The Watch Maker

HK Golfer publisher Charles McLaughlin meets Daniel Dreifuss, the man behind Maurice de Mauriac Zurich

The owner of luxury watch company Maurice de Mauriac Zurich will tell you that the brand name was inspired by two legendary French intellectuals: François Mauriac (1885-1970), a Nobel Prize winning free thinker, and Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592), one of the most influential writers of the French Renaissance. This is appropriate because the story of how founder and driving force Daniel Dreifuss got to where he is today reads like a Byzantine novel.

Within minutes of meeting him, he will inform you that he is Jewish and a former investment banker. The latter isn’t such a surprise as he has retained a love of hand-made, bold, banker-striped shirts. The former isn’t too surprising either, as he seems to thrive in his self- imposed role of David versus Goliath within the Swiss watch industry. As he himself freely admits, he is driven by his perception of being alienated by his Jewish heritage and originally hid behind the inherent Catholicism behind his chosen brand name. Only in recent years has the banner “Daniel Dreifuss Presents” appeared in his marketing.

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Written by Charles McLaughlin

Click here to see the published article.

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