PARIS — The watch designer John Isaac, 32, started his John Isaac Genève label in May with the aim of introducing the art of watchmaking to the Facebook generation. If, as its ads say, Patek Philippe is the watch you never own because you pass it to the next generation, Mr. Isaac says his watches “are the opposite.”
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“They’re adopted by the young and end up on the wrists of older people, too,” Mr. Isaac, the grandson of a Swiss watch dial painter who now lives between Paris and Geneva, said by telephone last month.
Mr. Isaac sells his watches online and markets them through Facebook and Twitter, a novelty in the mostly exclusive world of independent watchmakers.
“I wanted to design a watch that you can wear every day, all the time — not one you receive for a religious event and never take out of the house,” he said. “Something truly designed for a younger generation.”
The sturdy, steel-cased watches, combining a classical elliptical shape with colorful wristbands and large, storybook-styled dials, intend to appeal to sophisticated urbanites in their 20s and 30s. Entry-level models are priced at 1,000 to 3,000 Swiss francs, or $1,050 to $3,100. Special editions, in 18-carat pink gold or other precious materials, go for more than 7,000 francs.
The brand image is built around themes that speak to the conscience of target clients, including ecological awareness and social concern: the alligator skin used for some of the wristbands is in compliance with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, and the diamonds that decorate some models meet the requirements of Kimberley Process certification, a United Nations-initiated program to halt trade in “blood diamonds” mined illegally in conflict zones.
The watches mostly run on the workhorse caliber 2824 automatic winding movement from Swatch group’s ETA subsidiary, which, according to Edoardo Bugnone, the company’s chief executive, are “statistically the most reliable movement on the market.”
Introduced to the watch world by his grandfather, Mr. Isaac began his career by pulling apart old Rolex watches and painting the dials with butterflies and marijuana leaves, before restoring them to working order.
His designs stay true to that subversive instinct, aiming, he says, for a “tension between a classical shape and irreverent elements.”
The brand’s trademark look combines an elliptical case with an oversize, colorful Alice in Wonderland-inspired dial and bright, interchangeable bracelets.
An assembly business, rather than a “manufacture” making its watches from scratch, the company buys its components from top Swiss suppliers, including Dubois Depraz, a house that traces its roots in the Jura Mountains to 1901 and that counts many of the industry’s most prestigious names among its clients, including Audemars-Piguet, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Bulgari.
Because he took the risk of starting his company in the aftermath of the 2008-9 global financial crisis, which proved deadly for several small independents, “we were able to get a good deal,” Mr. Isaac said. “We explained to them that we were introducing quality to people who would be their customers in 20 years.”
The timing of the start-up was also reflected in the brand’s image and style. “The fact that we started in a recession makes us consider luxury in a new way,” Mr. Bugnone said.
The watches are assembled in the company’s own workshops, also in the Jura.
“From a technical point of view, there is no innovation: just old-school Swiss technique,” Mr. Bugnone said. The brand’s originality is in its marketing and distribution strategy.
“We’re the only luxury watch brand to sell online, because we’re aware that the people we cater to spend a lot of time on the Internet; this also contributes to keeping the prices low,” Mr. Bugnone said.
The downside of Internet retailing is that potential customers have no physical contact with their watch before placing an order. To overcome that hurdle, the company offers a two-week trial period before processing payment. During that period, an unhappy buyer can return the watch free of charge, and the deal will be canceled.
In addition to online marketing, which includes promotional events, parties and the development of online and offline social media communities, the company also sells through a limited number of conventional retailing outlets.
These include a handful of carefully selected boutiques and concept stores like Colette, in Paris, and some high-end department stores like Le Bon Marché, also in Paris, and Harrods in London.
Fans of the brand include the French actress Cécile Cassel, 29, the Nigerian-German singer and songwriter Joy Olasunmibo Ogunmakin, also known as Ayo, 31, and Benny Medina, the manager for the actress-singer Jennifer Lopez, Mr. Bugnone said.
