MCT : François Candolfi

What do you see as the advantages and disadvantages of being a “small brand” ?

In a small brand you have to create a real entrepreneurial spirit and be able to adapt quickly to the constantly changing environment while remaining focused on the vision you’ve set for the brand. Small companies have to be much more innovative compared to the established brands, as they cannot compete against the financial and marketing power of the established brands. Big players are more consensual in their product vision and their design, which, even when excellent, usually remains quite traditional. Our company must distinguish itself by the ability to bring something more exciting than simply revisiting traditional designs and complications that have been around for centuries.

 

Which model best reflects the MCT spirit ?

The Sequential One (our first model) is remarkable in terms of mechanical aspects. Its case is so perfect that the product instantly became iconic after its launch. The Sequential One offers us a very distinctive image, with the balance between a somewhat classical design and a very contemporary mechanism to display the time.

 

What’s the next challenge for the brand ?

After five years of being a mono-product brand (with the Sequential One), we plan to expand our collection quickly now over the coming years and to accelerate our growth. Our collection will grow with timepieces that will clearly bear the strong MCT design codes and incorporate innovative ways of displaying the time. As a first step, we are going to display our first round case model that will feature a major innovation for our brand, as it will be presented with our in-house automatic movement.


Brice Lechevalier is editor-in-chief of GMT and Skippers, which he co-founded in 2000 and 2001 respectively. He has also been CEO of WorldTempus since it joined the GMT Publishing stable, of which he is director and joint shareholder. In 2012 he created the Geneva Watch Tour, and he has been an advisor to the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève since 2011. Also closely involved in sailing, he has published the magazine of the Société Nautique de Genève since 2003, and was one of the founders of the SUI Sailing Awards in 2009 and the Concours d’Elégance for motor boats at the Cannes Yachting Festival in 2015.

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