On my trip home from Brussels to Zurich today, I had a planed stop of a few hours in Paris so I could visit the only brick-and-mortar shop of a small watch brand (Mircobrand) I was following on social media for a while: Serica Watches. I had purchased one of their first watches about a year ago and really liked the design, the quality and the philosophy of the brand.
When I entered the shop I was greeted by a guy, sitting around a large table, and he invited me to join him to have a look at the current collection: a field watch, a diver and the latest model, a GMT watch. As I tried all models and he started explaining all the details about the design, the choices of movement, watch band etc. After about an hour of talking – which felt like 5 minutes – we finally introduced ourselves. And then suddenly I realized who he was: Jérôme Burgert, the founder, designer and mastermind behind the whole brand!
Yes, you have guessed right: I ended up buying a watch. Not the one I had my eyes on and was thinking about buying, but rather another model with the crown at 9 o‘clock. After hearing all of Jérômes explanations, this made total sense. So why did I end up buying a watch? And what makes this purchase so special?
It’s not about the object itself (yes, the watch is indeed gorgeous), yet rather because of the experience of meeting the founder and source of the Serica watch brand: feeling Jérômes passion for design and mechanics, seeing the joy in his eyes as the talked about the process of creating these watches, seeing how he was winding his own Serica watch, being delighted about the clicking sound of the uni-directional bezel. In the end I bought a watch because of the human connection with Jérôme, a moment in the presence, where time was eternal. And as a reminder of that feeling I had, witnessing the magic that happens when someone is totally in his or her „zone“.
As a founder and managing partner, I am sure, Jérôme had plenty of other things to do than attending customer in his small shop at 20 rue Chapon. And yet, he didn‘t do all these other things. He made me a coffee and shared this passion with me.
I am drawn to this magic at the intersection of love, humility and craftsmanship, may it be in a coffee shop, where I get the perfect espresso or in a mircobrand watch shop. It is exactly what Peter Koenig calls love in business. And I feel the world could use a lot more of that. „Do what you love and love what you do“.
When I entered the shop I was greeted by a guy, sitting around a large table, and he invited me to join him to have a look at the current collection: a field watch, a diver and the latest model, a GMT watch. As I tried all models and he started explaining all the details about the design, the choices of movement, watch band etc. After about an hour of talking – which felt like 5 minutes – we finally introduced ourselves. And then suddenly I realized who he was: Jérôme Burgert, the founder, designer and mastermind behind the whole brand!
Yes, you have guessed right: I ended up buying a watch. Not the one I had my eyes on and was thinking about buying, but rather another model with the crown at 9 o‘clock. After hearing all of Jérômes explanations, this made total sense. So why did I end up buying a watch? And what makes this purchase so special?
It’s not about the object itself (yes, the watch is indeed gorgeous), yet rather because of the experience of meeting the founder and source of the Serica watch brand: feeling Jérômes passion for design and mechanics, seeing the joy in his eyes as the talked about the process of creating these watches, seeing how he was winding his own Serica watch, being delighted about the clicking sound of the uni-directional bezel. In the end I bought a watch because of the human connection with Jérôme, a moment in the presence, where time was eternal. And as a reminder of that feeling I had, witnessing the magic that happens when someone is totally in his or her „zone“.
As a founder and managing partner, I am sure, Jérôme had plenty of other things to do than attending customer in his small shop at 20 rue Chapon. And yet, he didn‘t do all these other things. He made me a coffee and shared this passion with me.
I am drawn to this magic at the intersection of love, humility and craftsmanship, may it be in a coffee shop, where I get the perfect espresso or in a mircobrand watch shop. It is exactly what Peter Koenig calls love in business. And I feel the world could use a lot more of that. „Do what you love and love what you do“.