The 25th hour, with Raymond Loretan, President at GPHG.

Former politician and ambassador, Raymond Loretan is the President of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG), the foundation that best represents and promotes globally one of the finest arts of Switzerland, watchmaking. “We are a platform, at the services of the entire global network of watchmaking, end to end, from brand owners to artisans, to suppliers,” says Loretan.

He holds multiple board positions, besides the top seat at GPHG, and – exactly like a perfect diplomat – he knows what it means to understand and embrace innovation, while keeping identity and values strong.

“Time has tremendous power, symbolically and politically. You don’t really need a watch, if you think about it. Especially in the current times, where everyone has a smartphone. A watch carries tradition, innovation, and creativity. A watch owns time, and an artisanal watch, made by a Maestro, will transcend it, forever. In these frenetic tech times, watches are a differentiating element, which speaks to infinity, and which appeals to new generations as well,” highlights Loretan.

His interest in watches started when he was dispatched to Singapore, as the Swiss ambassador there. The Asian market was nascent, and brands were discovering new markets, partners and audiences. That experience, paired with his background, convinced Carlo Lamprecht, his predecessor, to give him the “boss” chair.

He cares deeply about innovation, and continuous adjustments to the workings of the foundation and its well-known yearly prize, so that the whole industry can move forward and maintain a compelling edge, in front of its multiple markets and buyers.

“Creating the Academy (which lists the key players of the world of watches) has been a turning point. We represent the companies and the humans behind this industry as well as the watch enthusiasms and specialists, and we need everyone. This is their foundation. Plus, we intensified the international roadshow of the exhibition, as a vehicle to support our nominees around the world. Every year we find a new feature to communicate, and we tweak the categories of the prize. There is a lot of innovation, and we need change,” states Loretan.

GPHG’s founding principles are neutrality, universality and solidarity. The platform needs to lift the entire industry, including smaller and rising brands, the network effects are tangible.

There are other elements, whose impact is less immediate, but still as relevant and that GPHG is pushing ahead. “Education is a key lever for the future of the industry. What we do wants to inspire young people to discover the watchmaking craftmanship. This is true for all layers of the supply chain. Sustainability is also an essential dimension. We’ve created an eco-innovation award to salute a trend that can’t be ignored, and maybe one day we’ll make it a category. UNESCO inscribed in 2020 know-how in watchmaking and art mechanics on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This inscription highlights a living tradition that is emblematic of the Franco-Swiss Jura Arc. Our aim is to ensure that watchmaking as a whole and world-wide is recognized as the 12th art, in the same way that cinema is recognized as the 7th art,” confirms Loretan.

Technology and sustainability are unavoidable, and GPHG rewards those players who move forward with them, ingraining them into beautiful pieces of machinery. “We are open to AI, and, at the same time, we want to continue to support the simplest watches, too. For example, we have a prize category called ‘Time Only’. There is space for old and new trends. A digital passport on blockchain is welcome, but a watch needs to remain a watch, namely a bridge between creativity and tradition, a beacon of craftmanship and technology,” stresses Loretan.

What does the future look like for the President of GPHG? He is also involved in healthcare, not only watches, so we discussed about both. “In twenty years, we will have personalized medicine, enabling us to treat illnesses in highly tailored and individualized ways. At the same time, we must work to destigmatize illness itself—for instance, a cancer diagnosis—because its impact extends beyond treatment. It affects individuals both personally and socially as they return to their daily lives. Cancer often leaves a lasting mark, and it should not be seen as a burden or a source of judgment from family or colleagues.

For the watch industry, my wish is for it to remain true to its values. There is a subconscious relationship with the broader cosmos, for those who belong here. The original watchmakers, in the 17th century, managed to measure time, to capture in their springs the astronomical phenomena. There is something mystical about that, and we need to pass it to the next generations,” concludes Loretan. Artisanal watchmaking is still here, thanks to this “subconscious” passion and desire to measure, or maybe win over, time. Let’s build its 25th hour. This is what GPHG wants to do.

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