Abraham-Louis Perrelet
| Abraham-Louis Perrelet | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | January 9, 1729 Neuchâtel, Switzerland |
| Died | 1826 |
| Nationality | Swiss |
| Citizenship | Swiss |
| Occupation | Horologist, Inventor |
| Notable works | Automatic watch |
| Influenced | Breguet |
| Parents | Daniel Perrelet |
Abraham-Louis Perrelet, (9 January 1729 - 1826), born in Neuchâtel in Switzerland was a Swiss horologist.
Perrelet invented a self-winding mechanism in 1770 for pocket watches. It worked on the same principle as a modern wristwatch, and was designed to wind as the owner walked, using an oscillating weight inside the large watch that moved up and down.
The Geneva Society of Arts reported in 1776 that fifteen minutes walking was necessary to wind the watch sufficiently for eight days, and the following year reported that it was selling well.[1] Perrelet is thus widely acknowledged as the inventor of the basic movement known as 'automatic' today but In 1780 he also created the first pedometer, measuring the steps and distance while walking.
Contents |
[edit] Perrelet, The Brand
While the factory claims to have been in continuous production since the late eighteenth century, the brand has only recently begun to command attention worthy of its heritage. The brand, acquired in 2004 by Miguel Rodriguez of the Festina Group, has recently (2007) appointed Marc Bernhardt as CEO of Perrelet, and under his direction the company has released a few highly regarded watches. These include watches with retrograde, jumping hour, and double-rotor complications. In terms of pricing, Bernhardt has positioned Perrelet in the lower middle of the luxury market, with most of their recent releases priced between five and ten thousand (US) dollars. Their upper-range watches featuring costlier complications, such as tourbillons or minute-repeaters, typically retail in the thirty to forty thousand (US) dollar range.
[edit] Rise & Fall
2005, after an explosion of the Luxury watch market, Perrelet lead by new owner Festina Group seeks to expand its sales worldwide. The brand temporarily succeeds in implementing sales plans showing immediate results while the demand for Swiss made watches is in the rise. In 2008, Fausto Salvi was appointed CEO of Perrelet with the objective to rejuvenate the brand; his experience as director of Hugo Boss watches would be critical to Festina group. While Perrelet competes with high end brands such as Ulysse Nardin, Chronoswiss, Hublot, and Zenith, the brand has been widely sold in USA & China within Gray Markets at highly discounted prices. In 2008, a regular consumer can find many of the brand's latest watches in side markets today due to a lack of demand and interest for the previously sought after watch. This trend lately has impacted the brand in the USA where their retail operations have suffered heavily, resulting in a damaged brand image and decrease in respectability. In 2011, Perrelet released a series of Limited Edition timepieces designed for US market in order to revitalize their poor sales numbers. Instead of creating a revival, the company missed an opportunity by releasing a watch that was found offensive by some consumers by depicting a "furious man" supposedly representing Uncle Sam. The brand left with no sales resources was unable to create marketing efforts or develop new sales amid the dismissal of employees earlier that year. The presence of Perrelet Luxury watches in the Black Market has since then increased as many online retailers are suggesting it (Ebay, Worldtempus, Amazon Watches & Jewelry, Bernard Watch, LA Watches, HK Watch Co.)
[edit] Black Market Issues
With a near collapse operation in 2011, Perrelet watches are widely sold on various Black Market. The brand respectability and incapacity to generate efficient strategies and continuity resulted in a near doom within the North American retail network. Lost respectability, credibility, employees, retail pos, led Perrelet watches on side markets and their value to decrease as some jewelers and watch store stated earlier in 2010 in a JCK Magazine article.
[edit] Breguet
Perrelet sold some of his watches to a contemporary watch making luminary, Abraham-Louis Breguet around 1780 who improved upon the mechanism in his own version of the design, calling his watches "perpetuelles" the French word for perpetual.[2][3][4] They did not work reliably and Breguet stopped producing them around 1800.
[edit] Offensive & Erotic Watch Scandal
in 2010, Perrelet released and all american themed watch that portrayed America's Uncle Sam as a violent and furious character. The "coup" was again created when Perrelet released an "Erotic" watch in 2011. Industry insiders stated it was more of a "publicity stunt, rather than a real horological improvement".
[edit] Replicas
Perrelet is known for its "double rotor" movement. Replica's of the watches or movement can be found on multiple online retailers. The watches are often made in China and do not feature the same quality as a Swiss Made watch.
[edit] 2011 Layoffs
In late 2011 the brand had laid off 4 of its employees in the USA leaving the company dry in human resources and talent. The information was relayed by WatchDNA and The Swiss Watch Brand Review who confirmed a trend among some watch companies firing employees by dozens.
[edit] The Future?
As of 2011, it is unknown if Perrelet as a brand will remain in business as many brands failed in the past years due to stagnant financial markets and a severe recession.
[edit] References
- ^ "Biography of Abraham Louis Perrelet". http://www.datacomm.ch/rbu/perrelet.html. Retrieved 10 September 2009.
- ^ "Who invented the automatic watch ?". Europa Star. http://www.europastar.com/europastar/watch_tech/automa.jsp#anchor120455. Retrieved 10 September 2009.
- ^ "Timekeeping in Europe and China : Watches & Wonders timeline". Worldtempus.com. http://www.worldtempus.com/wt/1/6791/.
- ^ "All the watchmaking news". Tendancehorlogerie.com. http://www.tendancehorlogerie.com/.
- "Perrelet Retail Sales Are Plumetting". Ablogtoread.com. http://www.ablogtoread.com/doomsday-coming-for-wrist-watch-retailers.
- "The Mainspring of an Automatic Winding Watch". timezone.com. http://www.timezone.com/library/wglossary/wglossary631697356826788351. Retrieved 10 September 2009.
- "Who invented the automatic watch?". Europa Star. http://www.europastar.com/europastar/watch_tech/automa.jsp#anchor120455. Retrieved 10 September 2009.
- "Timekeeping in Europe and China : Watches & Wonders timeline". Worldtempus.com. http://www.worldtempus.com/wt/1/6791/.
- "Discounted Perrelet Watches Increase on Black Market". Ebay.com. http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=perrelet.
[edit] External links
- Perrelet Watch Company
- Why Perrelet Retail Sales Are Plumetting?
- Perrelet's Gray Market Issues
- Is Perrelet's Watch Brand Damaged by Ebay Sales?
- Perrelet Limited Edition Watch Offensive to Americans
- Gray Markets & Failure of Swiss Watch Brands to Innovate
- Perrelet's Fires Employees as Sales Decrease
- More Layoffs at Perrelet
- Heavy Discounted Perrelet Watches Found Online Damages the Brand
