August 3, 2010
July 30 was a high point in Monaco events: the 62 annual Red Cross Gala held at the Monte-Carlo Sporting Club, the biggest event on the Grimaldi’s social calendar and the largest charity gala in the world. This was the first year in which Ateliers deMonaco kicked off a collaboration it hopes will spent many, many years to come. The special guest entertainment this year was Tom Jones. HSH Prince Albert II arrived with his two special ladies: Fiancee Charlene Wittstock and his sister HSH Princess Stephanie.
This event is one of the key annual fund raising events for the Monaco based charity organization. Initiator and co-founder of Ateliers deMonaco Robert van Pappelendam stressed the importance and commitment of social responsibility for the brand:
“It is with excitement and pride we hope to start a long lasting collaboration with the Red Cross organization in Monaco. The work done by this team and the projects supported do make a huge difference in the life of those people affected by disaster and misfortune. As a company, we believe wholeheartedly that luxury brands should be role-model when it comes to become a more responsible and sustainable partner in the communities we live and operate in, as other industries and the public at large look up to us. We hope that over time we can jointly grow our business as well as the support we can give back to the community that has welcomed us so warmly in Monaco”.
And to set the right example that the evening was also mend to have a bit of fun, the more informal part was opened by the Prince and his fiancee.
August will be a quite month as we close down for summer celebration, but expect us to come back with big news after the summer! Enjoy your holidays!!
The Team @ Ateliers deMonaco
May 2, 2010
During a highly exclusive invitation only Cocktail party over the weekend in the Hotel de Paris in Monte-Carlo, Ateliers deMonaco celebrated its first anniversary as the new young rising star in the field of Haute Horlogerie.
 Cocktails on the terrace of Hotel de Paris to celebrate Ateliers deMonaco’s first anniversary Among the guests toasting on the prosperous future of the brand were local prominent business and government leaders, as well as some icons out of sports, fashion and entertainment field.
 Master horologer and co-founder Pim Koeslag welcoming some icons out of the world of luxury, fashion and private banking - Frank Muller, Kenzo & Piero Grandi. In his opening speech, initiator and co-founder Robert van Pappelendam gave his perspective why this event was an important milestone on the journey to create a new and exclusive Haute Horlogerie brand, but this time from Monaco.
 Chamberlain to HSH Prince Albert II congratulating Initiator and co-founder Robert van Pappelendam “When we started the journey to realize our dream a couple of years ago, we wanted to create something fresh, new and innovative, yet that could compete with the highest standards of quality and watch making. No compromises, no shortcuts. And along the way we always kept this commitment to the very best in front of us. We got inspired by a quote from Sir Henry Royce: “Strive for perfection in everything you do. Take the best what exists and make it better. When it does not exist, design it.” It is this commitment we believe from the start that helped create what later became one of the most iconic luxury brands in the world.”
 The Ronde d'Or Royale - The Prince's choice “So many have asked us, why Monaco, and the short version of the answer is: do you really believe Henry Royce would have created the brand as it is today if he would have been located with the rest of the industry in Detroit Michigan? So, we also chose to locate to an environment that could inspire, that has a long standing heritage of artistic achievements and lastly is in the heart of where our target consumer’s lives: Monaco. And the support we have gotten so far from the local authorities and The Palace have been tremendous.”
 Secretary-General Red Cross Monegasque, President du Conseil d’Etat & President du Conseil de l’ordre des experts comptables Monaco “The last question that is on most of your minds is: are you nuts to create a new high end bespoke watch brand in the midst of an economic crisis? We believe no economic crisis should come in the way of us realizing our dream and the brand proposition we all fell in love with. And how are we doing so far? We closed our first Baselworld with the following facts: 7 days of exhibition, 100+press interviews, 388 business cards, 2040 minutes of planned appointments, 100,000 + visitors, and as a result multiple distribution points across Western Europe, Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Looking forward and around us today, this brand is of to an excellent start, something to be proud of and importantly to draw confidence from for the hard work ahead of us to create our NOUVELLE entry in the HAUTE HORLOGERIE, but this time from MONACO!”
The height of the celebration was planned to be the acceptance by H.S.H Prince Albert II of his first Ateliers deMonaco watch, a public statement of his support of entrepreneurship in Monaco and for the Ateliers deMonaco brand specifically. Despite His full calendar, H.S.H. Prince Albert II invited the brand for a private meeting in the Palace just a couple of days after the cocktail event. In a very relaxed and intimate setting, the Ateliers deMonaco team could bring The Prince up to speed on its latest innovations and plans for the future. Looking at the watch on his wrist, the event was closed by saying:
 H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco officially receiving his first Ateliers deMonaco watch Crédit photo: Gaetan Luci - Palais Princier “This is an extremely exciting project and it is great to see a young and passionate group of people being committed to making such high-end craftsmanship out of Monaco. I for one will be a proud wearer of your watches. We wish you the very best and hope we can stay in close contact to ensure the whole of Monaco can enjoy being part of your journey!”
 Watch with special engraving chosen by H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco As you can see, a lot of progress, much more to do….in the end, the biggest reward for us is to see our end-consumer deeply enjoying the bespoke experience created for them, and if asked, readily sharing with like-minded people!
 Nothing beats the feeling of wearing an Ateliers deMonaco watch yourself
March 12, 2010
The dream
As so often in life, the desire to leave a legacy is a great motivation to achieve the unthinkable. And often during the late night and weekend sessions in the ateliers, discussion would focus on what leaving a legacy in the watch industry would mean these days. Was not almost everything already invented and designed? Yes and no was the conclusion. Great inventions had been made, but arguably their functionality was not always as good and consumer friendly as the original intend. For instance, despite the Tourbillon movement was invented to increase accuracy, yet most of these beautiful pieces of mechanical engineering and design, will actually not deliver on its original intend. The principle and functionality of a Perpetual Calendar is already designed, but if for whatever reason you need to adjust the calendar, it will easily cost you a lot of time and frustration to adjust, if at all you will be able to do so without causing damage to the complication. The fact that everything is designed yet does not only hold true for technology, but also goes for branding. When was the last time you’ve seen a brand that is proud to live in the here and now, and not fall into the temptation of abusing heritage as a seal of craftsmanship? And herein lies the nugget of the shared dream - creating a new high-end watch brand, designed for the generation that lives now— using a hybrid between the best of modern technology and traditional craftsmanship. As the nouvelle cuisine was trying to set a new standard and fresh impulse in cooking trends, so should this brand try to give a fresh impulse to Haute Horlogerie: let’s call it the ‘Nouvelle Horlogerie’.
Location & founding
As the intent of the new brand was not to copy the category conventions of the past decades, there were no limitations in the initial search. It needed to be a place that could provide enough inspiration for the people working for the brand, while also carry sufficient aspiration for those that the brand was designing for: Monaco and its surroundings. This place is not only one of the more appealing places on earth at the moment, but it has a long standing heritage of attracting some of the biggest innovators in several fields of expertise: painters like Picasso, Chagall, Matisse (or more recently like the Dutch sculptor Verkade); architects like Le Corbusier; poets and writers like Chekhov and Cocteau; and philosophers like Nietzsche. And importantly, these people did not only reside in this area, but delivered some of their best work while in the region. Of course, the breathtaking scenery of the Mediterranean against the startling rock formation of the Alps, and the warm blanket of the climate makes the combination picture perfect! After the location was determined, over a year went by to incorporate the company in Monaco and find the appropriate location for the Ateliers in the Princedom. It is important to be a genuine Monegasque company that is woven in to the local fabric of life. And all of this culminates in the brand proudly stating its origin on the final time pieces: Made in Monaco!
 Peter
March 5, 2010
After closing out 2009 and having visibility over the first quarter of 2010, we can conclude that the business looks very strong. We are projected to sell as many watches in the first quarter of 2010 as in our launch year 2009, and we are only at the start of creating a global reach by the end of this calendar year and have high hopes that Baselworld will further catapult the brand into the world-stage. This is more than encouraging, as this allows us to let money flow back into the business to build the brand image and further invest in innovation. But, if we would have gotten $1 for all the advertising and sponsor requests that has hit our inbox, we would be rich by now!! Or said differently, there are many people that want to sell you something, yet only a few are able to help you achieve your goals or make a difference for you. And even the list of those people and activities that we believe are the right ones, is much longer than what we can afford.
So, how do we decide which one to thank for, and which once to consider?
We have been very strict in determining which key attributes are required for our brand to succeed in the market place. Any activity that helps achieve one or preferably a combination of these attributes, ranks higher on our priority list. The attributes are:
- Become rooted in Monaco: we want to be an integral part of the society we are part of. This as the inspiration for what we do as well as the social responsibility with which this comes;
- Build credibility in our watchmaking craftsmanship: we are working with some of the most talented people out of the industry, both within our own company as well as with the partners we have selected outside our company;
- Become the forbidden fruits for just a few: targeting, targeting, targeting…
Based on the above, we have been a proud participant in the Only Watch Auction to support the research into Duchenne muscular dystrophy, as well in GTE and Baselworld - the latter events clearly aimed at the watch ‘aficionado’. The hypothesis we have is that to become irresistible, we need to become the best kept secret of the luxury industry or a hidden treasure for people in the know. To achieve this, anything that smells mass is the kiss of death: exclusivity reigns and bespoke rules.
We’ll keep you updated what happens in Basel as of next week……
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