With a foundation in Mechanical Engineering, Hakim El Kadiri has spent the vast majority of his working life working in the product development side of the watch industry.

1. Describe briefly your childhood.

Born in Casablanca to a Swiss mother and a Moroccan father I grew up between Rabat, Casablanca and Tunisia alongside with my 3 sisters. My mother was a photographer and my father was a water & forest engineer. Both have in their different ways influenced some of my hobbies and future carrier choices. I was a dreamer longing for great adventures to cross my path. The French school I visited was somehow boring but we all had a lot of fun together outside class of course. The sun & sea are part of my childhood so moving to a grey & cold Switzerland being only a teenager was quite a shock in the early days. But that’s another story!

2 As a child did you have any driving ambition?

My biggest secret goal was to become a cook (either to have a food truck and sell variations of pancakes or to become a Michelin star chef!)

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

There are so many memories that it is difficult to pin one down… I was around 5 years old when my grandfather offered me a watch. I was wearing it proudly! It was a mechanical watch that I unfortunately lost at some point.

4. Have you ever had another profession?

I studied precision mechanics when I first arrived in Switzerland. I knew from the beginning that this job would not fulfil my ambitions

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

Working for a technical company did not give me any satisfaction. I wanted to work at an international level, for a company of mass products or for a company of luxury products. Living in Neuchâtel, which was the best field …? Watchmaking of course!

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

I've had many different jobs like painter, scaffolder, security guard, mechanic, cook, dishwasher, salesman, marketing manager and frankly, all of them were interesting in a way as I like to learn new things.

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

The most recent one is the fact of having been fired after 23 years of passionate work for an amazing group. I’ll keep you posted on how I shall overcome this situation.

8. Who has had the strongest influence on you?

There are two main influencers in my life.

My wife of course, she pushed me to develop and I feel without her support I would never be where I am today.

My father … He had a fatal heart attack when I was 16 - He was a man with great values, a man of integrity, a man with good and right principles. I think my life is governed by all the values he left me.

9. What are you most proud of?

Of course, my wife and our 2 children (can we say children; they are already 27 and 23!)

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

My work is not a job, it's a passion, I love what I do, I don't feel like going to work in the morning, I dream about my work, I live my work, I breathe my work, the part your work takes in your life is huge, if you are lucky enough to be passionate, you'll never think about working, you'll just enjoy your life and the balance of life you'll have, (the younger generations are probably wiser than mine, and balance of life is something they understand well).

11. Name three things on your bucket list.

I'm lucky enough to live in Switzerland and most of the things you dream about - if they are reasonable - are achievable. But here are a few things:

1- It could be to go and live part of the year between the Swiss Alps and the South of France, in Provence and really enjoy a new kind of life balance between these two places!

2- A trek in Nepal or in Argentina.

3- I would like to develop a brand, not especially in the watch industry, but who knows!

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

A watch is no longer used to tell time, it is a piece of jewelry, a work of art, a status symbol it shows who you are, it really represents you. The watch you wear must have values (not only financial, but there are also many and different types of values).

In my opinion, there will be hard times for the watch industry - most of the brands are asleep, and most of them (hope not all of them!) did not take advantage of the Covid period to react and rethink their products, their future and their strategies.

For me, the brands that will continue are the ones that provide "truth", with real value, real content, real story, real background. Today, people have more knowledge about products - they won't be interested in a "mee-too" product - So I would recommend any brand not to take inspiration from another brand's icon.

The chances are on the side of the creative brands and not only the “few five” and the high-end ranges as assumed by most .The chances are real for brands like Hamilton for a Khaki or a Ventura or from Rado with a Captain Cook - to name the one I know best - (there are many more brands with fantastic products)

There will be many newcomers, bringing new and interesting shapes or stories...let's see!

As far as connected watches go, the advantage with the current models is that people are used to wearing something on their wrist and the revolution hasn't happened yet people will exchange their connected objects with a real watch after a short time.