Marking The Hours With Jean-Marie Schaller, Owner & Creative Director, Louis Moinet On Adding Emotions Into Mechanical Wonders

Whether it’s integrating the celestial brilliance of a meteor or the complex nature of watchmaking technology onto a timepiece, Louis Moinet is responsible for creating timepieces that are quite literally out of this world! With boundless creativity and an unwavering passion for excellence, the brand is easily one of the boldest and most sought after independent watchmakers today. Its commitment to innovation and excellence is evident in its limited edition collections, which often feature exotic materials and intricate mechanisms that push the boundaries of watchmaking. From its famed Cosmic Art collection to its spell binding Mechanical Wonders, we are eager to know more. We caught up with Jean-Marie Schaller, Owner and Creative Director, Louis Moinet on what makes the brand such an outlier. In this interview, we delve into the mind behind these horological wonders. We explore the inspirations that drive the creative process, the challenges of maintaining a heritage brand in a modern world, and the vision for the future of Louis Moinet. 

THM: To begin with, we know you love India as a country and your association with India is very strong. The first thing when people look at Jean-Marie as a person, the vibrant attire that you wear stands out. So, will you tell us a little bit about how you select your attire and what is the inspiration behind your dress code?

Jean-Marie: Actually, it started with a feeling I had that men’s fashion is very boring as it's either black or white or grey. And I was fed up dressing like that, so I looked for something different. I then found this Indian silhouette that was very interesting due to its longer length and got in touch with one of the very rare tailors in Switzerland. Together, we started looking for various silks and fabrics that were very old some, even 200 years old. We also found some vintage buttons and played around with these elements in an attempt to bring some lightness and freshness to my dressing style. I enjoy expressing myself this way and it also sets me apart from the rest. 

THM: You recently launched The Around The World In Eight Days Collection that has a lot of people excited. How have you ensured uniqueness to each of these timepieces? 

Jean-Marie: I have had the chance to travel extensively and have discovered wonderful places in this world. I wanted to put a creative spin on the novel written by Jules Verne, Around The World In Eighty Days. So I decided to portray a modern day representation of some of the most interesting cities in the world through the collection. My aim was to emphasize today's Cosmo polis, by incorporating certain elements from each city’s unique culture. For instance, the city of San Francisco, is known for the Golden Gate Bridge. We have used a hand engraved illustration of the bridge on one of the watches which is superimposed on a background that is made out of microchips. As everyone is aware, these chips come from the famed Silicon Valley of San Francisco which add to the allure of the DNA of the timepiece. 

THM: The last time when you did a collection like this you also had featured the Taj Mahal. So how come we didn't see India in this part of your collection? 

Jean-Marie: I don't know why but I was expecting this question. No, I think just as you said, last time we did Taj Mahal, we also had the mosque in Turkey, so these are countries that are in my heart, but we wanted to go a slightly different path this time. At present time, we have a lot of things in the pipeline for very important private collectors, I must say. And it is keeping us very busy. It is our priority to make these watches and they are related to their DNA, to their culture, to what they like, to their passion. So I think we have to explore a little bit more the Indian market and to come up with wonderful creations. At present as I said we're busy with so many other things that it has been a good year for us so far so we try to make people happy and then we'll see but for sure I would love to create certain watches that I have in mind. 

THM: How do you take a call on which ideas to put into production from all the various ideas that you along with your team might be generating? 

Jean-Marie: Sometimes you have an idea and you think it is a good idea, and then you try to put it in sketches, in designs, and it doesn't turn out to have the wow effect. So if we reach this stage, and it happens to us, of course, we just drop the idea. Whereas sometimes we have an idea which seems average, let's say, and it can become just spectacular in the process of creation. It's all a matter of sensitivity. Also the expression can vary a lot. We have a meteorite. And then we had discussion also with my son and sometimes he is more classical than I am. He is a jeweler by trade and himself he really focuses on some elements whereas myself I like to put colors and to put emotions and sometimes it's too much. So this was an interesting discussion for instance. What shall we do? Finally he won. We made a watch where the hero of the watch clearly is the meteorite, but the rest of the watch is subtle, technical, and it's not full of colors. But I'll have my revenge, don't worry.

THM: Is there any particular watch that, like you just mentioned, you had lots of ideas and some watches are underestimated by you yourself, but then when the actual product comes out it wows the world. Is there any such product that you can tell us?

Jean-Marie: Honestly, every time we prepare a creation, we just don't show it. So everything we have been showing in these past years, we were very happy about them. Then it is not us who decide, it is the public. Because sometimes you think you have found the right recipe and it just doesn't take off and the contrary for some other pieces where you didn't expect so much and it's flying like the Time to Race has been flying since the first day. Time to Race is doing exceptional even in India we have a lot of people who are crazy about those watches. Yes, it's really like a recipe, it's like when you cook something, you cook spaghetti and everybody loves it, and you try to do your own recipe with eggplant and something maybe more sophisticated and people just don't go for it. It's a balance, it's very hard to predict. We are sold out on many of our creations, so in general I think we have been consistent. We really have focused on one direction, like you mentioned before Cosmic Art and Mechanical Wonders and this has been really successful. It's always interesting to try to develop this concept further, because I have noted that the more emotions you put inside the watch, the more people are happy. If you do something too classical, maybe it works for other brands, I know it works. But for us, I think the people who like our watches, they like the emotions that go with it. 

THM: You mentioned you have your revenge with your son and you'll do a nice colorful watch. I think you did with the Geopolis Opal that you have introduced. It's as colorful as it gets. Can you tell us a little bit about that watch?

Jean-Marie: Yes, last year we were very happy because we were awarded a third Guinness World record for Cosmopolis. Cosmopolis is a watch with 12 different meteorites from different places from space and then we thought that this is Cosmopolis, we live in the Earth, so we could do Geopolis, something that comes from the Earth. And we started with Opal. Opal was the first creation in this yet-to-come collection of very special pieces with natural wonders from the Earth. And Geopolis is also spectacular because there are 12 different opals and they are all different. They are treated in a natural way, they are not colored, not anything like that. So it's really something where we have preserved their authenticity. Geopolis is a single piece. There's only one.

THM: Tell us a little bit about the new launch - the Black Moon?

Jean-Marie: We have developed a new technology that shows you the moon in different phases. Normally it is placed in a small counter, a very small size. We wanted to be different and placed it centre stage. On the watch, there are two meteorites enclosed in a dome. This indicates the day of the full moon and is facing the indicator. The second one is the black moon. This is very interesting as we have used two meteorites for this- black which is the standard colour for moon meteorites but also grey which is a lovely rare material. The black moon is an amalgamation of art, astronomy and technology. It boasts of 230 years of precision which is quite commendable. We have also investment in the process of the timepiece and are very happy with the subtle yet strong outcome. 

Jean-Marie, with his out of the box ideas and bold approach to watchmaking has given the world some of the most outlandish timepieces that are not just time telling machines, but rare pieces of art.