What makes a luxury watch brand tick? H. Moser & Cie head Bertrand Meylan on leading a historic Swiss watchmaker – and helming sister ‘baby brand’ Hautlence
- As CEO of Melb Luxe Subsidiaries, Bertrand Meylan has responsibility of both 200-year-old heritage brand H. Moser & Cie, and 2004-founded Hautlence
- Here he tells STYLE about the challenges of balancing engineering and artistry, embracing the digital space, and his own personal philosophies on time
In the latest instalment in STYLE’s Conversation series profiling the luxury world’s movers and shakers, Bertrand Meylan talks about the watch brands Hautlence and H. Moser & Cie. under his care as CEO of Melb Luxe Subsidiaries.
Describe a typical day in Bertrand Meylan’s life
The great part of my job is that there is no typical day. Some days I can be working on product planning for the next few years, and another day I can be travelling to different continents to meet with our partners and collectors. I am privileged to have a job that is different every day.
We are still a small team so we all have to go beyond our positions to help develop our brands, including both Hautlence and H. Moser & Cie., which is challenging yet very satisfying.
What achievements are you especially proud of in the last year or so?
During the pandemic, with less travelling or even no travelling, we have been able to build a strong community around H. Moser & Cie. in the region and we adapted to new technologies to bring us closer to our collectors. We also have cooperative projects with different parties – for example, between H. Moser and The Armoury, a highly specialised menswear brand.
Endeavour Small Seconds Total Eclipse is a very special timepiece for the H. Moser family, however our signature elements can still be seen. Another significant project would be with Undefeated, a globally recognised sportswear brand. Streamliner Chronograph Undefeated is a sport-inspired model built around the themes of victory and virtue.
Hautlence has been quiet for some time, but this year a fresh wind of change is blowing. To relaunch the brand with novelties, the Linear Series 1 and Vagabonde were presented at Geneva Watch Days, with original creative elements such as a case in the shape of a TV screen. But the design is still refined.
For Linear Series 1, in addition to the linear retrograde jumping hour, the timepiece is equipped with a flying tourbillon. For Vagabonde, the calibre B30 self-winding movement drives the central minutes disc and the three hour satellites located inside the sapphire disc.