French version
Media / Editorials
EDITORIALS
UNION & ACTION - BELGIUM - NOVEMBER 2009
03/2010
34
Ice-Watch: the world
is running on Belgian
time
Nothing fazes Ice-Watch. The SME
based in Bastogne in Belgium expects
to sell one million watches next year.
It sold 100,000 last October. How
did it manage to break into a market
that is considered to be saturated in
just a few months?
[Photo]
Jean-Pierre Lutgen, a CEO who has
created an incredibly successful global watch brand.
“I worked in the promotional items
sector, and particularly the promotional watch segment, for 15 years, with
a company called Tonton Lulu,” recalls Jean-Pierre Lutgen, creator of IceWatch. “I had a degree in Public and
International Affairs, but I had no specific promotional experience. However, I had a few months of freedom
before starting my military service. I
took advantage of them to launch my
lapel pins. The trend passed and I
wanted to find something else along
the same lines – small, easy to transport and with high value-added. I
unearthed some manufacturers in
Hong Kong who were producing a
small number of easily personalisable
watches. That’s how the company
moved into promotional watches. Big
brands like Michelin and l’Oréal trusted us. We had three to four people
working for us in the mid 1990s.”
03/2010
“Internet use became widespread
and dealt us a heavy blow initially,”
he continues. “We were known as
a company that could bring new
promotional objects to market very
quickly. We realised that our competitors were ‘sourcing’ our products
online. Basically, we were being undercut. How could we bounce back
from that? Around 2004, we were
selling silicon wristbands, which were
phenomenally successful as they had
been made popular by cyclist Lance
Armstrong. We had shifted over 20
million in just a few months thanks
to excellent search engine rankings
“Our concept: change”
Jean-Pierre Lutgen dreamt of moving from promotional items to retail
goods, so he finally took the plunge.
“I felt that there was potential,” he explains. The Ice-Watch brand was therefore registered in December 2006.
“We had never found designing and
manufacturing watches problematic, but we still had to break into the
hyper-saturated watch market.” The
gauntlet had been thrown down. “It
wasn’t just a question of turning up
with nice watches. We very soon
set ourselves apart with a powerful
concept. You know, a product is successful when it resonates with social
values and when it has a strong identity. ‘Change’ is the social value of
the moment. Consumers are happy to
change their mobiles, and even their
insurance company and doctor, whereas they were much more loyal in the
past. We have aligned ourselves with
this sense of change.”
Ice-Watch is available at a reasonable price, the cheapest model being
a mere €59. The aim is to encourage
customers to buy several watches.
“The Ice-Watch comes in a very wide
range of colours and can be geared
to people’s outfits. If you’re thinking
of wearing a nice blue jumper, we
have a blue watch to go with it. And
our watches can also be geared towards your daily activities, whether
work or pleasure. And because you
can change your Ice-Watch like you
would change your clothes, people
start to collect them. We have created a box called a BeCubic, which
can be stacked up and which represents the brand’s identity.”
Creating a buzz with DJ David Guetta
Although the watches are created
and designed in Bastogne in Belgium by designers trained in Liege,
they are manufactured in Asia. “We
work in Belgium with a team of seven
to ten people, depending on the period. We also have an office in Hong
Kong, which employs three people.
Everything else is out-sourced,” clarifies Lutgen.
Ice-Watch is active in a globalised
market and economy. “We have a
presence in around 40 countries, but
it has only been this way for a year,”
specifies Lutgen. “We have been
very successful. We sold 100,000
watches last October and it has reached a point where supply could become a problem. Our growth has
been phenomenal. There has been a
real buzz around the brand and celebrities have started wearing it. David
Guetta, a famous French DJ, is seen
wearing an Ice-Watch in his latest video, for which we provided some of
the funding. This kind of visibility is
very important, because our goal is
to sell one million watches next year!
Big markets are opening up to us. As
an example, we hope to find our way
into 700 jewellers and shops in Germany in 2010.”
English version
in Europe. We sold all of these activities, with the exception of the watches, to the Namur-based company
Quatrième Dimension last August.”
He may be conquering the world,
but the SME director has not forgotten his roots. “I am very attached to
my region and to Bastogne in particular,” concludes Lutgen, whose brother
Benoît is a Walloon politician. “As
for me, I keep my distance from politics. Just to be clear, I don’t have any
political links with my brother. As for
Bastogne, it’s an emotional choice.
I would doubtless have been able
to crack the market more easily in
Paris or Brussels where decision making and meeting centres are based.
Naturally, the internet has changed
things, but the problem of business
travel remains. It would be easier
to live next to the airport, since I’m
travelling all the time to go from one
trade fair to another. But I prefer to
stay in Bastogne.”
Rodolphe Masuy
BUSINESS CARD
ICE-WATCH
Avenue Mathieu 37R
6600 Bastogne
Belgium
Employs: around 10 people in Belgium
T: +32 (0)61/21.71.00
info@ice-watch.com
www.ice-watch.com
UNION & ACTION - BELGIUM - NOVEMBER 2009
Media / Editorials
BASTOGNE | WALLOON WATCH
MAKING SUCCESS
35
TRENDS - BELGIUM - SEPTEMBER 2009
03/2010
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French version
03/2010
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TRENDS - BELGIUM - SEPTEMBER 2009
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TRENDS - BELGIUM - SEPTEMBER 2009
03/2010
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Media / Editorials
French version
For a few weeks now, the brightly coloured Ice-Watch or
“Swatchified Rolex” with the
original packaging has been
the new darling of fashionforward consumers.
And I bet you didn’t know
that it was Belgian! | Mathieu Van Overstraeten
03/2010
“I only get four to five hours
sleep a night these days!”
Jean-Pierre Lutgen is completely snowed under – in just a
few months, his Ice-Watches
have become a real musthave. The figures speak for
themselves: he sold 10,000
units in May 2009, 20,000
in July, 30,000 in August
and he thinks that he may
reach 50,000 in September.
This growth has not been
achieved solely by the French
and Belgian markets, but
also thanks to countries such
as Japan, New Zealand,
Columbia and Israel. The
Belgian brand already has
a presence in around 20
countries worldwide, and
gains 15 to 25 new points
of sale each and every day.
Such success enables the
Walloon SME to think of
selling 500,000 to 1 million
watches in 2010, although
it has burst onto the rather
conservative watch making
scene as if from nowhere.
Secret # 1
Design your product in Bastogne but produce it in China
Ice-Watch’s international
success is all the more surprising because the watch
was designed in the town of
Bastogne in Belgium where
Jean-Pierre Lutgen – brother
of the Walloon Minister for
Public Works and Agriculture,
Benoît Lutgen – has offices.
All of the catalogues and
brand presentation material
was created in this small
town in the Ardennes, and
contracts with the various
global partners are also
managed from this base.
Ice-Watch currently employs
seven people in Bastogne
and three in Hong Kong, but
its staff numbers will doubtless increase rapidly if its
success proves lasting. “In
particular, I’m looking for
a director who can work in
partnership with me because
it’s becoming difficult to manage everything myself,” says
Jean-Pierre Lutgen.
Given that Ice-Watches cost
between €59 and €239 a
piece, they cannot be made
in Belgium. In fact, they are
manufactured in China, in a
factory in Shenzhen, using
parts from Japan and Italy
primarily. “Our business model is a bit like the one used
by Ikea,” explains Lutgen.
“They design their furniture
and catalogues in Sweden,
but most of their production
takes place elsewhere.” It
is also a bit like Apple,
which prints “designed in
California” but “assembled
in China” on its iPods and
iPhones. However, it was in
Hong Kong that the Belgian
entrepreneur discovered
the watch that would go on
to provide his lucky break.
“The good idea was to break
down this watch into ten
personalisable parts,” explains Lutgen. “At first, it was
with a view to making promotional watches, as I had
been doing for 15 years, but
I quickly realised that I was
onto something and that it
was also worth targeting the
retail market.”
Secret # 2
TRENDS - BELGIUM - SEPTEMBER 2009
English version
Ice-Watch: the
watch following
in Swatch’s
footsteps
“It’s crazy,” confirms Marc
Gosseau, from Promogo, IceWatch’s exclusive distributor
in Belgium and Luxembourg.
“Orders are flooding in from
all sides; it just doesn’t stop!
And we’re still only present
in Wallonia; we have yet to
move into Flanders, except
for the Flemish town of Knokke, which was transformed
into Ice-Watch City last
summer.” Like Jean-Pierre
Lutgen, Marc Gosseau had
been working in the business
gift and promotional items
sector for years. However,
following the success of IceWatch, the two men have put
the rest of their business interests on the back burner so
that they can focus all of their
energy on the famous watch.
“I have already seen quite a
few fashion trends during my
career, particularly for lapel
pins and magnets, but I have
not yet experienced a real
boom like this one,” enthuses
Gosseau.
Media / Editorials
The five secrets behind the
success of a watch that started life in Bastogne
39
Ice-Watch has also had a
few run-ins with Lego. The
legal department of the Danish toy manufacturer asked
Ice-Watch to stop selling its
watches in boxes that look
like large Lego bricks. “But I
told them that they had more
to lose than win by attacking us, because journalists
and consumers love to side
with small players against
large ones,” states Lutgen.
“Since then, I haven’t heard
anything more. And in any
case, Lego lost exclusive rights over its bricks in 2008.”
In any event, this very original packaging has played
a key role in the success of
Ice-Watch, which has, in
fact, patented it. The coloured bricks which contain the
watches can be easily stacked up in shop windows, but
also at home, encouraging
customers to collect different
models.
Secret # 3
Pay attention to your brand
identity, right down to the
smallest detail
“Ice-Watches sell well in all
the shops where they are
launched, but only if retailers
follow the presentation instructions to the letter.” JeanPierre Lutgen is very pernickety about the way in which
his watches are promoted
in-store, taking his inspiration
from proven strategies used
by the likes of Apple and
Ikea who have a very strong
visual identity. Ice-Watches
should always be presented
against a black background,
in a well defined colour
order, and they should never
be mixed with other brands.
The company also encourages its retailers and partners
to use its point of sale material as much as possible, in
particular the large coloured
display cases based on the
famous Lego brick and made
by the company Trabelbo,
which is also based in the
Ardennes. In addition to this,
there are posters, bags in the
brand’s colours and inflatable displays. All of these
practices come directly from
the promotional sector.
To encourage retailers to
present Ice-Watch products
optimally – which generally
has an immediate effect on
sales because an Ice-Watch
is often an impulse buy – the
company even rewards partners who invest in point of
sale material and local press
conferences with higher profit
margins. “We really designed Ice-Watch as a global
concept,” explains Lutgen.
“Our website, which was
developed in-house in Bastogne, also plays a very important role, especially when it
comes to gaining credibility
abroad.”
Secret # 4
Take part in the Mecca of the
watch world
“The financial crisis represented an opportunity for us,”
explains Ice-Watch’s creator.
This is not simply because
consumers are more likely to
buy a watch for €89 than a
more expensive model, but
also and above all because it
was the withdrawal of other
watchmakers that enabled
the Belgian SME to acquire
a stand at Basel-World, the
largest international show in
the watch industry, in March
2009.
“It cost us €70,000 for ten
days, which is a huge investment for a small company
like ours, but Basel really was
the international turning point
for us. It was in Basel that
we established that our IceWatches didn’t just appeal to
a handful of people at home
in Bastogne, but that they
generated a lot of interest.
TRENDS - BELGIUM - SEPTEMBER 2009
03/2010
English version
Media / Editorials
40
Create a Swatch-style name
and a Lego-style box
The market is already awash
with watches, so how did a
small company from Bastogne manage to make a name
for itself so quickly? First of
all, it created a strong brand.
Phonetically, Ice-Watch
inevitably makes you think
of the famous Swiss brand
Swatch, which is involved in
the same inexpensive, plastic
watch market segment. In
fact, the success of Ice-Watch
is starting to get to the Swiss
company, proven by the fact
that it has just registered the
brand iSwatch and no longer
appears to be particularly
satisfied with the coexistence
agreement signed a few
years ago with Ice-Watch following mediation by Gevers,
a company specialising in
brand registration. Swatch
Belgium even prefers not
to answer questions about
Ice-Watch in order not to
lend the brand an aura of
importance it does not merit.
Ouch!
The company works with
exclusive partners in each
country, using a system that is
not often found in the sector:
it asks each partner to pay
a minimum fee of $25,000
at the outset, enabling it
to create a sufficient stock
of watches in Hong Kong,
whilst avoiding any cash-flow
problems.
Since Basel, the Wallonia-based company has
taken part in 16 specialist
trade fairs around the world.
“AWEX (Wallonia Foreign
Trade and Investment Agency)
has greatly supported us,
because it covers 50% of
our trade fair participation
costs,” explains Lutgen. “That
said, we first had to convince
AWEX that there was genuine Belgian and Walloon
added-value in the company
Ice-Watch because from the
beginning, they were a little
bit reluctant about the fact
that our watches are made in
China. However, in Asia it’s
clear that we really promote
the Belgian side of things,
taking advantage of the
country’s good reputation in
terms of design.”
03/2010
Secret # 5
Convince the fashion press to
rave about you
Lutgen also believes that another key to success for an unknown brand is to get people
to talk about you as if you
As far as Lutgen is concerned, the enthusiastic response
from women’s magazines has
been so important because
their target readership includes first and foremost fashion
fans, and Ice-Watch is, after
all, a fashion accessory as
much as it is a watch. As a
result, Ice-Watches are not
sold only in watch shops, but
also in fashion boutiques and
design stores. “People are
changing phones, insurance
companies and even doctors
more and more frequently, so
why should they not change
their watch depending on
what they are doing? They
could wear one watch to
play sport, one to go out and
one for work,” says Lutgen.
“At our event in Knokke, we
even had people buying ten
watches at once.”
But “fashion” and “hype”
also rhyme with “passing
trend”. Is there not a risk
that the current enthusiasm
for Ice-Watch will burst like
a balloon once its time is
up? “Swatch has been going
for 20 years now, so why
should we not do the same?”
responds Lutgen. “We have
a lot of ideas up our sleeves
in order to avoid becoming
yesterday’s news. Plastic
offers so many possibilities in
terms of design and colour.
And there are still countries
to conquer!” In other words,
Lutgen is convinced that IceWatch can become one of
the greatest Belgian success
stories of the years to come.
“It proves that Bastogne is a
town where anything is possible,” he smiles. “You just
have to show a bit of determination.”
English version
are a well known brand. Having said that, he still cannot
get over the warm welcome
his watches received from the
Parisian press. “There were
67 fashion press journalists at
our press conference, which
is just crazy,” he laughs. He
has created a file containing
articles from the likes of Marie-Claire, Paris Match, Elle
and Cosmopolitan. “In these
articles, we were featured
alongside big watch brands,
giving us amazing leverage,”
he smiles. One of the magazines even described the
Ice-Watch as a “Swatchified
Rolex”, which particularly
tickled Lutgen, who does not
hesitate to confirm that his
watches provide “a hint of
luxury”.
[Photo – page 1]
JEAN-PIERRE LUTGEN, ICEWATCH CEO
“People are changing phones, insurance companies
and even doctors more and
more frequently, so why
should they not change their
watch depending on what
they are doing?”
[Photo – page 3]
ORIGINAL PACKAGING
The coloured bricks which
contain the watches can be
easily stacked up in shop
windows, but also at home,
encouraging customers to collect different models.
TRENDS - BELGIUM - SEPTEMBER 2009
Media / Editorials
And it was also in Basel that
we formed all of our contacts
with international distributors.”
41
French version
Media / Editorials
LE SOIR MAGAZINE - BELGIUM - DECEMBER 2009
03/2010
42
A real Belgian phenomenon!
Flashy little Belgian Ice-Watches
are selling like hot cakes and are
bang on-trend.
[Photo]
Coming in all colours and designed to suit all tastes, Ice-Watch
is the timepiece of the moment.
At barely two years old, it is still
a baby in the popular watch market, but it is already putting others
in the shade. Ice-Watch has even
challenged the giant Swatch, with
whom it has signed an international coexistence agreement.
Indeed, its name, market niche
and attractive low prices can
lead to confusion with the Swiss
brand. Ice-Watch is already
more international than Belgian,
as it is made in Shenzhen, just a
stone’s throw from Hong Kong,
and is already sold in 40 countries. Its sudden success intrigues
and creates a desire for it.
03/2010
Just one man is behind this
industrial and commercial adventure launched from Bastogne
in Belgium. Jean-Pierre Lutgen
studied Public Administration
and Business at UCL in Leuven.
Through his work in the promotional items sector, he had been
involved with watches for a long
time, although “this sector completely collapsed with the end of
the business gift.” In 2007, this
company director gave into his
passion and invented Ice-Watch,
a fun, inexpensive little watch that
was achingly trendy. “The first
few months were tough because
we had to set everything up,
including a business network,
production and funding,” recalls
44-year old Lutgen. “At first, we
This expansion has not just been
left to chance however; it stems
from a well thought out strategy.
“Our strategy is based on three
things: low prices starting from
€59, without sacrificing quality;
a wide range of colours; and the
belief that people change their
watch depending on their activity. In fact, people change their
watch like they change their outfit
or their mobile.”
Once he had identified the
method clearly, he had to put
his money where his mouth was.
And he did – 128 models, 13
collections designed by stylists,
tailored packaging and boxes
that match the brand and that
appeal to owners of what has
become “THE watch to be seen
with”. Others have tried before
him, but none have shared his
success. In the 1960s and 70s,
brands such as Lip and Kelton
had already made brightly
coloured, plastic watches popular. Thirty years later, Ice-Watch
is blazing the same trail, using
silicone and polycarbonate to suit
modern tastes and lifestyles.
ON TARGET FOR SALES OF 1
MILLION WATCHES IN 2010
“Everything stems from just one
observation,” confides Lutgen.
“Change is a social value. People want the latest model. They
have become nomads. Our watches follow this trend; they fulfil
the criteria for an impulse buy.”
The watches, which are brightly
coloured and let’s face it, quite
similar to Swatch, benefit from
well thought through support:
they featured at Basel World,
which is a Mecca for the world’s
watch industry; are backed up by
entry-level marketing; and have
an attractive identity. “They also
stand out because of their recent
design,” claims their creator.
He has carefully studied the recipe for success, designing collections in his own way. “Contrary
to Swatch, we follow fashion not
events. For example, we’re not
designing a watch for the Olympic Games or a new 007 model.” Lutgen has understood that,
in fact, good advertising and
promotion are just as important
as savoir-faire: Ice-Watch has enjoyed good coverage in fashion
magazines and the DJ David
Guetta wore one in his latest
video. And the brand is going to
offer even more options in terms
of watch models and events.
For 2010, launches have been
announced for Ice-Swiss, which
will be a more high-end watch
made in Switzerland, as well as
for Ice-Kids and Small. However,
the biggest noise is being made
about Ice-Club – a global event
to promote the brand image.
The stated aim for 2010 is to
reach sales of one million watches. “The market is taking off,”
notes Lutgen. “At the beginning,
shops were unsure; retailers were
talking about the financial crisis.
And what’s more, the watch market is a very conservative market.
But now, people are calling us!
Galeries Lafayette has just set up
a high-visibility stand, for example.” Ice-Watch seems to be set
for a brilliant future provided that
it can avoid becoming a fashion
flash in the pan. In any event, it
can take advantage of its creator’s passion. “I have always
loved watches,” confesses Lutgen.
“They require incredible attention
to detail. They are works of art.
For me, it’s a dream come true
to be in the watch business.” He
wears an ambitious yet modest,
simple white model priced at
€49. The perfect timepiece for
our times.
English version
The time for
success has come!
were just selling a few thousand
a month, but demand has since
exploded. We are aiming at
sales of 400,000 units in 2009!”
Media / Editorials
“WHATEVER IT
COSTS”
• Bernard Meeus.
LE SOIR MAGAZINE - BELGIUM - DECEMBER 2009
43
PARIS-MATCH - BELGIUM - JANUARY 2010
03/2010
44
Media / Editorials
French version
Ice-Watch
A Belgian Phenomenon
These plastic watches are the
darling of the fashion world and
are selling like hot cakes. From
the Ardennes in Belgium, they
have become a global phenomenon.
By Catherine Malaise
In the Belgian town of Bastogne
they still cannot get over it – a
local SME is delighting the entire
world with an ever increasing
range of ultra-colourful, dynamic
and affordable watches. Ten
thousand were sold in May
2009, 30,000 in August, and
100,000 have been flying off
the shelves every month since the
beginning of 2010! “I would
like to reach one million by the
end of the year,” reveals JeanPierre Lutgen, company CEO. It
may sound like megalomania,
but this is not the case at all.
The concept he dreamt up works
so well that the market for the
Ice-Watch is growing by the
second. From Europe to Asia,
and from Africa to South America and the USA, the brand
reaches 15 to 25 new points of
sale each and every day. It was
available in 1,500 stores at the
last count!
03/2010
This brilliant success stems in
part from the universal and
inter-generational nature of the
Ice-Watch. And, in addition,
everything has been done to
create the irresistible desire
to collect them. There are ten
Although the eye-catching IceWatch plastic is developed in
Belgium by company designers,
production and assembly take
place in Shenzhen in China.
However, quality does not suffer
and the watches do not feel
plasticky. They are waterproof
to 3 or 10 atm, have luminescent
hands, come with a two-year
warranty and boast a silicone,
leather or polycarbonate strap.
So what is Jean-Pierre Lutgen’s
secret? He already had a
network of trusted factories and
partners in China because for
15 years he had been producing
business gifts and promotional
watches in the country. The basic
principle behind Ice-Watch was
originally developed for the promotional sector – “Break an existing watch down into ten parts
that can be personalised depending on the client. I grasped the
creative potential of this system
and I decided to launch my own
brand. After that, everything just
snowballed.”
Taking the bull by the horns
Making his mark in a saturated
market and taking on a famous
Swiss brand specialising in plastic watches did not faze the boss
of the small Belgian company.
In fact, he has shown himself to
be as determined, single-minded and stubborn as a mule.
“Offering nice watches wasn’t
enough. We had to give IceWatch a strong visual identity.”
The name was already evocative
– annoying Swatch who then
registered the iSwatch brand –
and the design followed.
Instead of coming in a traditional
box, the Ice-Watch is presented
in a sort of polycarbonate Lego
brick called a BeCubic. These
boxes, which match the design,
feel and finish of the watches
they come with, are fun and
can be re-used as piggy banks
or trinket boxes. They can also
be stuck together and built up
against a black background.
They are guaranteed to make
an impact and are impossible
to miss in points of sale and at
the many trade fairs the brand
takes part in, where they are
even used to make furniture and
display stands. Lutgen even
dreams of equipping his company with a new building in the
shape of a giant BeCubic! In the
meantime, his team of designers
is perfecting the stand for the
March 2010 Basel-World Watch
and Jewellery Show. Ice-Watch
was lucky to be able to take part
in 2009 as well when another
brand withdrew and it received
financial support from AWEX
(Wallonia Foreign Trade and
Investment Agency).
www.ice-watch.com
English version
different styles – from the flashy
to the discrete, for winter and for
summer – and the watches come
in a huge range of colours. It is
fun to match your watch to your
jacket, dress or tie, meaning that
some people buy ten at once.
And at Ice-Watch prices – €59
to €239 – why not?
[Photo]
Deluxe
A nod to silicon-based luxury.
The black Stone Sili has a gold
rose surround studded with Swarovski crystals.
[Photo]
Guaranteed effect
Each Ice-Watch comes with a
matching BeCubic – a “Lego”
brick that is essential to the
brand image and that can also
be used as a piggy bank or
trinket box.
PARIS-MATCH - BELGIUM - JANUARY 2010
Media / Editorials
[Photo]
The man of the moment
Jean-Pierre Lutgen is up-beat
about the future of Ice-Watch:
“Plastic offers so many possibilities in terms of design and colour. And there are still countries
to conquer!”
45
PAPER JAM - LUXEMBURG - OCTOBER 2009
03/2010
46
Media / Editorials
French version
A concept rather than just a product, Ice-Watch is a success story
that is building a solid reputation
for itself in the tough and competitive watch sector.
Marc Vandermeir (text), David
Martin (photo)
“Before launching Ice-Watch, I was
in the promotional watch business, particularly for big brands,”
explains Jean-Pierre Lutgen, creator
of the Ice-Watch brand and CEO
of the company of the same name.
“For a long time I had wanted to
create a retail watch. I was able
to draw on my experience, but although it was easy for us to design
and manufacture a watch, marketing it and making a success of it
was a challenge.”
Two years ago, Lutgen discovered
a plastic watch in Hong Kong,
where he has an office. He had
the idea of breaking it down into
ten parts and allowing his promotional clients to reconstruct it to
suit their needs. “We got great
results, so we decided to launch,”
he explains.
It was a leap into the unknown.
Promotional watches and branded watches for retail inhabit two
completely different spheres. Nonetheless, he created a brand and
presented his first collection in April
2008. Ice-Watch now has roughly
20 partners around the world, is
present in over 500 shops and will
be present in over 1,000 shops by
the end of the year.
03/2010
So, why the name Ice-Watch? “It
just went with the Zeitgeist. In the
past, many company names used
the word ‘sun’,” elaborates Lutgen.
“Now, the word ‘ice’ has become
a symbol of extreme purity and
freshness due to global warming.
And the name just sounded good.”
“It is no longer enough to create
a watch without a concept,” states
Lutgen. Nowadays, all successful
products are based on a concept,
with the most well-established probably being ‘change’. “We created a watch based on the concept
of change for three reasons. First,
to enable us to offer a range of
prices, starting at €59. Second,
so that we could use a wide range
of colours. And third, so that we
could create collections geared to
daily activities such as work, sport
and going out. As people like to
change their watch, we also hoped
that they would want to collect
them.”
A COMPLETE CONCEPT
It is a small step from collecting to
tidying or displaying, thus each
watch comes in a special box
which can be stacked up on top
of another one. The boxes always
match the collection and form an
integral part of the watches’ identity. “Each watch has an identity,
for customers but also for shops,
with windows and display units
kitted out with the same collection,
creating a real promotional talking
point. It’s the same all around the
world. It’s a complete concept,
right down to the original little bag
that the watch box is put in.”
China. However, he stresses that
they are made in a very high quality factory that also makes some
prestigious brands. This enables
quality to be guaranteed. Only the
assembly is taken care of in China;
the components come from various
parts of the world – the straps
from Italy and the movements from
Japan.
English version
As far as Jean-Pierre Lutgen is
concerned, the possibilities are
endless. And as if to prove this, his
company releases two collections a
year. Among other things, the collections are based on colours that
are in fashion that year. “We have
also just registered a new brand,
Ice-Swiss, which will be more highend. The reference to Switzerland
obliges us to guarantee that at
least 50% of production actually
takes place in Switzerland. I don’t
want to reveal what material it will
be made from yet, but you can be
sure that it will be innovative. We
will present it next year in Basel
and it will be distributed solely in
the jewellery sector.”
Everything else is created and designed in Belgium. “In all modesty,
I would say that it’s like what’s on
offer in the Ikea catalogue, or like
an iPod and so many other similar
products. The design, catalogue,
point of sale service and website are taken care of here. The
assembly takes place in China,
where they do not have the design
and marketing expertise. It would
be impossible to manufacture the
watches in Belgium for several
reasons. However, all the value-added is Belgian.”
And in fact, even more so than
before because Lutgen has decided to have shop display units
made by Trabelbo in the village
of Marbehan in Belgium. “We
couldn’t manufacture the watches
in Belgium, but I wanted some of
our out-sourcing to be Belgian and
even regional. It generates revenue
for Belgium,” stresses the entrepreneur.
[Photo]
“The assembly takes place in
China, but the brand’s value-added is Belgian.” Jean-Pierre Lutgen
(Ice-Watch).
Lutgen makes no secret of the fact
that the watches are produced in
PAPER JAM - LUXEMBURG - OCTOBER 2009
Media / Editorials
The world is
running on Belgian time
47
FORWARD - BELGIUM - JANUARY 2010
03/2010
48
Media / Editorials
French version
03/2010
49
FORWARD - BELGIUM - JANUARY 2010
Media / Editorials
French version
Telling the time
in all the colours of the
rainbow
Media / Editorials
In a little over two years, the
new Belgian watch brand IceWatch has carved out a place
for itself on the international
market. Its creator, Jean-Pierre
Lutgen, has struck on a simple yet successful concept: a
design that is accessible to
as many people as possible,
attractive packaging and low
prices that encourage people
to start a collection. We caught up with him in Bastogne in
Belgium to find out more about
his small company that has set
its sights on big things.
50
A
t the end of 2006, Jean-Pierre
Lutgen, CEO of the promotional items company Tonton Lulu
based in Bastogne, Belgium,
was wondering what direction
to take his company in next.
The arrival of the internet had
caused the profit margins in
his market to melt away like
snow in the spring sunshine.
When visiting Hong Kong,
a plastic watch caught his
eye, and he decided to allow
his clients in the promotional
sector to break it down and
personalise it. “We realised
that some creations are worth
investing in, and we therefore
decided to start out in retail.”
Ice-Watch was born.
“We created our first collection in April 2007. We didn’t
know anything about jewellery
and seemed like mavericks in
this very conservative market. We took part in a huge
number of trade fairs around
the world.” In March 2009,
Ice-Watch had the opportunity
to take part in the Basel-World
Watch and Jewellery Show
– one of the most prestigious
in the sector. “Thanks to
the financial crisis and the
withdrawal of certain participants, we were lucky enough
to get a stand. Attending
this show really had a trigger
effect – feedback from professionals at the time was positive
and we felt certain that we
were onto something.”
Going global
International press conferences
with the fashion press followed
on from Basel-World. “Thanks
to a very attractive communication campaign, we have
been crazily successful! We
have featured in magazines
such as Vogue and Cosmopolitan alongside the biggest
brands, giving credibility to
our brand.” Ice-Watch has
spared no expense in order
to maximise its chances of
success. “We have not just
turned up with a new product,
but with everything that goes
with it, including the packaging, bags, brochures and
point of sale material. Slowly
but surely, jewellers have been
won over.”
Ice-Watch is a complete
package that is based on the
concept of building a collection. “The low price, wide
range of colours and the fact
that different Ice Watches are
suited to different activities
undertaken during the day encourages clients to buy more
than one.” The company has
therefore created packaging to
promote this kind of collection
– the boxes stack up on top of
each other. “The packaging
has become the brand identity.”
“The goal for 2010 is to pass
the one million mark and be
present in 3,000 to 5,000
points of sale.”
Jean-Pierre Lutgen adds that
support from AWEX (Wallonia
Foreign Trade and Investment
Agency) and the professional network that he has built
up, particularly in China,
have also played a part in
Ice-Watch’s success. “At the
moment, all doors are opening
up for us. Most recently, Ice
Watch got a foot in the door
at Galeries Lafayette in Paris!” And that is on top of the
latest clip by famous DJ David
Guetta in which he is seen
wearing an Ice-Watch.
Such success is also a relief for
Jean-Pierre Lutgen. “What I
was afraid of when we developed the product in our offices
in Bastogne with just a few
people, was the ‘group illusion’. We were convinced, but
how was the market going to
react?” There are now around
ten people in the offices in
Bastogne designing watches,
and four people in the offices
in Hong Kong dealing with
distribution and coordinating
watch production in Shenzhen
in south-east China. “However, the biggest difficulty is
still making our voices heard
in order to increase Chinese
production levels.
Coming soon: high-end jewel
FORWARD - BELGIUM - JANUARY 2010
03/2010
English version
Ice-Watch increases the cachet
of the plastic watch.
Ice-Watch’s current concept
targets a wide audience.
However, in the future, the
company would also like to
reach a high-end clientele and
is therefore working on a new
brand: Ice-Swiss. “This watch
will be designed, made and
certified in Switzerland. As
with Ice-Watch, we will have
just one model presented in
several ways, but in a higher
price band. We will present
the first model at the 2010
Basel-World.”
• Florence Delhove
03/2010
[Photo]
[Box on the right]
“He will have to renew his
collections even more rapidly.”
Not a second wind but a tenth
wind!
Didier Bernardin, a French designer working in customisable
furniture, also has a passion
for watches. He recently designed a range of watches to
be worn everywhere except on
the wrist. The range is currently
being developed and he has
entrusted Jean-Pierre Lutgen
with the distribution. “By
discussing things and working
together, we have both been
able to improve our watches.
Ice-Watch’s success is down
to Jean-Pierre’s experience,
his company’s creativity and
his excellent use of existing
methods of communication
and distribution.” In Bernardin’s opinion, the main quality possessed by the Belgian
CEO, who is also an art lover,
is his flair for initiative. “JeanPierre is a real entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurs are constantly
improving; it’s in their nature.
It would be wrong to say that
he is enjoying a professional
second wind; it’s a tenth wind!
And there may well be 20
more.” So, does he have any
words of advice? “Just like
some ready-to-wear brands,
he will have to renew his
collections even more rapidly.
I also think that he will have
to refine the strong, original
character of his products.
And by character I mean the
shapes, colours and symbols
that define a brand.” Is he not
afraid that it is just a fashion
fad that will turn out to be a
flash in the pan? “On the
contrary! His watches are
made from organic materials.
Organic chemistry has the
advantage of being able to
offer more combinations and
of being lighter and more
effective. Introducing organic
chemistry into watches is one
and the same thing as introducing more variety. And what’s
more, we live in a world that’s
grey, black, white, gold and
silver. Introducing colours
is like introducing freedom.
When they’re playing winter
sports, for example, people
put on colourful clothes!”
English version
Watches developed by JeanPierre Lutgen have made their
way from Bastogne in Belgium
to Galeries Lafayette in Paris
and even to Hong Kong!
[Text along the bottom]
1992: After studying Public
and International Affairs, JeanPierre Lutgen sells lapel pins
during his military service.
1995 – 2005: Lutgen works
in the promotional items sector
(Tonton Lulu).
2006: Lutgen discovers the
watch that will go on to become the Ice-Watch in Hong
Kong and launches a new
concept in the promotional
sector.
2007: Lutgen abandons the
promotional market and turns
his attention to retail.
2009: Lutgen takes part in Basel-World Watch and Jewellery
Show, “thanks to the financial
crisis and the withdrawal of
certain participants.”
FORWARD - BELGIUM - JANUARY 2010
Media / Editorials
lery
Ice Watch works with exclusive sales partners in around
30 countries. Besides online
stores, the brand is available
in 1,400 shops, including
nearly 150 in Belgium. “We
sold between 300,000 and
400,000 watches in 2009.
The goal for 2010 is to pass
the one million mark and be
present in 3,000 to 5,000
points of sale. We know that
two to three years of work lie
ahead of us if we want IceWatch to be visible outside of
capital cities and in countries
like Brazil, India and Russia.
Watch this space.”
Up until now, the company
has been financing its activities using its own funds and
via a system of deposits from
its exclusive partners. “It’s an
unusual commercial system in
the jewellery world, enabling
us to respond both very quickly and gradually to changing
demand, without having to fall
back on external funds, even
though we are expanding
exponentially.”
51
French version
Media / Editorials
MADE IN LUXE - LUXEMBURG - DECEMBER 2009
03/2010
52
French version
Media / Editorials
03/2010
53
MADE IN LUXE - LUXEMBURG - DECEMBER 2009
Véronique Blum
PHOTO © JEAN-PIERRE RUELLE
Media / Editorials
Hailing from Luxembourg,
the southernmost province
of Belgium, Ice-Watch is
set to become the leader
of its sector. These ultracolourful little watches with
perfectly formed packaging are becoming more
popular with each minute
that passes. How nice it
is to be able to match our
leisure activities, sports and
trendy evenings out to the
right watch for just a snip.
Ice-Watch makes it mark
every day by proving that
it is ready to please by permanently adapting to our
ever changing world.
54
Ice-Watch is a new adventure stemming from a
concept initially developed
for business gifts sold under the well known brand
Tonton Lulu. The initiative
came from Jean-Pierre
Lutgen, son of Guy Lutgen,
a former Belgian politician
and brother of Benoît Lutgen, the current Walloon
Minister for Public Works
and Agriculture. JeanPierre Lutgen developed his
idea to launch a fun, intergenerational watch in a full
range of different colours
presented in a matching
box during his many visits
to Asia. Before he knew
it, the time had come for
mass production – 10,000
last May, 20,000 last July,
30,000 last August and
ever increasing numbers
since! In less than a year,
Ice-Watch has moved into
20 countries, with over
750 points of sale such
as jewellers, design stores
and fashion boutiques like
Smets and Habillez-Moi. It
is particularly popular in
the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Belgium, France,
Japan, New Zealand,
Columbia and Israel. The
brand estimates that sales
will reach 500,000 or
even one million watches
in 2010.
The brand was designed
in Bastogne in Belgium but
is now well established in
Europe. Its creations exude
European glamour and
style, which is particularly
sought after in South East
Asia. The parts are sourced primarily from Japan
and Italy, whilst assembly
takes place in Shenzhen
in China. Right from his
first tentative steps in this
protectionist sector, JeanPierre Lutgen has pulled off
an amazing feat, propelling his quirky vision to the
forefront, reinterpreting the
classic by giving it a new
lease of life and futuristic
sex appeal, and adding
a new chapter to the rich
history of watch making.
Tell us about yourself.
Jean-Pierre Lutgen: Grandson of Auguste Lutgen, son
of Guy Lutgen and father
of Oscar, Jeanne and
Mathilde Lutgen. I studied
Public and International
Affairs at the Université
Catholique de Louvain
(Belgium). I founded the
company Tonton Lulu just
after finishing my military
service. We sold lapel
pins and promotional items
such as Kinder Surprises
and watches. We were
renowned for being able
to launch new items onto
the market very rapidly.
The arrival of the internet
in 2000 damaged our
market. Five years ago, in
order to counter this, we
opened an office in Hong
Kong, looking constantly
for good prices. At the
time, silicone wristbands
were selling well because
we offered a range of
bright colours that matched
our clients’ specifications
at tempting prices. I
thought about it in more
depth, wondering whether
we could break a watch
down into ten parts so that
we could choose various
colours for things like the
casing and strap. As we
had been producing tailormade products for a number of years, I will just
MADE IN LUXE - LUXEMBURG - DECEMBER 2009
03/2010
English version
ICE-WATCH
A SUCCESS
STORY FOR
LUXEMBOURG
03/2010
With the name that you’ve
chosen, are you not treading a path that could
cause you problems with
the giant Swatch Group?
Jean-Pierre Lutgen: It’s true
that the way our Ice-Watch
brand sounds clearly bothers Swatch, so we have
signed an international
coexistence agreement.
We always have to write
our name using two words,
and the Swiss manufacturer has just registered the
brand iSwatch, which is
very close to the brand we
have registered! In the
1980s, the Swiss brand
was a big player in the
entry level sector, but this
is not really the case any
more, and in any case,
English version
we manufacture Ice-Watch
primarily in China. To reincorporate the Swiss aspect,
we have registered another
brand called Ice-Swiss, so
that we can unveil a new
product at the 2010 BaselWorld Watch and Jewellery Show, at least if we find
the time to develop it!
Did you take part in the
last Basel-World, and if so,
what kind of welcome did
your competitors give you?
Jean-Pierre Lutgen: Yes,
we were lucky enough to
be able to go. It cost us
€70,000 for ten days! It
was a very important step
for us, because we were
able to test our products
and see how people reacted to them. It turned out
to be a very positive experience. The press were
very enthusiastic. Our
competitors, on the other
hand, did not really understand our approach or
our success. Some even
found it amusing.
MADE IN LUXE - LUXEMBURG - DECEMBER 2009
Media / Editorials
give one client as an example – Michelin Formula 1.
As I had been fascinated
by the retail sector for a
long time, I thought that I
should create a genuinely
off-beat product that was
different to the others, and
that this would be a good
market niche to enable us
to bounce back. Hence
the coloured, reasonably
priced watch that can be
geared to your activities
and that you can collect
thanks to its fun, stackable
packaging. We thought
that this niche would be
worthwhile, as a watch
is a fashion accessory, a
badge of identity and an
impulse buy.
55
HEURE - SWITZERLAND - NOVEMBER 2009
03/2010
56
Media / Editorials
French version
English version
ICE-WATCH: OVER THE
RAINBOW
[Photo]
Ice-Watch provides an explosion of colour.
Media / Editorials
Last April, the Ice-Watch
stand made a splash at
Basel-World Watch and
Jewellery Show, which is a
good sign, because when
a concept attracts attention
like that, it is because it has
aroused people’s interest.
Another positive point is that
Jean-Pierre Lutgen, founder
of the brand and CEO of the
company, even surprised a
few visitors, who were a little
too curious to be simple amateurs, looking at his watches.
In fact, they had been sent
specially by Swatch to investigate this troublemaker bent
on challenging them, because this stubborn Belgian
entrepreneur is competing
in the same league – that of
plastic watches that can be
customised at will according
to fashion and trends.
Although he has not invented
a new genre with his “plastic
Rolexes”, he has breathed
new life into it with a range
of cool colours. And what
is more, just like Swatch, he
has focused on quality – chic
design, Japanese quartz
movements by Miyota, wellmade plastic, meticulous
finishings and original packaging. And the watches
are available for the reasonable price of €59 for small
models and €80 for larger
ones. All of this means that
Ice-Watch certainly provides
a hint of luxury. And the
result is success, and quite a
lot of success at that. “BaselWorld gave us a real boost
to continue with our launch in
Hong Kong,” says Jean-Pierre
Lutgen happily.
03/2010
57
HEURE - SWITZERLAND - NOVEMBER 2009
French version
Ice-Watch – a success story that is
building a solid reputation for itself
in the watch sector.
Jean-Pierre Lutgen has created an
entire concept.
Media / Editorials
Before launching Ice-Watch, JeanPierre Lutgen was involved with
promotional watches. “For a long
time I had wanted to create a
retail watch,” he confides. “I was
able to draw on my experience,
but although it was easy for us to
design and manufacture a watch,
marketing it and making a success
of it was a challenge.”
58
Two years ago, he discovered a
plastic watch in Hong Kong. He
had the idea of breaking it down
into ten parts and allowing his
promotional clients to reconstruct
it to suit their needs. “We got
great results, so we decided to
launch,” he explains. With quality
given priority, the brand Ice-Watch
was created and a collection was
presented for the first time in April
2008.
Ice-Watch can now be found all
over the world and for Jean-Pierre
Lutgen, the possibilities are endless. And as if to prove this, his
company releases two collections
a year. Among other things, the
collections are based on colours
that are in fashion that year. “We
have also just registered a new
brand, Ice-Swiss, which will be
more high-end. The reference to
Switzerland obliges us to guarantee that at least 50% of production
actually takes place in Switzerland.
It will be made from innovative
material and distributed only in the
jewellery sector,” he explains.
Nowadays, all successful products
are based on a concept, with the
most well-established probably
being ‘change’. “We created a
watch based on the concept of
change for three reasons. First,
to enable us to offer a range of
prices, starting at €59. Second,
so that we could use a wide range
of colours. And third, so that we
could create collections geared to
daily activities such as work, sport
and going out. As people like to
change their watch, we also hoped
that they would want to collect
them.”
And it is a small step from collecting to tidying or displaying.
Each watch comes in a special
box which can be stacked up
on top of another one. The box
matches the watch it comes with
and forms an integral part of its
identity. They also create a brand
identity in shops, as windows can
be kitted out with matching boxes,
creating a real promotional talking
point. “It’s a complete concept,
right down to the very original little
bag that the watch box is put in,”
explains Lutgen.
Lutgen makes no secret of the fact
that the watches are produced
in China. However, he stresses
that they are made in a very high
quality factory that also makes
some prestigious brands. Only
the assembly is taken care of in
China however; the components
come from various parts of the
world. Furthermore, everything is
created and designed in Belgium.
“In all modesty, I would say that
it’s like what’s on offer in the Ikea
catalogue, or like an iPod and so
many other similar products. The
design, catalogue, point of sale
service and website are taken care
of here. All the value-added is
Belgian.” And in fact, even more
so than before since Lutgen has
decided to have shop display units
made by Trabelbo in the village
of Marbehan in Belgium. “We
couldn’t manufacture the watches
in Belgium, but I wanted some of
our out-sourcing to be Belgian and
even regional. It generates revenue
for Belgium,” concludes Lutgen.
Marc Vandermeir
LIBRE ENTREPRISE - BELGIUM - SEPTEMBER 2009
03/2010
English version
The world
is running on
Belgian time