Dr Müller is the founder of The Bridge To Luxury (TBTL), an international consultancy firm supporting companies of high-end goods and services. Formerly the head of A. Lange & Söhne and Glashütte Original. Frank writes regularly on luxury related topics and is editor of the Luxury Industry Performance Index (LIPI). He is also a lecturer at top ranked international business schools and an event speaker.

1. Describe briefly your childhood.

A childhood full of family love and care being experienced in the beautiful city of Hamburg. And a youth of much fun shared with cool friends with whom I am still largely in contact today.

2. As a child did you have any driving ambition?

My dream was to be a fast middle-distance runner. At the age of 18, clocking the kilometer in less than 2’ 30” came closest to it.

3. What is your first significant memory as a child?

Sounds traumatic: The cold and bright operating room in a hospital where a bleeding head wound needed stitches. Yet, that painful first memory has fortunately not been proven a bad omen for the rest of my life – at least so far.

4. Have you ever had another profession?

Yes: At the beginning of my professional career, I was a research fellow at the University of St. Gallen in providing teaching to students and business executives while carrying out studies on corporate communications. Before becoming finally an international luxury consultant, I was project manager at IWC, managing director for sales & finance at A. Lange & Söhne, CEO at Glashütte Original and member of the extended management board of Swatch Group.

5. What made you decide to go in the direction you are currently in?

First, the fascination for the notion of time and instruments to measure it. Second, giving advice to luxury and prestige brands is very exciting: defining strategies, developing watch collections, creating advertising campaigns, organizing funding. The projects require analytical and structured thinking, entrepreneurial spirit, long-term vision, product creativity and some didactical skill to convince decision makers to follow recommendations – challenging but quite exciting. Thirdly, as watches are admired around the globe, I am enjoying the privilege to get to know people of culture and sophistication in many countries.

6. What’s the worst job you’ve had to do?

As a student, wanting to earn some money, having had to clean apartments in which people had died.

7. What’s been the hardest moment in your life so far, and how did you overcome it?

The loss of close family members – yet, memories of wonderful times shared together have helped to ease sadness.

8. Who has had the strongest influence on you?

As far as my career is concerned Günther Blümlein. He was first Jaeger-LeCoultre’s as well as IWC’s savior and later creator of A. Lange & Söhne. I have never worked with an industry professional who mastered his trade on so many different levels so astonishing well: corporate and branding strategy, engineering comprehension, marketing creativity, a strong commercial seventh sense. Of all industry captains I have had the privilege to work with – and I have worked with many of them – Günther Blümlein was the most complex. I owe him a lot.

9. What are you most proud of?

In the private sphere: my family, of course. In terms of professional achievements: having successfully founded The Bridge To Luxury more than 10 years ago; then the creation of the German Watch Museum realized together with some equally minded collaborators and the Swatch Group’s generous funding; and finally having obtained a patent on Glashütte Original’s Grand Cosmopolite – although I am not a trained engineer.

10. What advice would you give to a 20 something someone thinking of taking a similar path as you?

Follow your passions and dreams - and never regret!

11. Name three things on your bucket list.

Improving my Italian or learning some Japanese. Exploring ancient Egypt as a tourist. Publishing a book on photography about how time unfolds itself in daily life – I do enjoy taking pictures.

12. Where do you think the industry is going to be in 10 years’ time.

With a time lag of some 10 years, the watch industry has more-or-less followed the path of the automotive industry. Today, here and there a few big global players are managing a portfolio of some 60 brands in controlling the market – while a few high-end niche workshops continue to offer exciting non-mainstream toys. Observing the current troubles of the car industry, one can foresee identical difficulties impacting the watch industry’s future: mastering consumer value change, maintaining social relevance, respecting sustainability, coping with rapid technological progress, adopting to negative demographics etc. Also to consider: No more commercial safeguards can be expected from Chinese economic growth rates or margin gains in shifting distribution from classical wholesale to retail and online. Finally to add: Currently and for some time to come, Covid-19 will be putting pressure onto the watch industry. Overall, challenging perspectives for the next decade. Yet, for the fast, flexible and smart entrepreneurs there are always promising opportunities.

 To learn more about Frank Müller