SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hey everyone, I am very uh excited and humble to be with Mr. Laurent from uh the Grand Prix de Roger Genève. Thank you so much for meeting me. My pleasure. Why humble? Because you are building an institution in the industry, so I'm very humble.

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Yeah, but it's a very popular uh project. We shouldn't be humble, we should be enthusiastic.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

I'm very enthusiastic. It doesn't look like it, but hopefully after a few minutes you will find. So we have just started of the time to watch it. Beautiful Geneva, love it, it's a great day. One thing I want you to learn, first thing first, I'm very appreciative that I'm a new academy member, so I'm very passionate about that, very excited about it. But I want you to discover a little bit the background of why one day you wake up and you're like, Oh, let's do an work.

SPEAKER_00 0:42

Well, first of all, the idea did not come from me because uh the Grand Prix was uh created in 2001 by a watch enthusiast, and then it had a very important change in 2011. It became a foundation supported by the public authorities, the Geneva City of Geneva and the Canton of Geneva. And the idea of the Grand Prix was to promote the watch industry. In the first phase, it was to promote the Geneva and Swiss watch industry. But with the time we open up and then the Grand Prix now, since 2020, we created this academy. We are basing our activity on three main principles. The first one is very important is neutrality. So we want to have a selection process that is above any suspicion. That's what we did. The second one is universality, which means the selection process is now universal through this thousand members of the academy. But on the other hand, uh it's really to be open up to all watches in the world. That's also the university. And then the last principle is solidarity. The fact to participate, and it's a little bit like in the Olympics, to participate is to win already. And we encourage all brands to participate, the support to the watch industry as such. And our basic mission is actually to promote the art of watchmaking. We are non-commercial, non-for-profit, rush, the beauty of the art, and we believe also in the future of the watch industry and the watch as a messenger for important values.

SPEAKER_01 2:11

For me, something that is always important as why I really connect with the old is that for me, a watch is not just an object, it's a moment in time, a memory, a feeling. As we know, our industry is really feeling oriented, it's very about the emotional aspects. And so I always say, like, my favorite watch is the watch that my dad gave me when he turned 18, his mom gave it, my grandma, and my dad give it to me at one point, right? That's my favorite. Emotional, you know. And I have others that I bought when my son was born, and you know, I activity in life. So it's very uh emotional, and as you say, it's all about the community. I love to learn about the stories. That's one of the reasons why the platform is called Watch DNA. And the idea is really to learn the DNA of not just the timepiece, but the watchmakers, the designers, the people behind, but also the consumer. Because without consumers, there will not be anybody, you know, selling product or creating this out. So that's the whole 360 environment that I try to oh, that's great. Yeah, yeah, yeah, to talk about the behind the scene. Thank you. Hey, it's hard work, but when you do something that you love, it's not work, right? Every day you wake up with new ideas, yeah, meeting individuals like yourself.

SPEAKER_00 3:15

And you make your difference in your world, and that's great. And that's why we are here on earth, that's exactly how it is.

SPEAKER_01 3:22

We also uh I don't really develop about it, but we're also involved with some nonprofit organizations and things like that, so it's very important. So you know, be a non-profit as well. It's uh it's something so obviously this year the world will be in Geneva.

SPEAKER_00 3:34

What can we expect? Big surprises because first of all, it will be November, November 7th is uh great ceremony, but you know, the Grand Prix is not only one day, yeah, the whole year. We have all this selection process, we are looking at new categories to see how we can improve the categories, and then we have uh Roadshow, International Roadshow. This year we'll go at least in uh India and Thailand, wow, okay, and probably also in London with the winners, and then you have this grand exhibition in Geneva, also with a lot of uh cultural mediation. We emphasize a lot on the education of uh of the public, but especially of young people, to show them that behind the watch there are a lot of craftsmanship and métier. We want to encourage them to go into this, and then this year we have new uh a little bit new categories. What is interesting this year we created uh two prizes which are open to non-registered watches, to all the watches, so it will be a surprise to see how the academy and uh jury will react to this.

SPEAKER_01 4:39

Okay, I'm intrigued. I love that. Okay, cool, perfect. So you're going to travel a little bit around the world, presenting a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 4:47

A little bit, we travel uh very focused, yeah, and uh every year we choose carefully the places where we go. Yeah, we need, of course, a local partner who is ready to welcome us, and we choose between very mature markets, which we have to somehow nurture, and also emerging markets which we are to discover and to encourage. Last year, for example, we went to Washington City and to Bricarest was both a very nice surprise. We discovered a lot of interest, a lot of enthusiasm, not only from uh watch lovers, but also from the general public. So the this mission is really we are the ambassador actually of the best watches of the world every year.

SPEAKER_01 5:30

Yeah, and recently, I think it was like a month ago, you uh also introduced the new president of the jury.

SPEAKER_00 5:36

Yes, after uh five years, we thought it was time to change the president. It was excellent. Yeah, but we have to change the president when he's still excellent. Yeah, okay. So it's with regret actually, but we found a new one. We said we had a selection process and uh very profound uh talks with uh candidates, yeah, and then finally we chose Mr. Wako from Singapore, which is uh universally recognized as an expert and watch enthusiast and lover.

SPEAKER_01 6:06

Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I'm not sure if you know, but watch DNA. One thing that we try to differentiate ourselves is we want to be the directory of all thing watches. So we are a night grid between an encyclopedia that educate people about watches. Right now we have 450 brands listed on the platform, but we also have awards, galas, trade shows, we have a calendar of all the trade shows around the world that present watches B2C, B2B. So that's something that we do. We try to create a place that people can go and actually find out about the novelties, the new, the where to go. And uh, we're actually working also on a calendar about the various events that small brands organize as well for the public. So that's something that we do, and so obviously, you guys can go on the platform uh watching.com slash gpsg, and you have all the information. And I really wanted to thank you. I know you're a busy man, you're going everywhere. Everyone is busy, yeah. But now what I love is that we all have 24 hours in the end of the day. That's what we should.

SPEAKER_00 7:00

My philosophy is different. Okay, I like that. We have eternity ahead, so no hurry. Okay, okay. We are still time to accomplish great things.

SPEAKER_01 7:09

Yeah, so the tagline for Wild GNA is actually where time connects us all. All right, that's our man. So we are connected. Thank you so much for the code. You're very good. Bonjournée. Have a good day, guys.