The Limited Edition was founded by watch lovers and has been at the forefront of the recent boom in interest for independent watch brands. Its co-founder Pietro Tomajer gave WatchPro an update on the company’s plans.
WatchPro: The Limited Edition has several strings to its bow nowadays. Do you see yourself as an e-tailer a forum for watch collectors or a content producer predominantly?
Pietro Tomajer: TLE is a independent watch retailer. We focus on the world of independent artisanal watchmaking.
In 2014, we conceived the project based on the conviction that if mechanical watchmaking was here to stay, it is because of the work of the artisans, the watchmakers themselves that have treasured, nurtured and developed the ancestral skills of all the arts relating to watchmaking itself. We were looking with scepticism to the globalised watch brands, as we knew that scale production may have been the worst enemy of value, which is what ultimately collectors look for when thinking of a mechanical watch.
The watchmakers, the genuine stories of these artisans, are also the amazing canvas around which very interesting and genuine contents can be created, as they truly embody this form of art.
As a consequence of this pretty straightforward approach, many collectors that could not find a proper representation for their passion, both on the high-street but also online, found an immediate affinity with us. And we can now count on a community of over 1,000 collectors worldwide, who we know by name and with whom we interact weekly, helping them to find their ideal timepiece and fight against scarcity, secondary market premiums and smoke-and-mirrors marketing tactics.
So, to answer your question, we developed from an e-retailer (although we also invest in stocks of the brands we represent) to content creators that are able to establish a link with what has become the TLE community of watch collectors.
WatchPro: When people buy a watch from The Limited Edition are they buying directly from you or do you simply facilitate the sale?
Pietro Tomajer: We are official retailers for over fifty prestigious names of the independent watchmaking world.
We try to educate by creating interesting content, such as exclusive interviews, virtual manufacturing visits, live Q&As, live product reviews, photo and video shooting, private events with the scope of creating an organic demand, so that we can purchase based on the actual demands of the market, rather than purchasing to fill shop windows shelves. This allows our watchmakers to avoid overproduction and consequent devaluation of their offer. And this allows collectors not to be pushed to impulse buy or be patronised based on lack of knowledge. Choosing and acquiring a mechanical watch should be a pleasure, and the journey to get there is as important as the act of purchasing. This has been very clear in our mind since day one.
WatchPro: What was your opinion of the launches in Geneva from a few weeks ago?
Pietro Tomajer: Geneva Watches and Wonders was great. However, we have been lingering longer on the Carré de Horologers and the private AHCI (Academy de Createurs Horlogers Independentes) rather that at the main exhibition at the Palaexpo. Don’t get me wrong, monitoring and appreciating what the big Maisons are doing is fundamental and always inspiring, however, appreciating the real drive of the art of watchmaking from the core can only be done by studying and interacting with the independents. And that is exactly what we did.
As a side note, it was wonderful to be able to invite and meet our collectors, and give them the opportunity to access a show that was truly outstanding.
WatchPro: Which brands are you most excited about this year?
Pietro Tomajer: Everyone is talking about Czapek Geneve and Armin Strom (and I was lucky enough to see this coming a while back, if you have read our last interview on WatchPro) or Laurent Ferrier, who are having an impressive recognition and growth to the point that on these names we are currently simply making allocations for the next few years, trying to give everyone the possibility to acquire a timepiece without minimum spending policies or the constriction to invest in some other non-wanted items to gain priority (as unfortunately many collectors are now used to accept).
However, I would like to mention Louis Moinet, often overlooked, an extremely creative quality manufacturer around which we are seeing growing interest, especially with the launch of the new Memoris Spirit 40.8mm and the new Tempograph 40.80mm.
A pleasant surprise was Trilobe, a brand that we have been monitoring for a while, for which we have now become an official retailer. A French/Swiss Maison offering in-house watchmaking at a very, very interesting price point. The relaunch of HYT was an event on its own, and the brand really impressed in their showcase in Geneva.
In terms of the masters, Ludovic Ballouard, Bernhard Lederer, Vianney Halter are really finding strong appreciation within collectors, and our game at the moment is to let our collectors know in advance about launches and availabilities, so that as many of them as possible can savour the pleasure of owning a future museum piece.
WatchPro: Independent watch brands have been incredibly popular in the last few years. What do you put this down to?
Pietro Tomajer: Incredibly, it has only happened in 2020 that the UNESCO finally included mechanical watchmaking as an intangible cultural human heritage, certifying what we have all realised, that watchmaking is indeed a form of art. Considering the school definition of ‘art’ (i.e. the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power) watchmaking adds to it an incontrovertible functional scope which is of course telling, reading but perhaps, more on the point, understanding of our time, these days affected by an intense digital culture, which has pushed mankind to appreciate even more the sometimes anachronistic forms of craft and art.
And the independent watchmakers embody all of this, not just now as they are enjoying a period of great appreciation, but since the invention of the first sundial.
