Yann Bouillonnec - Perfect Timing

Bouillonnec is today sitting in a Jardine House conference room high over Hong Kong, a reflection of the lofty position in the world he now holds as luxury watch maker Vacheron Constantin’s managing director for the Asia-Pacific region.
In the 15 or so years since he first moved East, Bouillonnec has immersed himself in the luxury watch industry as it has exploded in Asia – and China in particular. Helping matters on a more personal level for the five-handicapper has been the fact that at the very same time, the game of golf that he loves has done exactly the same thing.
“I started my professional career in Hong Kong – in 1996,’’ says Bouillonnec. “And from the beginning golf has been a strong part of my business career, too. A lot of our clients and a lot of our partners play golf and that is something that has grown, in China in particular.
“I think the more you develop your business in Asia now the more golf you will play. This is the case especially in China over the past 10 years.’’
Much has been written about the growth of golf in the region – especially in China. More than 500 courses now dot a Chinese countryside that only had one course as recent ago as 1984.
And a fair degree of the game’s stunning growth has been put down to the emergence over the past decade of China’s cashed-up middle class – the same people who have established the country as the world’s leading market for luxury goods. And that of course includes watches.
In 2008, Hong Kong itself surpassed the United States, France, Italy and Japan to become the largest importer of Swiss watches while in the first half of this year, HK$10.4 billion worth of watches came in to the territory from Switzerland – the planet’s undisputed watch-making leader - according to Hong Kong government figures.
And as the world’s oldest luxury watch-maker – with business dating back to 1755 – Vacheron Constantin has long been a major player in the region.
“We came early into China, in terms of the luxury goods market, as far back as the 1820s, says Bouillonnec, who in the early 2000s also spent time with the company in Switzerland.
“To have such a long history is unique. Our strong heritage allows us to pass on the knowledge and experience, which is crucial for us to prepare for the long term future.
“We set up the office here and our team has been working directly in China since 1998. We have taken our exhibitions to major city to show what is behind Vacheron Constantin, the work of the watch-maker. This is not purely advertising or purely marketing, it’s giving the public and in-depth knowledge of what goes in to traditional watch making. Watch lovers and collectors are not buying watches only because of the brand name. They genuinely appreciate it for its craftsmanship and detail, and these are what Vacheron Constantin is all about.’’