Luxury watch maker Franck Muller's Erol Baliyan: 'All our focus is in India now'

Franck Muller's Erol Baliyan says the watchmaker is actively looking for a strategic partner to build luxury residential towers in India, possibly in Mumbai.

Erol Baliyan, Franck Muller's managing director in the Middle East, Africa and India, is in New Delhi to open the Swiss watch brand's first standalone store in the Capital on September 16. The store, at DLF Emporio mall, is Franck Muller's second in India after the Frank Muller Boutique at Palladium Mall, Mumbai.

In an exclusive interview to Moneycontrol, Baliyan explained why India is becoming more important for the Swiss luxury-watch industry as a whole and for Franck Muller in particular, and key watch trends for weddings and festive season 2024, among other things. Edited excerpts:

After retailing at multibrand stores for years, you've opened a store in Mumbai and now in Delhi. Why?

India is now becoming one of our top-performing markets. So more and more I am travelling here. We are trying to expand our presence here.

At the end of 2023, luxury consumption within India had reached $6.6 billion. This is a very serious number. India's gross domestic product (GDP) is at $3.5 trillion (in 2023). Those are really encouraging numbers for us. And in the beginning of 2023, in watch sales, overall Swiss exports, increased 18.5 (percent). So those numbers give you an indication of how the market is going for us in India. All our focus is in India now.

If you look at Swiss watch sales in India, they've reached 135 million Swiss Francs (approximately Rs 1,341 crore today). We believe within 4-5 years, this number could easily reach 400 million Swiss Francs (annually). And then if, and we hope, if the custom duties and other expenses can be a little bit reduced, this number is going to be reached very quickly, and India is going to become maybe the top 5 countries in the world when it comes to watch sales.

Vanguard™ Revolution 3 Skeleton Rainbow back. Franck Muller's first Delhi store is at DLF Emporio.

In 2022, we increased our sales (by) double digits and now I think we are entering a very steady but consistent increase in our sales. The numbers are coming good. Following this, we are increasing our presence to serve our customers better.

As of today, we are in 12 points of sale including all major cities from Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Kochi to two duty-free points of sale. And now we are potentially going to start, very soon, in Pune.

So what are you basing this 4x growth projection on?

Specifically I am talking about India because Indian consumer loves spending on luxury. They understand luxury, they appreciate luxury. So this is the aspect of consumer behaviour and this thought is growing in India and all that is going to increase... (sales). When it comes to luxury spending, watches are the top numbers in terms of spending... Especially for men, the first luxury item you are going to buy is maybe an expensive car, which is not (the case in) India, but the watch is probably the number one item for an individual.

Cintrée Curvex™ Imperial Tourbillon Baguette (Image courtesy Franck Muller)

What portion of this 400 million Swiss Francs do you see Franck Muller cornering, and how are you working towards that?

Right now in India we are the third most desirable brand, and I think we are going to keep increasing this. And as a brand, as a group, we wanted to take maybe 15 percent of the market share in India and maybe more. The initial target is 15 percent.

When you say that you are the third-most popular, what is this based on?

The market data; we are continuously checking the market, talking to our clients, looking at the statistics.

You have been present in India for a while now. What can you tell us about your growth in 2022, '23, '24?

At the end of 2022, we achieved double-digit growth. We are putting our (efforts into the) India market (for the) last seven years, strategically and continuously. So we are starting to get the fruits of it. We changed our structure. We built our company as Franck Muller International India. We invested in free-zone facilities in the country to serve our clients better and now what we are doing is we are expanding our shop-in-shop concept. Now what I see in India, also for other brands, the retailers are partners, and more and more we are encouraging them to focus on consumer experience.

I am very (happy) to see beautiful boutique concepts are coming to India, and in the next three years, we are going to be part of this expansion with our partners.

The weddings and festive season are starting in India. What do you see as the main watch trends in late-2024, early-2025?

Now the whole industry is shifting to more the ladies' (watches) especially, going to more smaller pieces. I see that trend happening. But again in India, exclusive shapes like the Curvex shape is doing very well. Diamond pieces are extremely in demand in India, especially for the season. Again, I think the consumer is willing to buy more innovative pieces, out-of-the-box pieces, different shapes.

Vanguard™ Lady Slim Vintage

Let me go back to the choice of cities where you chose to open your standalone stores first. First is Mumbai and then Delhi. Can you tell me why these two cities?

I mean, those are two major cities that drive the economy. Obviously, Mumbai is the heart of the trade. Delhi is one of the biggest cities in the country. That is where most of the wealthy individuals are, and Mumbai and Delhi are the (among) most known popular cities in the world and becoming more and more popular. That is the reason (for picking) those two cities. But again... we are really focusing on all other 9 cities. Wherever there is potential, we are trying to expand our presence there. So this is our strength.

Your brand was established in 1991, compared with some Swiss watch brands that are 200 years old. How do you compete with that legacy?

...(With) three major elements. One is innovation, the other is creativity and (then) design.

We (have been in) the industry for the last 30 years, but even before 30 years, Franck himself was in the business. Franck Muller did not (just) happen, as you say, 30 years ago. Franck himself was one of the prodigies of the business. So before 30 years, he was already working for the Patek (Philippe) Museum creating beautiful timepieces that became world premieres. So in fact, the brand is 30 years, but Franck's presence and footprint in the business goes back to 30 years beyond 30 years.

For the last few years, you have also been making some India specific watches, especially around Independence Day and one around the Indian cricket team called the Men in Blue.

Yes, this is one of the strategies we are implementing right now, doing exclusive limited timepieces with a little bit emotion behind (them). We don't believe in just making, we need to put a little bit story behind, a little bit emotion. So yes, the Independence Day watch sold out. Then we did the Men in Blue. It was probably the worst first watch brand with the Indian numeral on the dial. It was a great success. Now we have another exclusive collection coming. I don't think this is announced yet. I'm not going to announce it. You will hear soon.

What can you tell me about Franck Muller Towers? Are you coming to India at any point?

Yes, this was a project we started last year - in December 2023 - and we did our first launch of Franck Muller branded residences - the Aeternitas Tower - which is inspired by our most complicated watch which is consists of 1,436 components. This building is 435 metres, purely residential tower, and on top of the building we are going to put a build a clock Franck Muller clock - Long Island shape.

Within three weeks, hopefully, we are announcing our second building called Vanguard. And obviously this will be a different value proposition.

As we speak, we are actively looking into the Indian market, preferably starting from Mumbai. We are going to look into possible partnerships to do our residences in India.

How did you translate your design from a watch into a building? You mentioned the complications...

Beginning of this year, we announced our first branded residences in Dubai and it is nominated as world's tallest residential clock tower. It consists of 106 stories, 435 metre-plus. We will see how we will finish it, but it is nominated for a Guinness record.

We named the tower (after) one of our most complicated watches. The watch and the tower really match together. All those units are exclusively designed to beautiful high-end standards. In three weeks, we are announcing our second tower in Dubai Marina, which is going to be named after another collection - Vanguard. The value proposition is going to be this is in bedroom studio, two-bedroom, fully furnished units.

These are luxury apartments? What are the starting prices for the Dubai Towers?

Those are luxury residences with valet service, world class amenities. The starting prices are around $600,000 up to $10,000,000 upper range. This is for Dubai Marina.

And the India ones, what are you hoping to price those at?

In India, still there is nothing concrete. But as a group, we are very keen that within this year - we have 3-4 months left - but if the right circumstances occur, we can announce a partnership within India. Let's see.