Jean Ghalo, in his own words is “known as the man who truly captures moments through his lens. His love for people and the finer things in life developed his passion for capturing these beautiful moments.” He spoke to Communicate about today's notions of luxury.
Jean Ghalo, in his own words is “known as the man who truly captures moments through his lens. His love for people and the finer things in life developed his passion for capturing these beautiful moments.” Asking him what luxury means, he shoots back with: “Let me re-ask the question here… what is Luxury to you?”. Thankfully, he does elaborate his own answer, “as for me it is time, time is the thing that we miss the most in this world, as time is essential to spend time with family and friends, to enjoy beautiful moments is the true luxury. Having the freedom to pursue passions and interests without time constraints.”
When it goes to the idea that Gen Z prefers experiences to possessions, Ghalo deadpans that for him this is not an either/or situation, “luxury is not heading into experiences but they are adding it to the mix which is amazing… Hospitality brands offer the best experiences and that’s where we see more premium luxury brands in that field, and so traditional luxury brands are diving further into this and adding it to their offering…”
So is the lab-grown diamond creating a crisis for heritage diamond-mining giants? Ghalo says that
“I wouldn’t see it as a crisis, nor something negative… my passion is watches but I appreciate diamonds and High Jewellery a lot… Lab grown diamonds could be debatable today, but it is good to look at the future and be avant-garde, maybe not for traditional houses but who knows where this technology will take the industry but I am sure it will not replace the existing model, but it might add to it a new offering either for new clientele or existing clients who would like to explore that…”
Ghalo goes practical once more explaining that he “learned a little thing about diamonds: It can take your creativity further in product development, an example that came from TAG Heuer Carrera Date Plasma Diamant d'Avant-Garde… they used lab-grown diamonds in order to have the ability to shape the diamonds in any form including the crown of the watch, allowing unlimited design creativity.”
For Ghalo, the fact that major luxury houses seem to be against difficult times does not create an issue, her simply put it as “if you really love a watch, shoes, etc… and can afford it you will still buy it…” But also, he goes back to the logic of it, “the real reality here is that the luxury market, like any other industry, has been soaring since the pandemic… we have seen crazy sales and numbers… was it sustainable? well like everything in life if it goes high too fast it might drop at certain time… I like to use the word correction here…”
He also sees a very good silver lining, “this also could bring more creativity again to the industry and take us into a new era or chapter. We have already noticed multiple changes on an Artistic or Creative director level and CEO Levels for many fashion and watch brands in the past 2 years and it will be very interesting to see what those changes will bring… actually I am curious and so looking forward to it.”
Indeed the musical chairs are still going further and further when it comes to the creative directors of major luxury conglomerates.
Recent statistics indicate that exports of Swiss timepieces declined by 12,4% with China’s import down 50% according to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry. Whether this is some passing trend of disinterest in watches at large, Ghalo just shrugs it down to “what has been happening since post the pandemic is not considered “normal market behavior”, it is a correction… the real brands who never pushed the market beyond its reality will maintain the business and growth and some brands who did go into an aggressive production and commercial strategy could suffer… I am not saying one is right, one is wrong, each has short and long term results ….”
Yet he also bring this down to a personal level detailing his thoughts: “If I like a brand I will still like it and purchase it as much I can afford it… what we see today is more than a luxury downtrend only but a world that has succumb to alarming inflation and uncertainty with high cost of living and operation, where correct is a must… let’s be positive and hope for a soft landing.”
Andy Warhol once said “I don’t wear a Tank watch to tell the time. In fact, I never wind it. I wear a Tank because it’s the watch to wear”. Ghalo laughs at this one and chuckling says, ‘I don't wind any of my watches either, even though I have a beautiful winder too yet my watches are never on time.”
But is the watch just a status symbol then? “When it comes to fashion accessory and status projection, it is really a subjective point here. For example, I never wanted or found the allure to wear a Tank a couple of years back yet today it is growing on me - so wearing watches and the type of watch really falls under the eyes of the beholder.”
It turns out Ghalo does love Warhol’s art, “if I buy his art, it’s because I like it - irrelevant to its status projection. However, I never understood art the way I do with watches. It is paradise for me to engage with art pieces… and so are watches and some other luxury products.”
In Alexander’s Pushkin famous poem “Eugene Onegin”, the lines go “strolling at leisure until his Breguet, ever vigilant, reminds him it is midday”. In 2024, the most used way to tell the time is a smartphone. So what is a watch for… Ghalo intervenes, “well I am sure a Reine de Naple is one of the most beautiful art pieces on the wrist today (editor’s note: a Breguet ladies model), would that answer your question? Time can be seen on smartphones yes, a GMT complication might be useless today as it is easier to look at multiple timezones through your iPhone but really I enjoy all my GMT watches and I love them.”
Ghalo turns very logical again, “a watch today can highlight a passion, can be an art piece on the wrist, can be a racing machine on the wrist, can be a space ship on your wrist, can be an art of savoir faire… yet its main purpose is an instrument to tell time and this is an art of its own… remember how complicated it was to tell time with accuracy before the digital era and I believe Art – with a capital A - never dies, it evolves and it keeps getting better… I can keep going and going and you will get bored from me… but the argument of what is watch for today is not valid…”
And then, as if to sum things up, he thoughtfully adds, “today luxury for me is Time to spend beautifully, is family, is well-being, is experiences, ad is sustainability for the future of our planet, and personalization is something very important to consider in the luxury sphere.”
