History of CODE41
CODE41 is a new brand in the Swiss watch industry. What sets it apart? Its community aspect. Its objective is to bring together enthusiasts with brilliant ideas and to take those imaginative designs from concept to fruition. Each supporter of the brand becomes a valuable member of the project.
Its founder, Claudio D’Amore, has worked for the biggest watch brands, such as Tag Heuer and Montblanc. In 2016, he founded CODE41 based on a policy of total transparency relating to the origin, costs and development of watches. Today, the company has managed to amass a community of over 300,000 members.
Swiss Arab Entrepreneurs participated in one of these community events to discover the latest CODE41 watch, the DAY41.
Swiss Arab Entrepreneurs (SAE): CODE41, a Swiss start-up in the watch industry, "a Swiss watch" in the footsteps of Nicolas Hayek of the 80s?
Claudio D’Amore: CODE41 is a Swiss watch brand that was launched just 3 years ago. It’s one of the up and coming brands, and it has been generating a lot of buzz in recent years.
SAE: Why this name, CODE41?
Claudio D’Amore: +41 is the country code for Switzerland and, in computer science, CODE 41 is a system error. We liked that analogy, since our project represents an anomaly in the Swiss watch system, so we ran with it.
SAE: Can you tell us about your professional and entrepreneurial journey?
Claudio D’Amore: I initially studied design and I have created many furniture and accessory pieces over the course of my career. But watchmaking has always fascinated me, and I’ve now decided to concentrate on this sector. In the first instance, I created my own design workshop where I had 3 employees working alongside me. Here, we carried out work for around forty different watch brands. But I was always interested in going through the experience of creating and establishing my own brand, from the first steps to the last.
SAE: How did you get the idea to create CODE41?
Claudio D’Amore: Basically, I am a watch designer, but the desire to launch my own watch brand steadily began to intensify, year upon year. Yet it never seemed the right time to go it alone with my own brand (economic situation, saturated market, etc.). However, at the beginning of 2016, in a contextual watchmaking crisis, where every watch suffered from an overly rigid and conservative approach, I told myself that it was time to shake up the established rules while taking advantage of the revolution started by the internet. And so, the CODE41 project was born.
SAE: In three years, succeeding in launching a successful watch and conquering watchmaking companies that are well established in the Swiss economic landscape, is not it an easy mission? What are your tools / secrets for success?
Claudio D’Amore: Believe in your ideas, have a vision, do not look back, market research does not allow you to innovate, you have to create unique products by thinking outside the box.
SAE: Your business model and your marketing strategy?
Claudio D’Amore: We share all stages of watch development with a community of enthusiasts by being completely transparent. We contact our consumers directly and sell the watches upfront before turning our attention to producing them.
SAE: Your success is linked to the fact that you had a media echo, or the support you get from your fans on social networks ... etc?
Claudio D’Amore: IIt’s all about our community, we rely a lot on word of mouth. The press is important too, but they will only cover your story if you have interesting things to say. That’s why we have to continually innovate.
SAE: To cross the wall of silence and publicize your project, you have embarked on a daring communication which denounced the label "Swiss made". Can you tell us about this label please, what does it mean?
Claudio D’Amore: This desire for transparency stems from my own personal feelings. As a consumer, I like to understand what I buy, who is behind it, and how it is made. The day I discovered that a so-called “Swiss Made” watch could have almost all of its components from Asia, I felt betrayed and it’s not the kind of feeling that I want any of my customers to experience.
Some have called our approach to transparency revolutionary. But in reality, we are simply reconstituting what a customer-brand relationship should be: a clear explanation of our process, without distortion or hyperbole. I think that this approach pays off in the medium and long term because the customer is never fooled. With our company, they have the opportunity to learn, compare, and pass comment before buying.
SAE: Aren't you likely to have counter attacks?
Claudio D’Amore: We are totally transparent. We have nothing to hide. We are not afraid of attacks just because competitors prefer not to make noise around the true meaning of a Swiss Made designation.
SAE: You put a lot of community spirit into developing your project, and you managed to attract fans and detractors very quickly. This community is currently made up of 300,000 members who share the values of CODE41. Can you tell us about your fans? Who are your clients?
Claudio D’Amore: These are mainly men between 35 and 50 years old, who are already fans of watchmaking and often have more than 3 watches. They find, through our project, a way to advance their passion even further. They become an agitator, giving their opinion, participating in the design process, and ultimately wearing a watch that they proudly co-created.
SAE: You offer a price that is three or four times cheaper than the big brands, how do you get there?
Claudio D’Amore: We simply removed some intermediaries by selling directly to the end customer. Additionally, we do not utilize marketing positioning, we just apply a fixed multiplier to the production price, and that’s it.
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SAE: You talk about the hidden costs in traditional industry. Can you tell us a little bit more?
Claudio D’Amore: The price of a watch is generally established by estimating its perceived value, in other words, how much someone is willing to pay for it. For luxury items, the price is often pushed up because it is deemed to be a sign of quality. For our part, we explain the costs of each component and apply a multiplier that allows us to make the project profitable.
SAE: Can you please tell us about the different types of watches that you offer to your customers?
Claudio D’Amore: We only have mechanical movements, because that is what we think is the most magical. We have either standard movement, mass-produced (which has the advantage of being inexpensive), or manufactured movements such as our very own X41. These specific movements are a result of watchmaking excellence. They are produced in small batches, assembled by hand, and have special features like the peripheral mass.
SAE: Do you have offers for female customers and young people?
Claudio D’Amore: At the request of our community, we launched our women's project, DAY41, whereby women had the sole right to vote. The result demonstrates that women really appreciate mechanical watches just as much as their male counterparts.
SAE: What are the biggest challenges for your project?
Claudio D’Amore: We have to strengthen our market share over the course of the next decade since, for watchmaking in particular, most people rely only on the big established brands. As a relatively new brand we must prove that we can deliver beautiful watchmaking without having a century-old history behind us.
SAE: Can you tell us about the Chinese competition?
Claudio D’Amore: We are not affected by Chinese competition.
SAE: Do you use direct online distribution? Is this your secret weapon of success, can you tell us more about it?
Claudio D’Amore: Being in direct contact with the client is indeed a powerful weapon, but our most effective tool is the creation and proposal of new ideas. We will soon be working with retailers in order to expand our reach.
SAE: What advice do you give for choosing a watch? How can we buy your watches?
Claudio D’Amore: In watches there are many aspects to consider. But for me, real watchmaking is defined by mechanical movements as opposed to electronic. The X41 watch that we launched a few months ago represents what I like most in watchmaking. It has a unique movement, made 100% in Switzerland exclusively for us along with special features (such as the peripheral mass) which is controlled only by a few brands. Our watches are available for sale only on our web site.
SAE: Are you ready to hear the ideas of your potential customers? like for example making a high-end watch with the Hijri months - Arabic calendar? Or if not a design inspired by Arab culture?
Claudio D’Amore: Our project is based solely on listening to our customers. All the projects we launch are voted for by the community. We propose various different projects and develop the one that secures the most votes.
