Standing at the realm of IWC Schaffhausen’s marketing department is Franziska Gsell, who has always proven that women can achieve a lot. After majoring in Business Administration and Marketing at the University of Applied Sciences in Zurich, she worked as Brand Manager and Marketing Manager for Carlsberg SA and joined Fogal as CEO in 2012, after leaving her positions as Marketing Director at Lindt & Sprungli AG and as International Marketing Director at Navyboot Zurich. And in 2015, she began her journey at this famed watchmaking house.

Luckily for us, we had an opportunity to meet her at the IWC Schaffhausen booth at this year’s edition of the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie.

What was the timepiece that marked a new milestone in the history of IWC?

That dates back to more than 80 years. In 1936, the two sons of the former owner of IWC actually learned how to fly. And after they convinced their father that this is really needed, IWC started to produce pilot’s watches. And when you look at the actual collection that we present now at the booth, one collection is the Spitfire collection and the design dates back to the forties, the Mark 11 which clearly inspired the design of the entire collection.

What makes the company’s watches environmental-friendly?

For luxury watches in general, it is not so difficult to be sustainable I would say. In my position as Chief Marketing Officer, I take care of the sustainability committee as well. So yes, we do quite a lot. For instance, we introduced new packaging as of April where we reduced massively the volume and we used leather. The packing now lasts for a long period, and we do not use big boxes. So we really reduced by 30%. I think this is a very important step. But sustainability is not just about the product itself and the distribution. We have different pillars that we openly communicate about. In April 2018 we published our GRI based sustainability report, which means that we are fully transparent in regards to what we commit ourselves to and what we achieve. And we take it from cycle to cycle. So, right now we are in the middle of our second cycle where we have given targets that we will reach. By the end of this year we will communicate back by publishing the next report with even more ambitious targets.

When was the first IWC watch created and what was the inspiration behind it?

It was back in the 1900s. IWC has produced watches for more than 100 years.

How did the launch of a feminine watch affect the fans of the brand?

Well, it is important to mention that we have been producing women’s watches for more than 100 years. Recently, for the past 20 years, we were focusing more on the bigger timepieces. And I say bigger timepieces but that does not mean that women do not buy them. When you think about our most famous Portugieser Chronograph, 20% of the buyers are women. It’s indeed a big timepiece but women have a big appetite for it. And in 2014, we introduced the 37 mm case in the Portofino collection and that was a huge success. In 2017, we launched the Da Vinci 36 mm which is a bit smaller and it is one of the strong pillars of our women’s collection. When you look at the Spitfire collection which has launched and even in Top Gun, we now have a smaller diameter. In fact, the automatic is a 39 mm and the chronograph is a 41 mm.

How important is the role of the IWC Museum in the history of the brand?

It has been more than 10 years that refurbished it. I have a historian in my team that I am very happy with because I call him Wikipedia IWC, because I can ask him any question. The museum is quite important for the visitor’s experience because we combine the history with how we manufacture today at the new manufacturing plant we have. So you have the watchmaker area and the museum which gives you all the history.

Where is IWC heading with its watchmaking creativity and the values in the modern times?

It is not so difficult. I would not even say that our values have changed because we have been founded by an American. That means that we embraced a very open, modern and outspoken spirit, and we still have it until today. We are a brand that believes in sustainability; a brand that is very proudly sharing with the world what we do and what we still have to do. We are not afraid to be extroverted. When you look at our values, it is pioneering, it is engineering, it is going for new material. That has been, and always will be very important.

 

Article Written by Mirella Haddad