Xavier de Roquemaurel, is one of the three entrepreneurs that relaunched Czapek.

1. Describe briefly your childhood.

I was a happy child, spending time snowboarding and dreaming… I never took anything too seriously and loved making jokes...

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

As a result, I was definitely seen as a dreamer, and I was probably secretly hoping that one day I would be able to show that one can have fun and succeed at the same time. Time did however show me that you also need to do a hell of a lot of work...

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

I need a psychoanalyst to answer that one!

Laughing at my cousin not willing to eat his meat in his purée at the age of three is the first memory I could go back to… technically it is significant for that reason, conceptually maybe less. However today he is a shareholder in Czapek, so who knows, maybe it is… these are the sands of time. A long-lasting friendship is a treasure.

4. Have you ever had another profession?

I was a sales associate, forecast specialist (that was quite fun indeed), retail analyst, product manager, marketing manager and later director… and all this in food, perfumes and cosmetics, leather accessories, high end fashion, and finally watches: moving towards more and more emotional objects... discovering people, industries, countries, cultures, languages… the world is also a playground.

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

I always dreamt of manufacturing a beautiful and useful product. When I was 14 I started making snowboards in my garage… and made some bespoke for school friends… It was a thrill, and I feel the same excitement when we create a bespoke piece for a watch lover. So I just feel like I am doing the dream job I always hoped for.

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

Probably the early sales experience selling to hypermarket chains isn't my most exciting souvenir… yet I learned a lot of things which are very useful today. So no “bad” experiences!! It is a journey, you need the grey days to enjoy the blue ones.

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

I lost my job three times in a row and found myself totally stuck with absolutely no chance of finding another job. I had a sort of fraud syndrome… and felt totally useless. My sparring partner in the job search one day told me to list my 10 best successes. I ended up making a list of 20. Then I looked at it and started to understand what I was good at. Unemployment has been a major “reset” in my life. I was professionally “dead” ... and ready to be reborn. It is one of the 10 key reasons for Czapek’s survival as a start-up. You can’t kill someone who is already dead, and you don’t fear what you have overcome.

8. Who has had the strongest influence on you?

My wife

9. What are you most proud of?

Getting married to Marie-Alix and having created such a beautiful family.

(I’d love to say Czapek too, but I run away from the feeling of pride within the Company as it is an incredibly challenging journey and we can never relax)

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

1. Find a great partner in life!

2. And then focus, focus, focus… It’s about the energy you can put into the project and how the Team will carry on. It is not about intelligence, it’s about perseverance… and integrity: fail, learn, share.

11. Name three things on your bucket list.

I believe in simple things done every day, so my bucket list will be a bit disappointing I am afraid:

1. Give a better world to my kids by accomplishing every year a significant action for the planet (at my humble level),

2. Get involved with the community when my time at the helm of Czapek will be over

3. Get ready for eternity… (with my wife! )

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

My first bet is: the haute horology Indies (independent brands, ndr) are going to see a threefold growth over the next 5 years… We were representing 1 or 2% of the industry, we are now at 3-4% and I would guess we’ll get over the 10% of the haute horology segment… so I believe that there will be good days ahead of us!!!

My second bet is: Apple with the Apple Watch is helping the haute horology segment in the mid-term, to make youngster dream of having something super cool on their wrist... like a beautiful mechanical watch!!

To find out more about Xavier de Roquemaurel