Franck Dubarry is a French entrepreneur and designer, with a strong reputation in the watch industry and advertising sector. Two years ago, he launched his eponymous watch brand, with which he set out to bring a new perspective on high-end watches.
We discussed with Franck about his background, his motivations behind the key moves that shaped his career and what makes his newest endeavor special.
Franck Dubarry comes from the world of law and finance, but has also worked in the creative world. In 1990s Paris, he owned an advertising agency, where he worked on many ad campaigns, many of which revolved around fashion and luxury items. In 1995, Franck decided to engage in a major shift in his career, when he sold his agency and started working as a consultant for creative campaigns. The reason behind this was because he wanted to own the rights for the things he created.
With his strong background, a good eye for the market and trends and a passion for the visual – Franck being a passionate photographer himself, he decided later on to launch his own watch brand, called TechnoMarine. The reason he chose watches was a thoughtful move on his part; not only is Franck a fan of watches, but he also understood that watches are a quick way of displaying one’s “social attributes”, as he puts it. For Franck, a watch is an instant way of communicating who you are, what your interests are and what your main personality traits are.
His colorful approach to watches was also timely. He explains that “when I started the watch company, there was a gap between the fashion industry, where, for example, Versace was doing a lot of colors at the end of the 90s and the watch industry was very dull: brown, black, gray. So I thought I could bring some color to it and fill the gap I had noticed.”
In the mid-2010s, after selling over 2.5 million watches with TechnoMarine, Franck Dubarry sold his brand to a private equity fund, as he wanted to establish a new brand.
Thus, in 2016 the Franck Dubarry watch brand was born. The colors and style of the watches are bold, colorful and fresh. They mix various aesthetics such as Latin American influences and the sport of polo and appeal to a young audience of people who want to wear something unique and colorful. It took a lot of work to launch a new brand, but to Franck it was worth it. Soon enough, his unusual watches drew people who wanted to wear something outstanding and who didn’t need to wear a known label to make a statement. Thus, people like the King of Morocco, the Sultan of Brunei and even a group of British billionaires soon became clients of the label. For Franck, this makes sense: people who are in such positions don’t need to flash labels to show their power and this is why they would rather wear something that expresses their personality and taste. “We are not a conservative brand”, he explains, “we try to come up with creative and new ideas and always try to bring an element of creativity and to move apart from the crowd, even though we respect the other players in the industry.” Franck Dubarry participated in the Baselworld watch and jewelry fair both years since the launch of his newest brand.
Pondering on the state of the watch industry, Franck says that his label is in a way harder to launch than his previous one, since now there are a lot more players in the game. But, at a steady but sure pace and by continuing to bring exciting watches to his audience, a brand like his can definitely sustain itself in the long run. The label is starting to grow a presence through Asia and the Middle East, which are growing markets in terms of luxury accessories.
In terms of trends, Franck makes a clear distinction between the products themselves and their distribution. In terms of products, Franck sees a growth in smartwatches, which he believes will draw a new, younger segment of the population to discover the world watchmaking, even though they will start off with digital watches. As for the distribution of timepieces, Franck sees a new way of selling on the horizon. He believes that in the near future, the digital part of selling high-end luxury watches will become very important, but that it will need to be supported by a physical presence. In other words, people will discover more and more watches online, but will want to see them in a showroom in their vicinity. Therefore, we might see many small boutiques appear, where people will be able to see the designs they consider purchasing. These could not be stores with a street window per se, but rather on-appointment meeting places between brands and clients, which don’t have to be located on big commercial arteries.
Franck Dubarry is definitely a man who knows how to work the ins and outs of a successful business; he has a fresh product, a vision and knows how to appeal to his target audience. Thus, the Franck Dubarry watch brand can very well be one of big new names in the word of watchmaking.
Fraquoh and Franchomme
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