Where the idea came from
My dad is a Frenchman—an entrepreneur, one of those Renaissance men. His first big job was at Cartier, and he became the president of Cartier Asia. But in 1983, he decided he wanted to be his own boss. From the get-go, he established two offices: Geneva because of watchmaking and Hong Kong because he loved Asia. There was a museum piece in the British Museum—the Celtic torque, a 2,000-year-old bangle—that he had seen, and it is the key piece he references as the start of Charriol. I came in 2000, when he was launching a special watch, and I was put on the team of PR/communications and events. That was my starting point. He said, “You are my daughter, so you already have an advantage, but if you’re not going to use it or take it, I’m not going to give it to you.” So that was on me to learn. I worked in Japan to expand our presence and then different departments over the years.
The restart
Dad died, sadly, in a tragic accident four years ago. It was a huge shock. I was riddled with grief, but it was an automatic: I have to move to Geneva from New York, where I lived.
The goal
The foundation was there. I had to take it, use it, and adapt it to what’s happening today, what’s relevant. Jewelry is going great. I have my core that I just keep updating. And then I have a bunch of new stuff with a lot more chains—chains are very much on trend right now. My dad loved the sunshine, places like St. Tropez. So my focus is on making St. Tropez our city, our town, our village. Charriol wants to make you dream of the South of France—it’s happy and relaxed and sunny and French and sexy and all that stuff. Also, one of our bestselling watches is called the St. Tropez watch. It’s trademarked for 40 years in all classes, in all categories. So there’s a real heritage there.
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First steps
At first, I was coming with so much emotion, sitting in my dad’s office. But I had absolutely no power. I was slowly inching my way into meetings, inching my way into things. And then Covid hit. I had never dealt with stress at that level in my life. My husband has a finance background, and while we were all thinking it would be three months, he said no. So very quickly I had to reorganize the business.
Next steps
I had never designed watches before. The St. Tropez watch hadn’t been touched in a few years. During Covid, I dared to touch it. I fine-tuned it for a 2023 feeling. Charriol was included in the Watches and Wonders Fair for the top brands of the world—only 48. We’re a very small company compared to everybody who was there. So that was a big thing. And I was one of only two female CEOs.
Hardest moment
So in the pandemic, everybody’s baking banana bread, and here I am having to figure out how to restructure when distribution scaled back and the supply chain stopped. There were days I would go home and just be a mess. There were moments where I was like, How much longer do I have to act strong? But I did. I got in the ring, and I showed up. That was the hardest moment. And that was not a moment; that was two years. Slowly but surely, we survived through all those steps of Covid.
The moment you thought this just might work
After we said yes to the Watches and Wonder fair, we designed the booth—the new colors, the new slogan, the new materials. And then the whole watch process was over a year and a half of development with all the headaches of supply chain. Crazy stuff—to the point where at two or three days before, I had to send somebody physically to get parts of the samples, to then bring them to the factory in Switzerland to assemble it one day before. They arrived Monday at 8:30 a.m. to the fair, and we opened at 9:30 a.m. That was the moment when I thought, Oh my God, look where I am. Look who’s next to me. I survived, and we’re here, and I did all this.
Favorite story
At the fair, they called up all the CEOs to the stage, and I wore this lavender suit. Everybody else was in gray, and I stood out. I did it on purpose. I stood my ground. I brought my daughter on the day it was open to the public. These moments are where I’m getting more reward for my hard efforts.
Results
We have had a lot of interest from new markets, and I’ve had a lot of people who were like, “Oh, I remember your father.” Or “We carried Charriol 20 years ago. We didn’t really know where it went. It’s so great to see you, and it looks amazing.” So that’s been really satisfying.
To learn more about the jewelry line or watches or company history, go to Charriol.com.
