Baselworld 2020 was meant to be Jessica Chow’s, HBA ’11, big launch party for her luxury watch brand, VIEREN.
For over 100 years, the international trade show had been the event of the year for watchmakers and jewellers.
For Chow there was another, more personal connection.
Decades ago, Chow’s parents, both entrepreneurs and watchmakers, met at Baselworld. For Chow to reveal her brand at the same conference, would have been her family legacy coming full circle. But it wasn’t to be, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sometimes the entrepreneur’s journey doesn’t entertain perfect circles. Perhaps fittingly, Chow and VIEREN aren’t into perfect circles either.
Designed by Chow and 2009 Project Runway Canada Winner Sunny Fong, and crafted by Swiss watchmakers, VIEREN is reshaping the automatic watch for a younger, more diverse generation. With no batteries involved, each watch movement has over 160 intricate pieces that all work together to keep time, hypothetically, forever.
Swiss timepieces are a luxury commodity in a sector dominated by prestigious brands like ROLEX, Omega, TAG Heuer and Breitling to name a few. They are fashion statements that swing between elegant and rugged presentations. They are also predominantly male-dominated, whether that be the brands themselves or their wearers.
It is into this story that Chow, Fong and VIEREN are entering as the new kids on the block.
The time is now
Chow took a familiar career path after completing her HBA at the Ivey Business School. From the moment she left university, Chow was knee-deep in the world of management consulting, and later, brand strategy. A decade in, she felt burned out and started questioning herself.
I never asked myself: is what I am doing meaningful? Am I spending my time on things that are important to me?
For Chow, the idea of starting her own business was always in the background. She felt that she was just waiting for the right time.
Then she crossed paths with Fong and the two started discussing watches. After turning 40, Fong started to wear his father’s old automatic watch because it reminded him to always keep moving and stay focused.
“Because when you don’t wear an automatic watch, time literally stops!” Chow recalled.
That story resonated with her, and soon the two of them set to work; combining their strengths and passion for watches to form VIEREN.
But creating a classic timepiece isn’t like making an app or protein bar. They require a very specific set of skills and Chow and Fong weren’t going to settle for half-measures.
“For our watches, I decided to do basically the hardest thing,” said Chow.
First, they settled on an automatic watch, where the movement inside the device has an additional rotor that powers it every day without the need for a battery.
In a world that is becoming increasingly digitized, they’re on a mission to bring back the original timekeeping tools with their OG Automatic Collection.
“And we decided to go with a rectangular shape, which meant we were fitting a circle into a square,” said Chow. "The reason you don’t see it very often when shopping is that they are incredibly difficult to engineer. If a little piece is 0.1 millimeters off, the whole piece doesn’t fit together."
Chow and Fong also wanted VIEREN to be fully Swiss-made, which meant travelling to Switzerland to source all the components, parts and manufacturing talent. Making those connections was a challenge, especially as a younger, smaller company that would be making fewer watches than large established brands.
But luck was on their side and VIEREN got into the hands of a watchmaking studio in La Chaux-de-Fonds, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is renowned for its longstanding watchmaking history.
“We got a lot of ‘no’s’ when we were designing this and people told us that it wasn’t possible to create a thin rectangular watch that was automatic,” said Chow.
But we really asked a lot of questions, pushed the boundaries, took the time and created something that was new. So I encourage people to ask questions, and see whether things are possible. That’s how innovation happens.
Watchmaking is a convergence of art and science. Similarly, the design and look of VIEREN was a coming together of artistic expression as well as what a younger, more diverse and gender-neutral public might be drawn to.
“We definitely did the research to understand the market and I think the rectangular shape is very iconic. Every classic movie you think of, someone is wearing that rectangular-shaped watch,” said Chow.
And then there’s the artistic aspect, which usually reveals something about the artist himself. Fong’s high school graduation gift was a rectangular-shaped watch and that left an impression.
“Not only are we creating something for consumers in the market, but we are creating something for ourselves, to tell our story and leave a mark on the world,” said Chow.
VIEREN means celebrate
With their 2020 debut at Baselworld postponed, Chow and Fong were eager to find another avenue to introduce VIEREN to the world.
Premium watches, like high fashion, work to a different marketing model. With VIEREN, Chow’s strategy was to use events to showcase their watches but that was impossible during the pandemic. They were also confronted with the idea of launching a luxury product in the midst of many companies and people struggling.
In Dutch, VIEREN means to celebrate life’s meaningful moments.
Chow and Fong reflected on the company’s mission and purpose and found the answer right there.
We started VIEREN to empower people to really pursue their passion, and get out there and do things. And if there was ever a time to inspire people to get out and do things, it was 2020.
Chow and Fong forged ahead but modified their original plans, shifting their focus to a digital strategy. They created a mini-series called ‘Making of VIEREN’ to educate people on the process and complexities involved in watchmaking.
They even ran a few events while adhering to the COVID-19 rules at the time.
Both Chow and Fong were passionate about diversity, and Toronto’s PRIDE celebration was one of their annual highlights. When the 2020 edition was cancelled, Chow and Fong rented their own truck, created a rainbow balloon arrangement, and worked with local drag queen Sofonda Cox to go around the city and celebrate; or as the dutch would say, vieren.
Since then, VIEREN hosted an exclusive Happy Hour in Toronto to launch their limited edition collection, along with cocktails and canapes.
Last year, VIEREN made a splash at New York Fashion Week, where they set up a pop-up shop and hosted key media from the world of watchmaking.
Chow recently returned from Windup Watch Fair in Chicago, VIEREN’s first trade show.
“Our collection is inspired by modernist architecture, so (showcasing in) Chicago was quite fitting,” said Chow.
It was an opportunity to finally get in front of real consumers after two years under the shadow of COVID-19. The trade show also provided a glimpse into the competition, as well as industry trends that were influencing new and established brands.
This coming fall holds another exciting passage for VIEREN as they launch a new innovative special edition watch for the finale of their first collection.
“We’re experimenting with colours and materials to continue pushing the boundaries of luxury watchmaking design,” teased Chow, who will be debuting the new timepiece in New York on September 22 later this year.
It’s VIEREN’s way of bridging the past and the future.