LOOKING BEYOND LIMITS

WILHELM SCHMID, CEO A. LANGE & SOHNE

If you want a glimpse into the home of A. Lange & Sohne head Wilhelm Schmid, check out the brand’s novelty presentation video, where he gives a welcome address. Required to stay home because of confinement measures, the CEO roped in his son to film the segment on an iPhone. Speaking to ThePeak via Zoom, Schmid says with a laugh, “We were in our dining room. The alternative would have been not having a message from me, which I thought would be strange.” He later notes: “There is no environment that fuels creativity more than working with major constraints.”

Last year, the Odysseus sports watch caused a stir as the first serially produced steel watch by A. Lange & Sohne, which usually works with precious metals. You released a followup in white gold this year with new strap options, including rubber. Why not release another steel Odysseus?

Before we first launched the Odysseus in steel last October, we had long debates about whether we should launch three watches or just one. Eventually, we decided to launch the steel one alone. Otherwise, the other models would have gone under the radar. We said the Odysseus would be a family, but we never said it would be a family dedicated to steel. There will be more to come.

A. Lange & Sohne has about 760 employees. How has Covid-19 impacted the way your team works?

We are a family company. To keep people close while also keeping our distance is something we need to practise because we’ve never done it before. We have been working on the novelties, back orders and custom orders, and using measures we have implemented to protect our people and ensure they are in good health. This comes with challenges, but new technologies are supporting us a lot.

How are you harnessing technology these days?

We are doing quite a few customer meetings via Zoom. What we would have done at Watches & Wonders in A. Lange & Sohne’s very personal style, we now do in Zoom. This would have been unthinkable a few months ago as it’s not our style. It would also not have been appreciated by our clients, but right now, they appreciate it. I think this medium is here to stay and complement personal interaction.