November 28, 2025 • 32 mins
Barry sits down with A. Lange & Sohne CEO Wilhelm Schmid at the Audrain Newport Concours & Motor Week for a special edition of Masters in Business. Barry and Wilhelm compare watch and car design. They also discuss A. Lange & Sohne's philosophy on watchmaking. In addition, they cover innovations in watch mechanics and watch collecting. A. Lange & Sohne makes watches by hand, and Wilhelm discusses the production process. He and Barry also discuss the release of the new Saxonia Thin Onyx.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. This is Masters in
Business with Barry Ritholts on Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
This week on an extra special live edition of Masters
in Business. I'm at the Audreine Newport Concourse the Elegance,
and my conversation is with Wilhelm Schmidt. He is the
CEO of Alain and Zona, one of the finest watch
companies in the world. They're located in glass Shoota, Germany.
(00:38):
Our conversation talked about everything from collectible time pieces to
collectible cars. I found it fascinating and I think you
will also, with no further ado, my discussion with a
Linen Zonners WILLELM. Schmidt. WILLELM. Schmidt, welcome you. Thank you
so much for this for hosting this event and participating
(01:01):
in our conversation. I have so many things to talk
to you about, but I have to start with this
prestigious concourse, in this spectacular setting, on what could be
the nicest day of the year. What is the connection
between classic cars and fine mechanical time Yes.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Yeah, I mean people say me because I like cars
and watches and watches and cars, but I think it's
of course more than that. You know, watchmaking is that's
what we emphasize on a ninety percent of our energy.
Speaker 4 (01:34):
We'll go into watchmaking. That's that's that's our home turf.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
But I believe as a global brand, you also need
to find a world that is focused on something else,
but where you have sort of a common ground that
you can walk on. And about fourteen years ago, we
were looking for a platform where we can show the
brand and we can bring customers to entertain aim. And
(02:02):
if you look at these cars, let's start with the
cars and look at the word concourse of elegance. So
we're not in vintage cars or racing. It's about concourse
of elegance. You know, It's about beauty, it's about heritage,
it's about craftsmanship, it's about design. And if you look
(02:22):
onto the pillars on which our brand rests, it is
exactly it's it's history, heritage, it's design, and it's of
course the craftsmanship. And trust me, these cars that you
see here as they were built, they were built by
proper craftsmen, and even today, without proper craftsmen, you will
not keep them on the road.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
And I know that you studied as an engineer and
mechanic before eventually moving over to watch is obviously the
design ethos of some of these cars. Yeah, they're just
so phenomenal and spectacular. What sort of inspiration do you
running a fine watchmaker take from the designs of these cars?
Speaker 3 (03:07):
I you know, it's it's I don't think you can
immediately take something from that world into our world. But
if you look at these cars, well, the first thing
that comes to mind is some of them are fifty
sixty eighty, one hundred years old and we look at
them today and they still fascinate us. So obviously that
(03:28):
design survived all the different fashion, change of taste, lots
of time. They are here today and they're as attractit
as they were probably back then when they were brand new.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
If you look at.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
Specifically the purpose built car, you know, the race cars,
they were built for only one purpose and that's what
they were perfect in. And I think in watches you
also have to identify what is it that you emphasize
on and then don't compromise too much on it, because
if you start making big compromises, you end up with
(04:05):
something which is, you know, a little bit of everything,
but nothing particularly really good. So I think that's what
you can take from cars into watches, identify the purpose,
and then everything should direct to achieve that. If I
call it the north Star, you know that purpose and
for watches is exactly the same.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
So there's a lovely white Mercedes going out there, it's
the red interior. And I once heard someone ask you
to compare alonga to a car, and you thought about
it and said the going because the design was purposeful
from start to finish. Tell us what you mean by
purposeful in either watch or card design.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Well, you know, if you if you go back and
think about the mid fifties in Germany. I mean I
wasn't born there, I'm not that old, but you know
I can I see, I saw pictures, I saw pictures
of the other to bar, and I saw the cars
on the road back then. And then think about very
suddenly something like the gold wing appears. I mean, an
(05:11):
alien could have landed and caused the same result.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
Tubular frame, horse.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Powers, you know, two hundred and thirty five kilometers an
hour high speed.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
You know what they did the doors.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Because you couldn't have a door over that frame.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Which to the seals were too wide, so they just
came up with the doors and you know what they
did at lemore, they wanted to permit that because in
the book it didn't say explicitly it's not allowed, but
you know, leave and they.
Speaker 4 (05:45):
Did absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
But I think the car was made for one purpose,
and I was winning races in the first place, and
and and paving the way for I see this internationally
to be back where they want it to be, and
that is very high up. Don't forget the price of
these cars. I mean you could probably bought streets for
(06:11):
the same price, not houses. Streets in the mid.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Fifties, arguably the first supercar ever made. So your accountoisseur
of vintage cars, I know you have a couple of Porsches.
Tell us what else you like in classic automobiles.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
I do like the what I call the odd bolts.
The porch that I have are actually the exceptions. Because
everybody knows what the nine to eleven is and probably
many people know what a three to five six is,
So that's.
Speaker 4 (06:43):
I don't say utility, but these cars are.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
You know, the three five six is my Swiss pocket knife,
right because you know it could go on a tour
with it, which I take that car a lot. And
if the weather is nice, you just open the roof
and it takes you thirty seconds, and if the rain comes,
it takes you thirty seconds to bring the roof back on.
It is not as water tight as you think it is.
I have to say. There's still a lot of water
coming through, but at least you're roughly protected against the environment.
(07:09):
And the nine to eleven is the car that I
never wanted and I will never sell. It's just a
fantastic driving car. But you know, the other cars that
are have are more for people.
Speaker 4 (07:21):
That really know about cars.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
You know, if I share somebody, I have a Phraser Nash,
most people wouldn't even know what that is. And that's
not a surprise because I think they built about six
hundred cars pre war and then about eighty three post war.
So the likelihood that you know it if you're not
into the hobby is very high.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
So I keep meeting people here channing about cars, channing
about watches. When I was doing a little research on you,
it turns out that you really know the firm's clients,
both customers and collectors. What do you do in an
event like this? How much time do you spend with
some of the longer collectors and people who are so
(08:05):
enthusiastic about the brand.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
I would say ninety percent.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
You know, we have not in interviews with you that
I'm out there and talking to our customers. You know,
that's the most important for us because at the end,
we mustn't forget all that is not paid by Lango
and Zoo. This is fai by our customers.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
So there's a quote of yours I really enjoyed. We
want to surprise, inspire and enchant our clients with an
unprecedented imagination and ingenuity. How do you go from those
lofty goals to turning it into a mechanical time piece.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
Yeah, well, first of all, it takes strict discipline. The
moment you do things that are not in line with
who you are, you may surprise people, but probably not
positively and for sure eventually will dilute your brand equity.
So the third thing is you have to apply dicipline.
(09:03):
That's why we have six different watch families, and we
have sort of arison of seven years, and we want
to play each Watch family at these ones, let's say
within twenty four months rolling. So that's you know, sort
of the engineering structure all attempts. That doesn't answer your question,
(09:24):
I know, staying traditional but thinking out of the box,
because our value set is very traditional, but our thinking
is often very much out of the box. I give
you a good example that tobion has been invented by
Brighee I think about two hundred and eighty years back
or so something like this.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
It was there to enhance.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
The accuracy of a watch by you know, eliminating the
mistake that happened through gravity.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Basically mostly pocket watches which we're alwaysacing down.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
And of course it's a very delicate mechanism. It does
do the job because think about you put your watch
on the desk next to your bed, so at least
for ten hours it is exposed to gravity without moving. Anyhow,
I want to argue the necessity of a tour beyond.
What we found very interesting is that it was there
(10:16):
to enhance the accuracy, but it was impossible to set
time correctly because if you do that with a running second,
it is pure luck that you hit exactly the point.
So we were the first in two thousand and nine
to come up with a mechanism that makes the tour
beyond stop. So the second hand comes to a stop
(10:36):
and you can adjust the time properly. We then went
one step further with the eighteen fifteen tor Beyond, where
you not only stopped the moment you pull the crown,
that second then goes to zero, which is the best
way to adjust.
Speaker 4 (10:50):
Your watch properly.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
Now that sounds easy, but if you take into consideration
that that tor Beyond has about eighty five little parts,
the total weight is about zero point seventy five grum wow.
You know, any impact and the mechanism will be destroyed,
so you have to be very careful in what you do.
That is just one example where we think out of
(11:13):
the box. A chronograph with sort of a running minute,
which most of them do. You know, the second hand
goes and it's catching the minute counter. And then as
the second hand goes on, the minute counter slowly moves,
which makes it quite difficult. Is in now two minutes
or three minutes or four minutes, so hours in most
(11:35):
cases have to jumping. So it's the second nd crosses
the twelve, it jumps by one minute, so you're absolutely
clear it's one minute, two minutes, three minutes or formluta,
and not is it two and a half or the
three just little things that don't mean a lot for
people that are not into fine watches, but they mean
the world for our customers.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
I want to talk about the Odysseus and a little
bit and that particular chronograph which is early unique, but
we're not quite there yet. I want to stay with
the fact that Langa is famously a German watchmaker. What
advantages are there or disadvantages being a German maker in
an industry dominated by giant Swiss brands.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Look, I think it's more an advantage than it is advantage.
First of all, I always say there is no Swiss
watchmaking and there's no German watchmaking, because think about it.
I mean, you can find Swiss made watches for one
hundred euro and then you find the same for a
few million. How how can how can be there any
common denominator that covers the Swiss made from there to there?
(12:40):
So same for Germany. You know, we have watches that
are very inexpensive, and then you have us with sometimes
watches up to two million. Obviously at the at the
top end, it's like a package. It's like a box
of chocolate, you know, And our chocolate is craftsmanship, history
and design and we stay very strict to it.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
So some of the bigger brands put out watches in
the millions of units. Rollox famously two to three million.
Protec is known to do about seventy five thousand watches,
Longer does a small fraction. Every piece is made by
hand assembled twice.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
And not because we can't get it right first time,
just to make that.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Reassembled first, and then the pieces are taking apart in
hand engraved and decorated ways.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
It's, you know, because we use the original sources. We
believe that anything, that nothing, is much better than than
German silver. You know, that's the perfect material. It's been
It's been good for the last one hundred and fifty years.
So we believe in this and we don't want to
coat it, which means over time it will develop a
(13:53):
very nice petina.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
You know.
Speaker 4 (13:54):
The silver will get that little gold and glue, which
is beautiful.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
The problem is you breathe on it, or you touch it,
it will look very ugly very soon and you cannot
even clean it.
Speaker 4 (14:05):
You have to machine it.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
So that means to maintain a statical and technical perfection,
you first have to make sure your movement is absolutely
up to scratch. All tolerances are there, everything is adjusted,
everything works. You go through the test, and if you
have assurance, you know that movement is like it has
(14:30):
to be. It goes back to the watchmaker. He or
she will disassemble it, clean it, put in the final
decoration because you know, you know, you don't have to
adjust anymore because that's done. You clean it, you oil it,
you put the final decoration, and in case that it
goes again through the test and only then it ends
up a happy wrist.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
So inherently, the way you build watches, you're going to
be somewhat limited in production. How does that affect the
decision making process of what sort of watches you make?
And I know there are a number of longer watches
that are limited editions of one hundred or fifty or
even twenty five. What's the thinking behind that?
Speaker 4 (15:13):
Very easy? You know.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
Sometimes let's take the Mint Repeter perpetual calendar that we
launched this year in April. We know it's going to
take us three to four years to build the fifty watches.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Meaning from start to finish, you'll do a couple of
watches every year.
Speaker 4 (15:33):
Wow, you know so?
Speaker 3 (15:34):
And we know that so in today's world. To come
up now with this sort of capacity and say we
produce one hundred means the last one we'll get to
watch in eight years.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Right, that's a long time.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
That doesn't make any sense.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
So what that's, you know, capacity balanced by what we
think we can expect from a customer to wait that
usually gives them a year.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
About the limitation, I was looking at the longer perpetual
in black and I stopped by the boutique and they said,
figure somewhere between twelve and fifteen months before yours is ready.
So when someone orders a watch that goes into the
system and my watch is moving like it's literally that
specific coming up. We continue our conversation with A Langan's
(16:19):
own as CEO, Wilhelm Schmidt. I'm Barry Ridults. You're listening
to Masters in Business on Bloomberg Radio. I'm Bury Redults.
(16:51):
You're listening to Masters in Business on Bloomberg Radio. Let's
continue our conversation with Wilhelm Schmidt, CEO of watchmaker A
Langon Zonar. So the Odysseus came out, very unique looking
sports watch. Then a lightweight titanium version.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
No first of white gold, white gold, so it was
twenty fourth of October nineteen stainless steel. In April twenty twenty,
white gold, then titanium, then the honey gold, then the
honey gold. No, then the odysseous chronograph, the chronograph, and
then the honey gold.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
So let's talk about the chronograph. Most people are familiar
with chronos because they typically have two or three subdcs,
not with the Odysseus.
Speaker 4 (17:38):
Now, that wouldn't work because of the design of the dial.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
You know, if this is a big day and date, if.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
You take the dial off and you look at the
movement on the upside of the movement, you will see
it's almost all blocked, so there is no way that
you come through. And of course we also didn't want
to increase the size by much. You know, we want
to have a wearable watch. So the only was to
utilize the center even more than we usually do. And
(18:04):
that's why the chronograph, the second and the minute hand
comes out of the center.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
And when you reset the chronograph, it does a little
bit of a dance. Yeah, that's kind of unusual. I've
spoken to a lot of people about this. Nobody has
been able to explain that to me. You're my last.
Speaker 4 (18:24):
Hope. It's very easy because they are yet together. So
if you reset it, the.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
Minute hand will do as many turns as the second
because it's linked right, and it is so quick that
you can't see it. I probably would take a good
camera and then you slow it down to see it.
But basically, if you have stopped seventeen minutes and let's
say thirty seconds, what works like this is factually seven
(18:55):
times going around to come to zero. Why does it
do that because it's get together. It's you know, because
it comes out of directly.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Because of it's a censor hand.
Speaker 4 (19:07):
That's exactly the point.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Huh, that's really that's really fascinating. So a watch like
the zeat Work or the Odysseus, how long is that
process when someone first conceives of this take us through?
How long it is from idea to the finished product
in the boutique?
Speaker 3 (19:24):
Very different, you know. Odysseus, as I said, took us
twenty five years. Basically, I think that the real process
where we identify that's the face you know that looks
different to anything else in the market, that will not
cannibalize anything within our own range to launch to watch
(19:48):
it the twenty fourth of October in twenty nineteen.
Speaker 4 (19:51):
Always good.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Seven years, seven years from start to finish, that's that's amazing.
So yesterday at the event to new Longest dropped the
Saxonia Thin Yes in black, Onyx and platinum Yes right.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
True, honeyguld and platinum.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
Really striking dress watches. The Saxonia are sort of I
don't want to call it entry level, but they're less
pricey than some of the other watches.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
Are more simple's shock, you know, for us, it's all
about the amount of parts, the years it take to develop,
the hours it takes to assemble that at the end
will define whether it's a complicated watch or I would
say more simple watch and two hands. I think we
don't go more simple than two hands.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
And my first nice dress watch was a rose gold
Saxonia Mood Phase see over black Yes. And one of
the things that people are genuinely surprised is the same
level of detail and finishing what you describe as simple
A lot of people think of in terms of price point.
(21:01):
There seems to be no different.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
No, no, no, it's you know, if you look at our
process in the manufactory, we can you know, the people
that work on finish. They sometimes have no idea where
that part will end up, so they will not say, oh,
that goes into grand complication. We do it a little better,
or that goes into thin how we do it a
little That's.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
The same thing, regardless of a million dollars or entry life.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
We do not distinguish in quality at all. It's all
the same. Emphasize on love to detail, craftsmanship, hand polishing, decoration,
hand engraving. There is no difference double assembly. It's one process.
It doesn't matter whether the watch will cost twenty five
thousand euro or two million.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
And when people say to me, I'm looking for an
elegant dress watch, but something that's not too pricey, my
answers alt is to Saxonia. It's just timeless and so
elegant and continues to just Yes, the design gets better
over time.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
And and it's it's it's a you know, people, you
look at it and you see it's an Alango on
zurna watch. If you have something complicated like this, you
have a lot of hands to work with. You have
the sub dials. You know you have to push, but
you can do a lot. But I think one of
the biggest challenge for designers is you have two hands
to work with and not a lot on the on
(22:24):
the dial. Make it an alanngo on zna.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
So the data graph has been called one of the
best pronographs ever designed. What's the core of that, watches
up Peel, What makes that so special?
Speaker 4 (22:39):
I think it's.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
It's it's it's more than just a watch.
Speaker 4 (22:47):
You know.
Speaker 3 (22:47):
I'm a watch collector for a long long time. I
can remember when I opened the newspaper in twenty in
ninety four and I saw the act with the four
Langa watches ninety nine, where most companies around the world
(23:08):
we're still using somebody else's movement and often the same supplier.
Here comes a chronograph, which is one of the crown
things in watchmaking from Germany, in a very unique design
with an outsized date. I think it was a wake
(23:29):
up call and we must not underestimate what that watch
started in the watch industry because before that chronograph didn't
play a role there to supplier and that was it
basically after that, and if you then go and analyze
what happened from then to the following five six, seven years,
(23:52):
a lot of chronograph movements came out. So that's why
this watch is so important for us. That was the
first real complication other than the torbyond polymerit that we
worked on, and I think that was a wake up
call and it just gave us a reputation as a
(24:14):
solid watchmaker that it's the next level.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
Up for sure, Absolutely the next level up. So you
get to spend a lot of time with clients, with
customers still lectors. How are you seeing their expectations and
desires changing? What does the client base look for from
Langa over the next.
Speaker 4 (24:38):
I think it does it never changed, never changed.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
No.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
First of all, do you have any idea what you
were like in three years from no one who does exactly.
So when people say, oh, you come with a small
watch because you follow trend, I say, look, I mean
I wish we had known seven years ago when we
started develop the movement.
Speaker 4 (25:01):
We're not in the.
Speaker 3 (25:02):
Fashion industry business. You know, our processes and the time
it takes to come to market is so long that
you maybe can anticipate, but maybe you have to stay
true to yourself.
Speaker 4 (25:15):
And I think the one thing.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
Which our customers expect from us is authenticity. It has
to be in our Langa on Zouna and if you
had followed the discussion after we launched the Odysseus, because
you know, we always said we only precious metal, and
here can we steal, and later on with titanium. So
of course there was a heated debate. Of course there was,
(25:39):
and we were aware of it because that is a
tension that on purpose, we wanted. There were a lot
of people that said it's.
Speaker 4 (25:50):
Not for me.
Speaker 3 (25:50):
I see lang as dress watch only there were luckily
a lot more people that say, I want that watch desperately.
We can produce fine. However, it just opened up a
new chapter in our design language because now we have
(26:12):
a playground to try out things that you would never
do with our classical watch families.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
And every car enthusiast knows. When the Porsche nine to
eleven came out, the three point fifty six purists were upset,
what are you giving us such a big car? Who
needs six cylinders?
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Absolutely, that's why they built in nine twelve. Put the
four cylinder in, you know, That's exactly what they did.
Speaker 4 (26:39):
Yeah, that's finny.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
Sometimes I love this quote of yours, and I'm wondering
if it still applies. You said, part of longest success
is that we're a secret. So question number one is
what makes that an asset? And question number two is,
look at this event. How much longer is this a secret?
Speaker 4 (26:58):
Oh? It is? It is. It is in the white world.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
We are still absolutely unknown, and I think that's a
good place to be.
Speaker 4 (27:07):
There are.
Speaker 3 (27:07):
There are three reasons to it. The one is what
we do is very difficult to understand, specifically at the
price point that we request for people that are not
into fine watchmaking. Why would you spend so much money
on a watch when your iPhone gives you the time
(27:29):
more precisely? You know that the general thinking for sure.
The second is in today's world, you don't want to
show off too much.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
These are very much under the radar, and I am
always shocked at people who haven't the slightest idea when
I'm wearing this as opposed to the better it's nice.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
I mean that gives you a certain confidence and a site,
and it's it's you know, you don't need to shout.
And on the other hand, and I'm sure you can
if you see somebody that is also having a langer
on Zouna. It's not difficult to get the communications started,
isn't it?
Speaker 4 (28:09):
Immediately?
Speaker 2 (28:10):
Something to chat.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
But if you know, you know, you know, and that's
why I believe it is so important to remain a secret.
I also admit the real challenges to secret, to share
the secret with the right crowd of people, because at
the end, you know, I mean, I'm fine. But whenever
we take the new apprenticeship trainees in in August, I
(28:34):
feel the duty on my shoulders because now they start
a career as watchmaker and they're in for the next
forty years. So we need to make sure that the
next generation knows what we do and we stay relevant
for this.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
So I only have you for a few more minutes.
I want to get to my last couple of questions.
Speaking of the next generation, Yeah, how do you appeal
to younger buyers and what sort of approach do you
have as all these tastes seem to shift amongst the
twenty and thirty something crowd.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
YEA, gladly, we don't have a real issue here. We
have a surprisingly young customer base. I always say that,
and I never understood it. I mean, if you're young
and you're interested with what speaks against quality, longevity, classless
and timeless design, robustness, value creation, I mean It doesn't
(29:31):
matter whether you are one hundred years old or ten.
If you're into that, you're gonna like it. The way
we connect with these people it's different to the way,
let's say I was connected to the watch industry because
as I grew up, it was very difficult to find
even specialized magazines for watchers. Today you have everything you
(29:54):
can think of. I believe we live in absolute parodized
times for for watching enthusius because never ever in history
have there been more watch friends, higher information, more information,
and easy accessible information. You know, you can do your
(30:14):
research without leaving your room. That was impossible in times.
You know where I started to get into the.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
Hobbity, although I would tell people go see the watch,
go try it on.
Speaker 4 (30:25):
Make sure the only thing that met us.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
That's right, it's the only I just say, the natural
habitat of a risk watch is the risk. So to
forget about looking at them sing and I like it.
That's a good start. But the moment of truth is
you grab that watch, you put it around your wrist,
You look at yourself and see is it me or
is it not?
Speaker 2 (30:47):
So how do you have access to every longer watch
there is? How do you decide what you're going to
grab that data where.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
You know this one because of you know chronograph, we're
in our world. It's the eighteen fifteen, so that's the
more classical line. I'm a huge fan of chronographs and
it doesn't get any better than A so you know that.
And I admit I think it looked very nice with
(31:15):
my ten color right now.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
So our last question tell us what's next for Longer
and Sona. What surprises are coming up down the road.
What should we be looking for.
Speaker 4 (31:27):
I think it's always good to look for.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
But if I now share secrets, there's no surprise, and
that's the one thing. People love surprises. But I can
share with you as much as is this is not
the last surprise for this year.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
Oh really, So the Saxonia things not the last surprise
of twenty twenty five.
Speaker 4 (31:50):
It's what I shaid.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
Fantastic. That was my conversation with Wilhelm Schmidt, CEO of
Alang and Zona. The Newport Ordering concourse to elegance extra
special thanks to the team that came up to Newport
to help film this. Alexis Noriega is my video producer.
(32:12):
Sebastian Escobar is my videographer Anna Luke is my producer.
Sage Bauman is the head of Podcasts at Bloomberg. I'm
Barry Ridholts. You've been listening to Masters in Business on
Bloomberg Radio.
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. This is Masters in
Business with Barry Ritholts on Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
This week on an extra special live edition of Masters
in Business. I'm at the Audreine Newport Concourse the Elegance,
and my conversation is with Wilhelm Schmidt. He is the
CEO of Alain and Zona, one of the finest watch
companies in the world. They're located in glass Shoota, Germany.
(00:38):
Our conversation talked about everything from collectible time pieces to
collectible cars. I found it fascinating and I think you
will also, with no further ado, my discussion with a
Linen Zonners WILLELM. Schmidt. WILLELM. Schmidt, welcome you. Thank you
so much for this for hosting this event and participating
(01:01):
in our conversation. I have so many things to talk
to you about, but I have to start with this
prestigious concourse, in this spectacular setting, on what could be
the nicest day of the year. What is the connection
between classic cars and fine mechanical time Yes.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Yeah, I mean people say me because I like cars
and watches and watches and cars, but I think it's
of course more than that. You know, watchmaking is that's
what we emphasize on a ninety percent of our energy.
Speaker 4 (01:34):
We'll go into watchmaking. That's that's that's our home turf.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
But I believe as a global brand, you also need
to find a world that is focused on something else,
but where you have sort of a common ground that
you can walk on. And about fourteen years ago, we
were looking for a platform where we can show the
brand and we can bring customers to entertain aim. And
(02:02):
if you look at these cars, let's start with the
cars and look at the word concourse of elegance. So
we're not in vintage cars or racing. It's about concourse
of elegance. You know, It's about beauty, it's about heritage,
it's about craftsmanship, it's about design. And if you look
(02:22):
onto the pillars on which our brand rests, it is
exactly it's it's history, heritage, it's design, and it's of
course the craftsmanship. And trust me, these cars that you
see here as they were built, they were built by
proper craftsmen, and even today, without proper craftsmen, you will
not keep them on the road.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
And I know that you studied as an engineer and
mechanic before eventually moving over to watch is obviously the
design ethos of some of these cars. Yeah, they're just
so phenomenal and spectacular. What sort of inspiration do you
running a fine watchmaker take from the designs of these cars?
Speaker 3 (03:07):
I you know, it's it's I don't think you can
immediately take something from that world into our world. But
if you look at these cars, well, the first thing
that comes to mind is some of them are fifty
sixty eighty, one hundred years old and we look at
them today and they still fascinate us. So obviously that
(03:28):
design survived all the different fashion, change of taste, lots
of time. They are here today and they're as attractit
as they were probably back then when they were brand new.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
If you look at.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
Specifically the purpose built car, you know, the race cars,
they were built for only one purpose and that's what
they were perfect in. And I think in watches you
also have to identify what is it that you emphasize
on and then don't compromise too much on it, because
if you start making big compromises, you end up with
(04:05):
something which is, you know, a little bit of everything,
but nothing particularly really good. So I think that's what
you can take from cars into watches, identify the purpose,
and then everything should direct to achieve that. If I
call it the north Star, you know that purpose and
for watches is exactly the same.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
So there's a lovely white Mercedes going out there, it's
the red interior. And I once heard someone ask you
to compare alonga to a car, and you thought about
it and said the going because the design was purposeful
from start to finish. Tell us what you mean by
purposeful in either watch or card design.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Well, you know, if you if you go back and
think about the mid fifties in Germany. I mean I
wasn't born there, I'm not that old, but you know
I can I see, I saw pictures, I saw pictures
of the other to bar, and I saw the cars
on the road back then. And then think about very
suddenly something like the gold wing appears. I mean, an
(05:11):
alien could have landed and caused the same result.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
Tubular frame, horse.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Powers, you know, two hundred and thirty five kilometers an
hour high speed.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
You know what they did the doors.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Because you couldn't have a door over that frame.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Which to the seals were too wide, so they just
came up with the doors and you know what they
did at lemore, they wanted to permit that because in
the book it didn't say explicitly it's not allowed, but
you know, leave and they.
Speaker 4 (05:45):
Did absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
But I think the car was made for one purpose,
and I was winning races in the first place, and
and and paving the way for I see this internationally
to be back where they want it to be, and
that is very high up. Don't forget the price of
these cars. I mean you could probably bought streets for
(06:11):
the same price, not houses. Streets in the mid.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Fifties, arguably the first supercar ever made. So your accountoisseur
of vintage cars, I know you have a couple of Porsches.
Tell us what else you like in classic automobiles.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
I do like the what I call the odd bolts.
The porch that I have are actually the exceptions. Because
everybody knows what the nine to eleven is and probably
many people know what a three to five six is,
So that's.
Speaker 4 (06:43):
I don't say utility, but these cars are.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
You know, the three five six is my Swiss pocket knife,
right because you know it could go on a tour
with it, which I take that car a lot. And
if the weather is nice, you just open the roof
and it takes you thirty seconds, and if the rain comes,
it takes you thirty seconds to bring the roof back on.
It is not as water tight as you think it is.
I have to say. There's still a lot of water
coming through, but at least you're roughly protected against the environment.
(07:09):
And the nine to eleven is the car that I
never wanted and I will never sell. It's just a
fantastic driving car. But you know, the other cars that
are have are more for people.
Speaker 4 (07:21):
That really know about cars.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
You know, if I share somebody, I have a Phraser Nash,
most people wouldn't even know what that is. And that's
not a surprise because I think they built about six
hundred cars pre war and then about eighty three post war.
So the likelihood that you know it if you're not
into the hobby is very high.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
So I keep meeting people here channing about cars, channing
about watches. When I was doing a little research on you,
it turns out that you really know the firm's clients,
both customers and collectors. What do you do in an
event like this? How much time do you spend with
some of the longer collectors and people who are so
(08:05):
enthusiastic about the brand.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
I would say ninety percent.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
You know, we have not in interviews with you that
I'm out there and talking to our customers. You know,
that's the most important for us because at the end,
we mustn't forget all that is not paid by Lango
and Zoo. This is fai by our customers.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
So there's a quote of yours I really enjoyed. We
want to surprise, inspire and enchant our clients with an
unprecedented imagination and ingenuity. How do you go from those
lofty goals to turning it into a mechanical time piece.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
Yeah, well, first of all, it takes strict discipline. The
moment you do things that are not in line with
who you are, you may surprise people, but probably not
positively and for sure eventually will dilute your brand equity.
So the third thing is you have to apply dicipline.
(09:03):
That's why we have six different watch families, and we
have sort of arison of seven years, and we want
to play each Watch family at these ones, let's say
within twenty four months rolling. So that's you know, sort
of the engineering structure all attempts. That doesn't answer your question,
(09:24):
I know, staying traditional but thinking out of the box,
because our value set is very traditional, but our thinking
is often very much out of the box. I give
you a good example that tobion has been invented by
Brighee I think about two hundred and eighty years back
or so something like this.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
It was there to enhance.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
The accuracy of a watch by you know, eliminating the
mistake that happened through gravity.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Basically mostly pocket watches which we're alwaysacing down.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
And of course it's a very delicate mechanism. It does
do the job because think about you put your watch
on the desk next to your bed, so at least
for ten hours it is exposed to gravity without moving. Anyhow,
I want to argue the necessity of a tour beyond.
What we found very interesting is that it was there
(10:16):
to enhance the accuracy, but it was impossible to set
time correctly because if you do that with a running second,
it is pure luck that you hit exactly the point.
So we were the first in two thousand and nine
to come up with a mechanism that makes the tour
beyond stop. So the second hand comes to a stop
(10:36):
and you can adjust the time properly. We then went
one step further with the eighteen fifteen tor Beyond, where
you not only stopped the moment you pull the crown,
that second then goes to zero, which is the best
way to adjust.
Speaker 4 (10:50):
Your watch properly.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
Now that sounds easy, but if you take into consideration
that that tor Beyond has about eighty five little parts,
the total weight is about zero point seventy five grum wow.
You know, any impact and the mechanism will be destroyed,
so you have to be very careful in what you do.
That is just one example where we think out of
(11:13):
the box. A chronograph with sort of a running minute,
which most of them do. You know, the second hand
goes and it's catching the minute counter. And then as
the second hand goes on, the minute counter slowly moves,
which makes it quite difficult. Is in now two minutes
or three minutes or four minutes, so hours in most
(11:35):
cases have to jumping. So it's the second nd crosses
the twelve, it jumps by one minute, so you're absolutely
clear it's one minute, two minutes, three minutes or formluta,
and not is it two and a half or the
three just little things that don't mean a lot for
people that are not into fine watches, but they mean
the world for our customers.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
I want to talk about the Odysseus and a little
bit and that particular chronograph which is early unique, but
we're not quite there yet. I want to stay with
the fact that Langa is famously a German watchmaker. What
advantages are there or disadvantages being a German maker in
an industry dominated by giant Swiss brands.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Look, I think it's more an advantage than it is advantage.
First of all, I always say there is no Swiss
watchmaking and there's no German watchmaking, because think about it.
I mean, you can find Swiss made watches for one
hundred euro and then you find the same for a
few million. How how can how can be there any
common denominator that covers the Swiss made from there to there?
(12:40):
So same for Germany. You know, we have watches that
are very inexpensive, and then you have us with sometimes
watches up to two million. Obviously at the at the
top end, it's like a package. It's like a box
of chocolate, you know, And our chocolate is craftsmanship, history
and design and we stay very strict to it.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
So some of the bigger brands put out watches in
the millions of units. Rollox famously two to three million.
Protec is known to do about seventy five thousand watches,
Longer does a small fraction. Every piece is made by
hand assembled twice.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
And not because we can't get it right first time,
just to make that.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Reassembled first, and then the pieces are taking apart in
hand engraved and decorated ways.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
It's, you know, because we use the original sources. We
believe that anything, that nothing, is much better than than
German silver. You know, that's the perfect material. It's been
It's been good for the last one hundred and fifty years.
So we believe in this and we don't want to
coat it, which means over time it will develop a
(13:53):
very nice petina.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
You know.
Speaker 4 (13:54):
The silver will get that little gold and glue, which
is beautiful.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
The problem is you breathe on it, or you touch it,
it will look very ugly very soon and you cannot
even clean it.
Speaker 4 (14:05):
You have to machine it.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
So that means to maintain a statical and technical perfection,
you first have to make sure your movement is absolutely
up to scratch. All tolerances are there, everything is adjusted,
everything works. You go through the test, and if you
have assurance, you know that movement is like it has
(14:30):
to be. It goes back to the watchmaker. He or
she will disassemble it, clean it, put in the final
decoration because you know, you know, you don't have to
adjust anymore because that's done. You clean it, you oil it,
you put the final decoration, and in case that it
goes again through the test and only then it ends
up a happy wrist.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
So inherently, the way you build watches, you're going to
be somewhat limited in production. How does that affect the
decision making process of what sort of watches you make?
And I know there are a number of longer watches
that are limited editions of one hundred or fifty or
even twenty five. What's the thinking behind that?
Speaker 4 (15:13):
Very easy? You know.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
Sometimes let's take the Mint Repeter perpetual calendar that we
launched this year in April. We know it's going to
take us three to four years to build the fifty watches.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Meaning from start to finish, you'll do a couple of
watches every year.
Speaker 4 (15:33):
Wow, you know so?
Speaker 3 (15:34):
And we know that so in today's world. To come
up now with this sort of capacity and say we
produce one hundred means the last one we'll get to
watch in eight years.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Right, that's a long time.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
That doesn't make any sense.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
So what that's, you know, capacity balanced by what we
think we can expect from a customer to wait that
usually gives them a year.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
About the limitation, I was looking at the longer perpetual
in black and I stopped by the boutique and they said,
figure somewhere between twelve and fifteen months before yours is ready.
So when someone orders a watch that goes into the
system and my watch is moving like it's literally that
specific coming up. We continue our conversation with A Langan's
(16:19):
own as CEO, Wilhelm Schmidt. I'm Barry Ridults. You're listening
to Masters in Business on Bloomberg Radio. I'm Bury Redults.
(16:51):
You're listening to Masters in Business on Bloomberg Radio. Let's
continue our conversation with Wilhelm Schmidt, CEO of watchmaker A
Langon Zonar. So the Odysseus came out, very unique looking
sports watch. Then a lightweight titanium version.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
No first of white gold, white gold, so it was
twenty fourth of October nineteen stainless steel. In April twenty twenty,
white gold, then titanium, then the honey gold, then the
honey gold. No, then the odysseous chronograph, the chronograph, and
then the honey gold.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
So let's talk about the chronograph. Most people are familiar
with chronos because they typically have two or three subdcs,
not with the Odysseus.
Speaker 4 (17:38):
Now, that wouldn't work because of the design of the dial.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
You know, if this is a big day and date, if.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
You take the dial off and you look at the
movement on the upside of the movement, you will see
it's almost all blocked, so there is no way that
you come through. And of course we also didn't want
to increase the size by much. You know, we want
to have a wearable watch. So the only was to
utilize the center even more than we usually do. And
(18:04):
that's why the chronograph, the second and the minute hand
comes out of the center.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
And when you reset the chronograph, it does a little
bit of a dance. Yeah, that's kind of unusual. I've
spoken to a lot of people about this. Nobody has
been able to explain that to me. You're my last.
Speaker 4 (18:24):
Hope. It's very easy because they are yet together. So
if you reset it, the.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
Minute hand will do as many turns as the second
because it's linked right, and it is so quick that
you can't see it. I probably would take a good
camera and then you slow it down to see it.
But basically, if you have stopped seventeen minutes and let's
say thirty seconds, what works like this is factually seven
(18:55):
times going around to come to zero. Why does it
do that because it's get together. It's you know, because
it comes out of directly.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Because of it's a censor hand.
Speaker 4 (19:07):
That's exactly the point.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Huh, that's really that's really fascinating. So a watch like
the zeat Work or the Odysseus, how long is that
process when someone first conceives of this take us through?
How long it is from idea to the finished product
in the boutique?
Speaker 3 (19:24):
Very different, you know. Odysseus, as I said, took us
twenty five years. Basically, I think that the real process
where we identify that's the face you know that looks
different to anything else in the market, that will not
cannibalize anything within our own range to launch to watch
(19:48):
it the twenty fourth of October in twenty nineteen.
Speaker 4 (19:51):
Always good.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Seven years, seven years from start to finish, that's that's amazing.
So yesterday at the event to new Longest dropped the
Saxonia Thin Yes in black, Onyx and platinum Yes right.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
True, honeyguld and platinum.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
Really striking dress watches. The Saxonia are sort of I
don't want to call it entry level, but they're less
pricey than some of the other watches.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
Are more simple's shock, you know, for us, it's all
about the amount of parts, the years it take to develop,
the hours it takes to assemble that at the end
will define whether it's a complicated watch or I would
say more simple watch and two hands. I think we
don't go more simple than two hands.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
And my first nice dress watch was a rose gold
Saxonia Mood Phase see over black Yes. And one of
the things that people are genuinely surprised is the same
level of detail and finishing what you describe as simple
A lot of people think of in terms of price point.
(21:01):
There seems to be no different.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
No, no, no, it's you know, if you look at our
process in the manufactory, we can you know, the people
that work on finish. They sometimes have no idea where
that part will end up, so they will not say, oh,
that goes into grand complication. We do it a little better,
or that goes into thin how we do it a
little That's.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
The same thing, regardless of a million dollars or entry life.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
We do not distinguish in quality at all. It's all
the same. Emphasize on love to detail, craftsmanship, hand polishing, decoration,
hand engraving. There is no difference double assembly. It's one process.
It doesn't matter whether the watch will cost twenty five
thousand euro or two million.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
And when people say to me, I'm looking for an
elegant dress watch, but something that's not too pricey, my
answers alt is to Saxonia. It's just timeless and so
elegant and continues to just Yes, the design gets better
over time.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
And and it's it's it's a you know, people, you
look at it and you see it's an Alango on
zurna watch. If you have something complicated like this, you
have a lot of hands to work with. You have
the sub dials. You know you have to push, but
you can do a lot. But I think one of
the biggest challenge for designers is you have two hands
to work with and not a lot on the on
(22:24):
the dial. Make it an alanngo on zna.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
So the data graph has been called one of the
best pronographs ever designed. What's the core of that, watches
up Peel, What makes that so special?
Speaker 4 (22:39):
I think it's.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
It's it's it's more than just a watch.
Speaker 4 (22:47):
You know.
Speaker 3 (22:47):
I'm a watch collector for a long long time. I
can remember when I opened the newspaper in twenty in
ninety four and I saw the act with the four
Langa watches ninety nine, where most companies around the world
(23:08):
we're still using somebody else's movement and often the same supplier.
Here comes a chronograph, which is one of the crown
things in watchmaking from Germany, in a very unique design
with an outsized date. I think it was a wake
(23:29):
up call and we must not underestimate what that watch
started in the watch industry because before that chronograph didn't
play a role there to supplier and that was it
basically after that, and if you then go and analyze
what happened from then to the following five six, seven years,
(23:52):
a lot of chronograph movements came out. So that's why
this watch is so important for us. That was the
first real complication other than the torbyond polymerit that we
worked on, and I think that was a wake up
call and it just gave us a reputation as a
(24:14):
solid watchmaker that it's the next level.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
Up for sure, Absolutely the next level up. So you
get to spend a lot of time with clients, with
customers still lectors. How are you seeing their expectations and
desires changing? What does the client base look for from
Langa over the next.
Speaker 4 (24:38):
I think it does it never changed, never changed.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
No.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
First of all, do you have any idea what you
were like in three years from no one who does exactly.
So when people say, oh, you come with a small
watch because you follow trend, I say, look, I mean
I wish we had known seven years ago when we
started develop the movement.
Speaker 4 (25:01):
We're not in the.
Speaker 3 (25:02):
Fashion industry business. You know, our processes and the time
it takes to come to market is so long that
you maybe can anticipate, but maybe you have to stay
true to yourself.
Speaker 4 (25:15):
And I think the one thing.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
Which our customers expect from us is authenticity. It has
to be in our Langa on Zouna and if you
had followed the discussion after we launched the Odysseus, because
you know, we always said we only precious metal, and
here can we steal, and later on with titanium. So
of course there was a heated debate. Of course there was,
(25:39):
and we were aware of it because that is a
tension that on purpose, we wanted. There were a lot
of people that said it's.
Speaker 4 (25:50):
Not for me.
Speaker 3 (25:50):
I see lang as dress watch only there were luckily
a lot more people that say, I want that watch desperately.
We can produce fine. However, it just opened up a
new chapter in our design language because now we have
(26:12):
a playground to try out things that you would never
do with our classical watch families.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
And every car enthusiast knows. When the Porsche nine to
eleven came out, the three point fifty six purists were upset,
what are you giving us such a big car? Who
needs six cylinders?
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Absolutely, that's why they built in nine twelve. Put the
four cylinder in, you know, That's exactly what they did.
Speaker 4 (26:39):
Yeah, that's finny.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
Sometimes I love this quote of yours, and I'm wondering
if it still applies. You said, part of longest success
is that we're a secret. So question number one is
what makes that an asset? And question number two is,
look at this event. How much longer is this a secret?
Speaker 4 (26:58):
Oh? It is? It is. It is in the white world.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
We are still absolutely unknown, and I think that's a
good place to be.
Speaker 4 (27:07):
There are.
Speaker 3 (27:07):
There are three reasons to it. The one is what
we do is very difficult to understand, specifically at the
price point that we request for people that are not
into fine watchmaking. Why would you spend so much money
on a watch when your iPhone gives you the time
(27:29):
more precisely? You know that the general thinking for sure.
The second is in today's world, you don't want to
show off too much.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
These are very much under the radar, and I am
always shocked at people who haven't the slightest idea when
I'm wearing this as opposed to the better it's nice.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
I mean that gives you a certain confidence and a site,
and it's it's you know, you don't need to shout.
And on the other hand, and I'm sure you can
if you see somebody that is also having a langer
on Zouna. It's not difficult to get the communications started,
isn't it?
Speaker 4 (28:09):
Immediately?
Speaker 2 (28:10):
Something to chat.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
But if you know, you know, you know, and that's
why I believe it is so important to remain a secret.
I also admit the real challenges to secret, to share
the secret with the right crowd of people, because at
the end, you know, I mean, I'm fine. But whenever
we take the new apprenticeship trainees in in August, I
(28:34):
feel the duty on my shoulders because now they start
a career as watchmaker and they're in for the next
forty years. So we need to make sure that the
next generation knows what we do and we stay relevant
for this.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
So I only have you for a few more minutes.
I want to get to my last couple of questions.
Speaking of the next generation, Yeah, how do you appeal
to younger buyers and what sort of approach do you
have as all these tastes seem to shift amongst the
twenty and thirty something crowd.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
YEA, gladly, we don't have a real issue here. We
have a surprisingly young customer base. I always say that,
and I never understood it. I mean, if you're young
and you're interested with what speaks against quality, longevity, classless
and timeless design, robustness, value creation, I mean It doesn't
(29:31):
matter whether you are one hundred years old or ten.
If you're into that, you're gonna like it. The way
we connect with these people it's different to the way,
let's say I was connected to the watch industry because
as I grew up, it was very difficult to find
even specialized magazines for watchers. Today you have everything you
(29:54):
can think of. I believe we live in absolute parodized
times for for watching enthusius because never ever in history
have there been more watch friends, higher information, more information,
and easy accessible information. You know, you can do your
(30:14):
research without leaving your room. That was impossible in times.
You know where I started to get into the.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
Hobbity, although I would tell people go see the watch,
go try it on.
Speaker 4 (30:25):
Make sure the only thing that met us.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
That's right, it's the only I just say, the natural
habitat of a risk watch is the risk. So to
forget about looking at them sing and I like it.
That's a good start. But the moment of truth is
you grab that watch, you put it around your wrist,
You look at yourself and see is it me or
is it not?
Speaker 2 (30:47):
So how do you have access to every longer watch
there is? How do you decide what you're going to
grab that data where.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
You know this one because of you know chronograph, we're
in our world. It's the eighteen fifteen, so that's the
more classical line. I'm a huge fan of chronographs and
it doesn't get any better than A so you know that.
And I admit I think it looked very nice with
(31:15):
my ten color right now.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
So our last question tell us what's next for Longer
and Sona. What surprises are coming up down the road.
What should we be looking for.
Speaker 4 (31:27):
I think it's always good to look for.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
But if I now share secrets, there's no surprise, and
that's the one thing. People love surprises. But I can
share with you as much as is this is not
the last surprise for this year.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
Oh really, So the Saxonia things not the last surprise
of twenty twenty five.
Speaker 4 (31:50):
It's what I shaid.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
Fantastic. That was my conversation with Wilhelm Schmidt, CEO of
Alang and Zona. The Newport Ordering concourse to elegance extra
special thanks to the team that came up to Newport
to help film this. Alexis Noriega is my video producer.
(32:12):
Sebastian Escobar is my videographer Anna Luke is my producer.
Sage Bauman is the head of Podcasts at Bloomberg. I'm
Barry Ridholts. You've been listening to Masters in Business on
Bloomberg Radio.
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