Since taking over the helm at Swiss watchmaker L’Epée 1839, Arnaud Nicolas has been driven by one thing: storytelling.
“There’s a story behind each object,” says Nicolas, who serves as the maison’s CEO and creative director. Refining those stories and ensuring that they get out into the world has been at the top of his mind in his 15 years with the maison.
Nicolas was in town for this year’s Art SG, where L’Epée 1839 and watch retailer The Hour Glass came together to present Sculpted Time: The Art of Kinetic Horology. The exhibition presented iconic pieces from L’Epée 1839’s catalogue, including the 1960s-era sportscar-inspired Time Fast II, adorable time-telling robot Sherman, and the explosive-shaped (plus very aptly named) Grenade.
“One challenge that we have and will continue to have is that our product … is like a drop in the ocean,” says Nicolas. “So what we have to do is to really be able to show it to more people — and that’s the intent of being [at Art SG], something that is beyond the watch industry.”
In the nick of time
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Nicolas’ first experience with watchmaking was when he was seven. His grandfather had just given him a mechanical watch; two days later he was dismantling it, examining its various components. “They caught me at home, trying to put everything back together,” he recalls with a smile.
He later went on to pursue a career in the aerospace industry. “It was fine,” he says, “but I always missed … the artistic part that does not exist in aerospace; everything had to be functional, and that was it.”
It was a stroke of luck and good timing that would lead him to buy L’Epée 1839 as it celebrated its 170th anniversary. At the time, the company was reeling from the effects of the global financial crisis, and Nicolas came upon it as it neared the brink of closure.
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Founded in 1839 in the French city of Besançon, L’Epée 1839 in its early days specialised in music boxes and watch components, in particular escapements; it also produced carriage clocks that became popular among high-end travellers of the mid-19th century.
Despite its initial popularity, as the world crept towards digitalisation, the proposition of a well-built clock no longer had the same zing it did in decades past. Declining popularity was a trend that continued well after Nicolas’ takeover of the maison.
“Fifty years ago, the clock was the most important element in every home,” says Nicolas, adding that clocks were once commonplace on wedding registries and as housewarming gifts. “Some said it was the heart of the home, [because it determined] day-to-day routines. Nowadays, we have time everywhere, so you always have something to remind you what time it is.”
It comes as no surprise, then, that taking over as CEO and creative director wasn’t smooth sailing initially. “If I said the word ‘clock’, it was done,” he says of his first meetings on the job. “People didn’t want to meet me, didn’t want to see the product … they didn’t even want to hear about it.”
‘We’ve changed the process of creativity’
Adapting the way he approached L’Epée 1839, and the way he presented the maison’s work, helped gradually turn others’ perceptions of the brand. The crux was focusing on the story behind each creation, he says.
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“Most people think of a clock as a square object, a useful object that gives you the time — but without fantasy,” says Nicolas. “What we do at L’Epée is to manufacture kinetic pieces of art that happen to tell time.”
What that means, he adds, is that the maison first focuses on telling a story, rather than on finding a new way to tell time. Taking the Time Fast II as an example, he says the piece was first conceptualised to evoke the memory of classic pullback toy cars.
This flips the script from the creative process for brands across different industries, Nicolas notes. For many companies, he elaborates, designing a product begins with its technical core. “It can be an engine for a car, or a processor for a TV… Once that is engineered and working smoothly, they call up a design team to build a case around it.”
It is only at this point, when a prototype has already been completed, that a marketing team is brought in to “whip up a story”.
“What we do at L’Epée is the opposite,” says Nicolas. “We start with a story, an idea, what we want to express.” Before the technical details are discussed, these artistic elements are locked down. For instance, in the Time Fast II, the team first thought about “which car, why, and the links with watchmaking to build up the story” before sketching and then later engaging with engineers.
The approach sounds frivolous at first, but in reality, it’s the opposite; the resulting pieces are thoughtful, with tongue-in-cheek references scattered throughout. Furthermore, given the maison’s expertise developed over close to two centuries, the creations don’t fall short on the technical side of things, either.
For instance, in the Time Fast II, the escapement, which helps with precise timekeeping, is placed in the head of the “driver”, acting as the “brain” of the piece. A key in the ignition, meanwhile, winds the “engine”.
As Nicolas continues pointing out different little features and complications, it’s clear the aesthetic and technical prowess behind each L’Epée 1839 creation is matched only by the enthusiasm that fuels the maison. “We’ve changed the process of creativity,” he sums up. And though we can’t quite return to the times when clocks took centre stage at home, he hopes that stories will drive a new era where clocks can “be sexy at home”.
