American Dream
Tiffany & Co is on the right path to becoming a legitimate player in the world of watchmaking, but there is still a long way to go, vice president for watches Nicola Andreatta tells Karishma Tulsidas
s i sit down with tiffany & Co vice president and general manager for watches, Nicola Andreatta, I am told that I am the 99th journalist to be interviewing him in the span of one year. In fact, I already had met him once before, in New York City for the launch of the Tiffany CT60 collection. At that time, we had spoken about Tiffany’s re-entry into the world of watches and its plan to legitimise its Swiss-made, Americanapproved timepieces. It was just the beginning of the journey, as the CT60 marked the dawn of a new era and defined a clear code for the jeweller’s horological aspirations. The CT60 has since been well-received, and is a proudly American collection, bearing design codes inherent to the 179-year-old company. Tiffany made a smart move by ensuring that the watch did not echo the ones coming out of Switzerland, by carving its own niche with unique detailing and elements. This is even more apparent in the East West timepiece, an elongated, rectangular timepiece with a horizontal dial that takes its inspiration from a 1940s archival piece. Heading this initiative is Andreatta, as he brings with him a wealth of experience in horology, having been the president and CEO of NOA, a luxury watch manufacturer he founded. Since joining Tiffany in 2013, he had made it his priority to transform the brand into a big player in the world of horology, while staying true to its American heritage. Therefore, my agenda for this chat was clear: to find out the performance of Tiffany’s watch division.