Before Quinting, a watch company, appeared on the market in the late 1990s, the world did not even suspect that watches could be as transparent as “pure water” diamonds. Combining Swiss watchmaking traditions and cutting-edge technology, Quinting managed to occupy a special place in the very closed segment of luxury watches in just 15 years. Today, the company's models are sold in more than 25 countries in the most prestigious places, such as the famous Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, Paris, Geneva, Milan, Shanghai, New York and Moscow.
Our interlocutor is Pascal Berkla, an outstanding engineer and today's president of Quinting, whom we were lucky to meet in the exclusive Damas boutique during his next visit to Dubai.
Pascal, the Quinting brand is well known in the watch world. What new things did you present at the annual Swiss watchmaking exhibitions in 2009?
Our exposition at the SIHH 2009 Haute Horlogerie exhibition in Geneva was simply magnificent! Although the exhibition was held at the beginning of the year, when everyone already understood that there was a crisis in the world. But, you know, sometimes times of crisis give us amazing opportunities. We started the year very well, and very quickly entered the markets we planned. We also took part in Basel World 2009 in April, although many watchmakers refused one exhibition in favor of another. We were very successful. And the best proof of our success was the desire of buyers from Europe, America, Russia, Hong Kong to purchase our new products. Our watches are a good investment. In Geneva and Basel, we introduced the new Sirius line, which was the logical continuation of our first lines Chronographe, Transparante and Quardinale. Sirius is an enchanting and mysterious watch of infinite transparency. Another novelty is the Black Top watch - a unique confrontation between Light and Darkness.
Pascal, what is the outstanding brand of Quinting?
The history of Quinting began with an unheard-of challenge - to create the first transparent watch in the world. We succeeded where other, even the greatest watch brands were defeated, and were able not only to create a completely unprecedented watch movement, but also to give a unique Quinting identity that cannot be faked: transparency. And the fake market is the scourge of all modern watch brands. No manufacturer can be sure that his products are not faked in the countries of Southeast Asia. Only Quinting watches cannot be faked.
When did you decide on such a bold experiment - the creation of transparent watches?
The idea of creating completely transparent watches was in the air, and the greatest minds of watchmaking tried to implement it for a century, but all attempts made remained futile. The mystery of transparency was inaccessible, and the world of watchmaking came to the unanimous conclusion that creating a completely transparent mechanism is not feasible.
But in 1993, a team of five Swiss engineers who were fond of watches, in which I was a research engineer, decided to combine my knowledge and experience and try to accomplish the impossible - to create an absolutely transparent chronograph.
The challenge has been thrown. We created the Quinting manufactory in Geneva, giving it the name of the youngest of the engineers of the team, Rene Quintin, and set about searching. The area of our research was not only watches, but also the automotive industry, aeronautics and optics. We wanted to solve the mystery of transparency. In general, it took us 7 years of research, and in 1999 the first prototype of an absolutely transparent chronograph with a unique sapphire mechanism in the world was published. This achievement was immediately marked by the prestigious Prix Officiel de la Revue des Montres.
What is the secret of Quinting?
Quinting is the only manufactory in the world that has been able to develop and patent a completely revolutionary mechanism consisting of transparent sapphires that cannot be copied. All components of this movement are exclusively made for Quinting and hand-assembled at our own factory in St. Blaise in Switzerland. Quinting mechanism consists of superimposed capped sapphire discs fixed and mobile, pre-metallized and coated with anti-reflective coating. This is a very complex system requiring extreme accuracy, since the parallelism of each disk requires absolute perfection, since the distance dividing each sapphire is from 0.08 to 0.01 millimeters. Movable disks provide the mechanism with arrows (one disk for each arrow) located between sapphires, and fixed disks located in front and behind the case serve to protect the mechanism.
Why are sapphires used in the mechanism?
Sapphire is recognized after the diamond as the most durable gem. Sapphire Quinting is the only stone in the world with the ability to rotate inside the watch, which proves the high quality criterion and the purity of the selected stones. For this reason, Quinting is supplied with sapphires exclusively from the watch gemstones of gemstones - pierrist. Sapphire cutting must be perfect, the concentration of the stone - perfect for the mechanism to function correctly. Finally, the assembly of these sapphires needs microscopic precision, and some mechanisms require the application of 13 sapphire discs. In addition, Quinting has developed a sophisticated assembly infrastructure that reproduces the utmost sterility of surgical operating rooms. The assembly process of the mechanism is carried out in the "white room", impervious to the smallest dust particles, in order to ensure perfect transparency. Sapphire, in contrast to metal, is a non-meltable and non-elastic material, the slightest error of one tenth of a millimeter leads to the loss of stone. This cutting-edge technology puts Quinting among the most sophisticated and sophisticated models on the market.
Pascal, how fragile are Quinting watches and who can repair them in case of breakage?
Quinting has created a unique in the world system of disengagement of wheel mechanisms, which allows in case of impact to automatically restore the watch, thus avoiding the return of the watch to the designer, as is the case with other brands.
How many owners of complex products were forced to return them to watchmakers due to faulty watch movements. Quinting wheel mechanisms are enclosed in special clutches that allow you to automatically restore them. If the hands of the chronograph counters are no longer at “noon”, just click on the appropriate control buttons, and, as if by magic, the “mysterious watchmaker” placed inside the mechanism will again place the counters at the exact time. In addition, during the final assembly, all our watches are hermetically coated with high-strength varnish, which protects them from scratches and damage.
When did the first Quinting watches go on sale?
The first Quinting watches appeared on the market in 2000. Our watches are not like any other. Today they can be seen on the greatest people of the world, such as Bill Clinton, Kofi Annan, Vladimir Putin, heads of state and government of different countries, including Switzerland. And this is the best praise for watchmakers. For the "mighty of this world" we have created a special Quinting Dove model, which shows a dove of peace. It is necessary that the people who govern the countries remember the fragility of our world and not allow it to be destroyed.
Quinting watches are successfully sold in Russia. Have you been there yourself?
I visit Moscow and St. Petersburg at least once every two to three months. I really like Russia and Russian people. In general, I really like to fly to our dealers in different countries of the world to feel the demand of this or that market for our products. Customer feedback is very important to me. It is the customers who make us come up with new masterpieces.
Are your watches popular in the Middle East?
Yes, people who value originality, originality and accuracy are happy to buy Quinting watches. In Dubai, our watches are presented in exclusive Damas boutiques, and I really like how they are sold.
Thanks for the conversation, Pascal. See you in Dubai.
