We caught up with Franco and Federico Ziviani, the owners of the maison Gerald Charles in their recent trip to Singapore. And they tell us the history of the maison, their relationship with Gerald Charles, the man, and elaborate on the current collection.
In conversation: Franco and Federico Ziviani introducing Gerald Charles
We sat at one corner of the breakfast room at The Four Seasons Hotel in Singapore. While we had one private corner where we set up our mini-studio, the room was rather busy with hotel guests coming in and out for their breakfast. And while we took care to minimise the microphones from picking up the background noise, the rather noisy environment was evident. Apologies for that.
YouTube Video Interview
Franco Ziviani
Franco tells of the fascinating history of how he came into the watch business, first working as an agent for Gérald Charles, and later how he came to buy the maison that the great Gérald Charles had founded. And how the company is now in the next generation with his son, Federico taking over as CEO in 2019.
Federico Ziviani
We then discussed with Federico, how he pivoted the maison from being a bespoke maker of fine watches, to one with a healthy series production. Federico walks through with us the current collection, with some 30 references. And also spends some time explaining the jumping hour mechanism, the Masterlink bracelet, the design language and the other complications. He also shared with us how he intends to take the maison, and what to look out in the future.
