Next we meet Ilan Srulovicz, Founder and CEO of the Égard Watch Company, forged as a tribute to the bond between a son and his father, Égard produces exceptional timepieces that do more than simply tell time – they capture moments.
Égard luxury timepieces are unique expressions of style and prestige, built with the highest quality movements produced in Switzerland and Japan. Ilan gives us a deeper insight into the business and plans for the future.
MWM: How is business?
IS: Things are great. Our brand has a unique position in the industry due to our more non traditional designs, so we have carved out a niche in that market.
MWM : What are you currently working on?
IS: We are currently working on the Bermuda watch series which is a line of engraved watches in 3 versions. My favorite being The Bermuda Masterpiece which is a Swiss Made Automatic (using an STP1-11), we made our own customer rotor for it. Really a unique piece unlike anything else in the market for an incredible price point.
MWM: Tell us something we don’t know about the Égard Watch Company?
IS: I founded the brand for my father because I went through a hard period in life and he was there for me. The brand is very personal to me and everything comes from that passion. He is still very much involved in which designs I make and don’t make and is still the inspiration behind everything. He is also my harshest critic.
MWM: Which watch do you wear?
IS: I’ve been wearing the Icon prototype which is coming out soon. I very much fell in love with that piece. Case construction wise it’s our greatest achievement. I also wear vintage pieces from other brands. I have a nice Heuer Chronograph that I really love which is very understated.
MWM: Apart from your own brand, which watch would you like to own?
IS: It would have to be a Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar Chronograph (below). Also I love the vintage Heuer Monaco ‘Steve McQueen’. When I first started my company I had that watch and sold it because my dog got cancer and I had to pay for his treatment, sadly he still passed. Now that the brand has grown I feel it would be great to buy it again.
MWM: What do you like best about the Watch business?
IS: My favorite part of the business is hearing from customers who give the watches to loved ones or get them for special occasions and then write in about how happy they are with the product. There is a lot of love in the watch world. Watches are typically bought for joyous reasons so it’s a nice thing to be a part of.
MWM: What don’t you like about the Watch business?
IS: I think that branding for most of the watch world has gone out of business and everything has become a value proposition where brands compete to make things for the cheapest price possible. They lose the authenticity and value when doing this. There is a lot more to a watch than just the movement. We spend a lot of money and time on our cases, crystals, quality control and prototyping. If you only look at a watch by saying ‘it has a Sellita SW-200 and I can get that movement in a watch cheaper elsewhere’ you lose most of what goes in to the watch.
MWM: What is next on the horizon for you and your brand?
IS: We will continue to test limits of what’s possible design-wise. We will also continue to work in the Men’s space and highlight positive masculinity/ fatherhood and celebrating it. We have lots of content around this arena as we feel a lot of advertising toward Men and Fathers has become negative and should be highlighting the ‘best of us’ and ‘inspiring us’ instead of taking a negative angle. We have made this one of the core values of Égard.
Ilan is a Friend of MrWatchMaster
For more information, please visit https://www.egardwatches.com