— There is a great deal of mystery surrounding Kerbedanz. So, to get the straight story, I went directly to the horse's mouth, so to speak, and talked with Kalust Zorik, director and chief marketing officer for Kerbedanz.
What is Kerbedanz? Is it a brand? A store?
Kerbedanz is a brand, but at the same time it’s the name of our president. Kerbedanz was founded five years ago. For the last two years, we have already manufactured and delivered 200 watches. Out of this, 180 were unique pieces and 160 were tourbillons. We have our own workshop in Neuchatel.
Who are you customers?
Our customers are MIPs, most important personalities. As our name means leader/precursor, our customers are leaders and precursors in their domains. These people look for more sophisticated, not seen pieces. We work directly with the MIP, due to our network. At BaselWorld 2016, we are going to start working with collection pieces, very limited. Our collections are limited to 5, 14 and 41 pieces. These series are designed to reach other MIPs who will come to us to create unique pieces.
How long does it take to create custom pieces?
Normally, it takes between one month and six months to create a custom piece. We manufacture one piece at a time. We even manufacture the cases ourselves. The design is done by us, and all the decoration and finishing, all the crafts are done internally. We have 30 people in our workshop.
What about the movement?
The movement is designed by us, then manufactured to our design by Technotime or Concepto, but the decoration is done by ourselves.
Where are you sold?
We have retailers. We are in La Serlas in Zurich, in St. Gallen. We are in Moscow and we have agents in several other countries, with access to these MIPs. We are in discussions with a number of other retailers around the world.
What is your mission?
Giving sense to beauty. The beauty for us is the traditional Swiss watchmaking beauty. We are doing our watches as well as the biggest names. We cannot say we are better, but we are not worse. This is the beauty. To the beauty, we add the sense, which is taken through symbols, allegory, myths and legends, cultures and civilizations. For every watch in Kerbedanz, we have a symbolist who writes a book on the meaning and sense that this watch is communicating. We are giving each timepiece another dimension. The watch is a kind of medium that is transmitting these values.
What is the price range?
The Vert collection is our entry level, which is around 36,000 chf, and the highest model is 500,000 chf. The average price is between 150,000 chf and 250,000 chf.
Can you tell us more about Sappheiros?
First of all, Sappheiros is a sapphire tourbillon, you can see through it and see everything. There is very minimalist decoration on the watch with diamonds and sapphires.
What did you do with Yvan Arpa?
A couple of years ago, we did a piece unique for a customer who was in love with Led Zeppelin. When we sat down with Yvan, we decided to do something with him on Led Zeppelin, and we did the dial and he did everything else. The dial was designed and manufactured in-house by us.
It must be nice to really get to know your client and translate his/her wishes?
We appreciate meeting with the end customers. We have nine presidents or prime ministers who are our MIPs. Like an artist, we did a portfolio to showcase what we have done. We are also artists, and when you create something with the customer, it’s a huge pleasure, because the customer is also putting his values on the concept, and we are translating his vision into his timepiece. We have four designers in our team, to meet the demand. We did a project for a client called “Twins.” In the Mesoamerican culture, twins were always fighting the gods and normally they died, but once at the end they won, and one twin became the moon and the other became the sun. The customer loved this so much, he ordered 20 of them.
What are the main challenges facing your brand?
The biggest challenge for Kerbedanz is to access more MIPs. These people don’t go into stores, they don’t do research, they go by word of mouth, and they need to be referred to us. Reaching them is our priority and our challenge.
Kerbedanz is a brand, but at the same time it’s the name of our president. Kerbedanz was founded five years ago. For the last two years, we have already manufactured and delivered 200 watches. Out of this, 180 were unique pieces and 160 were tourbillons. We have our own workshop in Neuchatel.
Who are you customers?
Our customers are MIPs, most important personalities. As our name means leader/precursor, our customers are leaders and precursors in their domains. These people look for more sophisticated, not seen pieces. We work directly with the MIP, due to our network. At BaselWorld 2016, we are going to start working with collection pieces, very limited. Our collections are limited to 5, 14 and 41 pieces. These series are designed to reach other MIPs who will come to us to create unique pieces.
The Koï timepiece pays tribute to the emblematic figure of the famous fish Koi, one of the vegetarian sub-species of carp, which has become a powerful symbol in the Far Eastern cultures. The watch is limited to 14 pieces. © Kerbedanz
Normally, it takes between one month and six months to create a custom piece. We manufacture one piece at a time. We even manufacture the cases ourselves. The design is done by us, and all the decoration and finishing, all the crafts are done internally. We have 30 people in our workshop.
What about the movement?
The movement is designed by us, then manufactured to our design by Technotime or Concepto, but the decoration is done by ourselves.
Where are you sold?
We have retailers. We are in La Serlas in Zurich, in St. Gallen. We are in Moscow and we have agents in several other countries, with access to these MIPs. We are in discussions with a number of other retailers around the world.
What is your mission?
Giving sense to beauty. The beauty for us is the traditional Swiss watchmaking beauty. We are doing our watches as well as the biggest names. We cannot say we are better, but we are not worse. This is the beauty. To the beauty, we add the sense, which is taken through symbols, allegory, myths and legends, cultures and civilizations. For every watch in Kerbedanz, we have a symbolist who writes a book on the meaning and sense that this watch is communicating. We are giving each timepiece another dimension. The watch is a kind of medium that is transmitting these values.
What is the price range?
The Vert collection is our entry level, which is around 36,000 chf, and the highest model is 500,000 chf. The average price is between 150,000 chf and 250,000 chf.
The time indicated on VERT is derived from “Vartama-way-track” meaning "something rotating or returning to its original position." 
© Kerbedanz
First of all, Sappheiros is a sapphire tourbillon, you can see through it and see everything. There is very minimalist decoration on the watch with diamonds and sapphires.
What did you do with Yvan Arpa?
A couple of years ago, we did a piece unique for a customer who was in love with Led Zeppelin. When we sat down with Yvan, we decided to do something with him on Led Zeppelin, and we did the dial and he did everything else. The dial was designed and manufactured in-house by us.
It must be nice to really get to know your client and translate his/her wishes?
We appreciate meeting with the end customers. We have nine presidents or prime ministers who are our MIPs. Like an artist, we did a portfolio to showcase what we have done. We are also artists, and when you create something with the customer, it’s a huge pleasure, because the customer is also putting his values on the concept, and we are translating his vision into his timepiece. We have four designers in our team, to meet the demand. We did a project for a client called “Twins.” In the Mesoamerican culture, twins were always fighting the gods and normally they died, but once at the end they won, and one twin became the moon and the other became the sun. The customer loved this so much, he ordered 20 of them.
What are the main challenges facing your brand?
The biggest challenge for Kerbedanz is to access more MIPs. These people don’t go into stores, they don’t do research, they go by word of mouth, and they need to be referred to us. Reaching them is our priority and our challenge.
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