It has now been six months or so since Thomas Morf took the reigns at Hanhart. I had a chance to catch up with him recently and get his take on the first half-year.
James Henderson – When you came in, what were some of your immediate challenges?
Thomas Morf – Perhaps the biggest immediate challenge has been to reconfirm /reestablishing Hanhart’s presence and stature. Hanhart is such a unique product, so much history – and as you know – there is a very tangible connection to stop watches.
JH – Your first BaselWorld is now “in the books”. How did it go for you and your team?
TM – Really, really well. There was, and continues to be a great deal of interest – but ultimately an overseas partner is, in many ways, the care-giver, or nanny of the brand and to this end they have to be a perfect (or as near perfect) a match as possible. So we are taking our time, not rushing into anything. I have taken care to bring my team together, and we all share the same interest in seeing the success of Hanhart.
JH – It’s interesting to hear you say this, because I hear a lot of brands and companies make these statements, but they do not always stand behind them with the pressure to sell and open markets.
TM – That’s the thing, you have to understand who you are as a brand. It is not to say that a potential partner is bad. But it is important to understand that sometimes even a partner that seems good is not necessarily the right partner. So we are looking for the right type of partnerships – Hanhart is not a “champagne” brand, but rather a “whiskey on the rocks” type of brand. So it is important to nurture our position, to be who we are. Hanhart is a brand that resonates with a lot of people. So we are patient. A lot of brands in a lot of industries sometimes go a bit crazy trying to build their brand, without paying attention to the actual identity of the product that makes the brand special or unique.
JH – I find it interesting that you are sticking to chronographs and stop watches, not throwing out dozens of different types of watches to try and please everyone.
TM – Again – this speaks to authenticity. We are Hanhart. We are not an average watch company. We make watches and stop watches. This is who we are.
