Maximilian Büsser, Felix Baumgartner and Alessandro Zanetta with
The Hour Glass’ Michael Tay at the Rebels with a Cause event

We’re not competitors,” says MB&F’s Maximilian Büsser within 20min of our round-table discussion with him, Urwerk’s Felix Baumgartner as well as De Bethune’s Alessandro Zanetta. It never crossed my mind, I reassure them, and it’s true: despite always being lumped in the same category of “independent watchmakers”, the three brands they head are vastly different and unique, injected with their individual personalities and quirks.   

Moreover, it’s blatantly obvious that they share an easy camaraderie. They had started in the industry at a time when a long legacy and weighty heritage were still paramount to success. But in stormed these upstarts, breaking all venerated moulds of high horology with their contemporary, unorthodox timepieces.  

Today, some 10 (MB&F) to 18 years (Urwerk) later, they’re hailed as iconoclasts. Singapore Tatler chats with them about being the pirates of the industry. 

When you first started, your biggest challenge was changing the perception of watch collectors. Today, what are the challenges you face? 
Alessandro Zanetta (AZ): 
For De Bethune, we are fighting every day to let people know what we’re doing, and to find the right way to communicate that. The three of us were just discussing this, about how to get the message out, especially for us working on a certain detail of the technique, and people don’t really understand it. Only a few collectors really understand. We are small brands, but fortunately we have the Internet to pass the messages. But it’s really hard. We are fighting against some marketing machines.
Maximilian Büsser (MB): 
We whisper when everybody screams. You really have to find the right channel to allow people to hear what you say. It’s been a rollercoaster ride. In 2013, we hit the ideal number of pieces we were hoping for, 280 pieces a year. I was hoping for 15 employees, we’re now 20. And from there, I said we’re not going to grow. We invest and we create because our pleasure is to create. I feel like saying that production is a necessary evil. We need to produce just to find the next creation. And every one of our customers who’s buying our pieces is helping us create our next creation. It’s been an uphill battle, and we’re now at a sweet spot where we’re happy and we won’t grow anymore. 

Customers are wary about independent watchmakers because of undelivered prototypes, and unsatisfactory after-sales services. How do you tackle these problems? 
MB: We launch a piece only when we can deliver the first pieces; it’s simple thinking. We have no money for advertising, so it would be suicide to go to the press, present a piece, and then deliver it in six months, one year or two years later. For after-sales service, we guarantee that we will repair the piece in six weeks. We’ve delivered 1,400 pieces in all, and we’ve had less than 40 pieces in after-sales services. That’s also why we can do six weeks (laughs). 
Felix Baumgartner (FB):
I want to add one point: how can the client be sure about after-sales of independent small companies? Our partner The Hour Glass does an incredible job in choosing the right partners. When someone buys from any strange parallel or a small opportunist retailer, he may get problems of undelivered prototypes or these kinds of problems. But for my brands, the end client can really rely on my retail partner, which is extremely serious in its choice of brands. 
AZ: For us it’s a bit different. We decided to verticalise our manufacture. Doing that—and doing so many calibres in such a short period—was difficult because you have to do everything right away. We produce so many different things that it takes time to deliver. But we have always delivered. 

Were you ever tempted to sell the brand to the bigger players? 
MB: No, never. I mean, this is a very personal quest. It’s writing my autobiography and I’ve got a lot of chapters to still write. FB: It’s so personal what we do. So much of our blood invested, we cannot sell this. A very simple PR answer would be: it’s absolutely impossible to sell your soul.

Do you think that after you, there’ll be someone else who’ll be able to pick up the baton and keep the company running?
MB: Interesting question because we have a responsibility towards our team, our client; the brand can’t just disappear with us. I’ve had this discussion with my technical director, my partner, about the contingency plan. What happens if I get hit by a bus tomorrow? What happens to those 20 employees, those 1,400 watches we’ve put on the market? I’ve told them they have to go find an art director, someone who will interpret what I create in his or her way. It is possible, but it won’t be the same company. 
AZ: Never say never. I don’t know. But it would become another company, another something else. It’s an evolution. It would not be the same. I think if we are doing our job in a good way, someone else will continue our job in future. They will probably buy back Urwerk, MB&F or De Bethune, because otherwise it doesn’t make sense if you think that you’re working to let your baby die when you won’t be here… I would be more scared of that. 
FB: I had a bad accident some years ago, I think in 2006. 
MB: Yes, 2006, I remember.
FB: It was sudden, boom! But Max helped me out a lot; 2005 and 2006 were quite important years for Urwerk actually. We have close relationships and we have each other. It’s important to have a family like this. Things can happen in life; it can change a lot. 

You have all won awards at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève. How do you think that has impacted your business? 
FB: The Grand Prix is not something that really helps in selling watches, but it is a sign that you are accepted by the industry. I don’t know—for me, on one hand, I am touched, on the other, I don’t want to be so accepted. It’s quite a bit bipolar on this end. It’s really strange!
AZ: It’s a nice win in any case. When brands like ours get the prize, it gives us the opportunity to show the world what we are doing. A lot of people don’t really understand the amount of effort we put into every single part of the watches.
MB: I admit, I am a bit like Felix. When we got two prizes for the LM1, I was like this is weird. It was like the pirates who get knighted by the queen! We’re super proud, but at the same time, it’s weird.

But you submit your own designs to the panel...
MB: Yeah, it’s a big paradox there.
FB: It’s true. But it is how it is. For four or five years, the award has changed, and it’s good.