Jean Claude Monachon is responsible for the development of the entire range of Omega watches, a flagship brand of the Swatch Group, the world’s leading watch manufacturer. He is in charge of design, technical drawings and new movements development for Omega watches. FE’s Payal Khandelwal caught up with him during his recent visit to Mumbai for the launch of Planet Ocean watch series. Monachon talks about Planet Ocean, the launch of Ladymatic last year and Omega’s plans for India. Edited excerpts.

Could you tell us a bit more about the new product that you have just launched?

Planet Ocean is a watch dedicated to sporty people and professional divers. It is also meant for those who like to dive and then go have a drink in the bar and want something nice on their wrists. We launched Planet Ocean in 2005 and now we introduce in-house movements into the collection. The idea is to take an iconic watch from the late 60s, the fabulous years of Omega when they had fantastic products.

How did Omega perform last year in India? What are your expectations this year?

India is a growing country and we expect a lot of growth in the future. Last year, we had double digit growth in India. In the future, we would be focusing on Omega boutiques. We have nothing against the retailers here but retailers usually have many brands under one roof and may not be able to show the whole collection of Omega to end-consumers. We are planning to launch boutiques in the six main cities of India-Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad. We are already present in five of these cities and Kolkata is a new market where we would be going. Then we will move onto other big towns and cities.

Another opportunity in India is gold. When I first came here in 1999, I read in a newspaper that India is the first country in the world using gold. I was quite astonished. So there are many things to do with gold in India, not only watches but also fine jewelery.

What are the main challenges in the Indian market?

The most difficult thing is to build a boutique in a place that is really nice. It is a fantastic country but the streets here are not really fit for boutiques. Shopping malls are coming in the country but slowly. Having shopping malls with luxury brands would be quite important for Omega. It is important to have a change of mentality. Laws are not quite easy here.

What are the changes that you have seen in the luxury market in India since 1999?

There have been changes but they happen quite slowly. There is progress but it is very slow compared to other countries. In 1999, I also went to Beijing where the streets were almost sand. If you go to Beijing today, it is more modern than Europe. The governments are totally different. I am not saying that I am for the Chinese government but it is different. In terms of mentality, democracy, China is different. I imagine that some day India would be able to transform, like China. Is it good for everyone? I am not sure. But for the luxury market, the transformation would be very good.

The last Omega launch in India was Ladymatic. How has the product performed so far?

The range was targeted and dedicated to women. It was a fabulous success. We could see it at the launch event in New Delhi where there were women already wearing the watch! We also had a huge campaign to promote the brand in India.

What are the marketing plans for Planet Ocean?

George Clooney is our global brand ambassador and we will use him for Planet Ocean’s promotion. The TV campaign would be launched during the season, the season for luxury starts around August and goes on till January/February. And thus, our consolidated campaign would start from August onwards. We also use digital in a big way. Last year, there was a huge digital campaign for the Ladymatic launch.

What can we expect in terms of more product launches this year?

At the Basil Fair this year, there will be key SKU’s (stock keeping units) that will be launched from the watch range of Seamaster, Constellation and De-Ville Prestige. This event has all the big watch brands, which present their new products. There is a special booth for Omega and we would be launching about 192 new models. There will be some new entries in Ladymatic too. We would gradually be launching these new products in India too.