but that is still good percentage of women. We have done designs that are dedicated to women, they are beautiful designs with diamonds and they are really elegant.
world. Now there is trust in the brand, people were excited about Hautlence before, but that excitement had limits. Now we have made a real connection with these people.