Interview: Omega’s President and CEO, Raynald Aeschlimann, on the New Speedmaster 38mm
A line extension of eight new chronographs introduces colors and materials to the classic timepiece
In many ways the Omega Speedmaster needs no introduction. It traveled to the moon, kept time in the Olympics (and is headed to Paris via a pair of special edition Chronoscope models in a few short months), had a cameo in motor racing and sits within the orbit of James Bond. In other ways, it’s impossible not to speak about the historical design language of the watch, and Omega as a whole, to understand the latest line extension.
This moment comes in the form of eight new Speedmaster 38mm chronographs. First debuted in 2017, the newest Speedmaster 38 models feature 52 paved diamonds around the bezel, a polished crown set with a diamond and three diamond-ringed subdials. While it’s uncomplicated to see the shape and size of the subdials alluding to Omega’s De Ville models, as well as the reemergence of the vertical date window at 6 o’clock, COOL HUNTING sat down with Omega President and CEO, Raynald Aeschlimann, days after Salone del Mobile to discuss artificial intelligence in the design process, when emotional decisions outweigh pragmatic ones and how adding a diamond to the Speedmaster 38 crown joined past and future.
With this line extension, as you call it, you’ve introduced two new dial colors (chocolate and green), two different materials (the proprietary Moonshine Gold material, the 18-carat Sedna Gold—Omega’s in-house rose-gold alloy—plus the classic stainless steel), the option of matching polished and brushed bracelet or a green leather strap with a precious metal buckle. It’s a lot of details. How do you make sure to emphasize but not get lost in them?
I always say we go 360 degrees plus one. That one degree, that’s when the emotion comes. It has to be perfect. The design and balance of the Speedmaster 38mm, we have already aligned that is selling well, but how do we push it to the next level, the next generation? It isn’t just adding a diamond bezel or putting some big diamonds. That watch was evaluated for about two years, because I said if we touch the most iconic one, let’s do every single detail. First of all, let’s think about the customers. Think about that price level. Think about how we can add the small details. For instance, the diamond setting and the oval, we had long discussion about this because it had to be elegant. We had a diamond crown before on some of the very high-end models and we had it on the very famous De Ville chocolate. That was the first ever one. On this watch, it is what we call briolette, which for us means small but brilliant.
Small but brilliant could be seen as an apt description for this watch extension. What was your design process?
We started with 38mm. It’s not too big or too small, it’s a perfect size. And it’s good because today, it’s also very important to have genderless watches. And we’ve seen the industry now following us, if I may say, and we’re supporting this with this line extension. Don’t forget, it’s a chronograph, and a chronograph feels a bit bigger on the wrist. For the aesthetics, we wanted to show the commitment we had to develop this watch without putting the design in question. Because the one thing that I hate is when you have that feeling as a customer, when something is done just to impress. If you want to impress, bring me the details. We very often forget that that there’s a balance in desire.
So how did you balance that desire?
Part of my job is knowing when I talk to my designers and they say “imagine this” and I say “I’m not a computer. I’m not. I’m not artificial intelligence. I’m emotional intelligence. Bring me something to look at.” It’s then a process because it has to be balanced. We’re quite small compared with a bag, a dress, a car. There’s more space to express what is perfect design. It’s also nice to have a diamond bezel for a watch, but it has to fit into its design. And that’s one of the big successes of this new design.
Salone del Mobile recently happened in Milan. This week, in the very same city, you’re introducing this watch. Why?
Milan is the capital of style. I think it’s nice to come to a place where you can feel this kind of elegance, style, fashion. It was quite obvious. We’re getting into a stylish watch line extension, so it’s normal to be in of the capital of fashion.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. The Omega Speedmaster 38mm collection from $17,400 is now available.
What are your thoughts?