SDC Weekly 112; Berneron Update; Naissance d’une Montre 3; "Why Do It?" - Nike’s New Campaign; Supercars and the Quartz Crisis
New Rolex Mainspring Patent, Geneva Watch Days afterthoughts, Rolex hosts Trump, IWC Enters Pre-Owned Market and more...
🚨 Welcome back to SDC Weekly! Here’s a list of the novelties from Geneva Watch Days 2025 which is supposedly being updated in real time (but as of writing, seems to be missing many watches, so don’t take it as gospel).
Oh, AP’s CEO (Resta) is leaving… but we will cover that next week.
In case you missed this from last week, I shared some thoughts after my visit to Louis Vuitton’s watchmaking factory, La Fabrique du Temps (accessible to free subscribers):
Admin note: Unofficial Editor is on leave after attempting to proofread while standing on one leg with a flock of flamingos. Dignity was lost; but the manuscript survived, so click here to read this post online and ensure you see all corrections made after publishing.
If you’re new to SDC, welcome! If you have time to kill, find older editions of SDC Weekly here, and longer posts in the archive here.
Estimated reading time: ~23 mins
🙈 Berneron Update
This is an unfortunate topic to write about, but it beats false rumours floating around. Many of these rumours are of course coloured by the incident with Berneron at Geneva Watch Days last year; you can read about that here:
I’ll start by saying, quite frankly, this is not the same situation as last year. The incident took place at dinner time during Geneva Watch Days, and Sylvain, whilst sat at his own table, was invited to join a different table to show them his watches, which included his most recent annual calendar prototype. Sitting at this table was Tim Grönefeld, the Dutch watchmaker, along with a couple of other watchmakers as well as collectors.
Now, if you know anything about Geneva Watch Days, you know it’s intense for everyone involved. A lot of folks are running on fumes, emotions are high, and there’s a constant undercurrent of business pressure mixed with passion. Sylvain had of course been showing this prototype a lot, and it remains his only example as far as I know.
Where things get interesting, and where this story differs from last year’s incident, is that while the annual calendar prototype was making its way around the table, Tim Grönefeld started trying to open the caseback. Now, you may already know the caseback opens with a pusher on the crown, but Tim didn’t know this and was attempting to pry it open.
I can’t speak to how forceful Tim was being - I wasn’t there, and different people will see the same action differently. From Sylvain’s perspective, all he could see was someone potentially damaging his only prototype during a week when he needed to show it to loads of other people.
From the time he arrived at the table and laid out the watches, I understand Sylvain had been asking people to be gentle with the watch. When the caseback situation started, Sylvain’s visible nervousness was apparently met with laughter and what he perceived as “dismissiveness” from Tim. After feeling increasingly frustrated by the whole situation, Sylvain simply took his watches back from everyone, and returned to his own table. No major outburst, no swearing, and no dramatic scene.
Now, the rumours flying around suggested Sylvain completely lost his mind and had another meltdown like last year. When I asked him directly about this, he told me flat out: “this is a lie.” He also added: “I did learn a lesson last year, and I didn't lose my temper this time.” You might think he’s trying to protect his reputation, but I’ve since got third-party verification from someone at the table, which confirms he didn’t have a major outburst or swear at anyone.
Look, I’m not here to defend anyone or point fingers, but this situation is totally different from last year’s incident with Ken and Jonathan. That was a scheduled appointment where visitors were rudely ejected. This was an impromptu dinner invitation where someone felt uncomfortable and chose to remove themselves from the situation.
There is definitely a duty of care when handling other people’s watches, especially prototypes or client’s own pieces. I’m sure you have been in similar situations too, watching someone handle your watch whilst wearing a ring or bracelet, and feeling a knot in your stomach when they’re not being as careful as you’d like them to be. In fact, I’ve had someone scratch my watch while they were trying to get a photo, so I kinda get it…
On the other hand, Tim Grönefeld is watchmaker, who knows enough to not damage a watch, and I doubt he would intentionally damage anyone’s work, let alone in such a public setting. He was probably just relaxed, having a good time, and not expecting the level of intensity Sylvain was bringing to the situation. Sometimes two people are simply on different wavelengths, and that’s what this feels like to me.
Tim’s dismissive reaction to Sylvain’s concerns might have been him thinking “relax, bro, I know what I’m doing.” From the opposite perspective, when you’re a new creator watching your life’s work being handled, relaxation perhaps isn’t the first thing on your mind.
What I think happened overall, was that Sylvain was at the end of a brutal day, probably running on zero sleep and maximum stress. His history with prototype incidents had him extra on-edge. Tim was just being Tim; chilled, jolly, confident, relaxed, whatever… treating the watch like any other watch, but not like a precious prototype (which is what it is to Sylvain). Neither of them was wrong, I think. They were just operating from completely different emotional states and perspectives.
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I also want to give Sylvain credit for removing himself from a situation instead of escalating it and having a legit outburst, because it shows growth from last year. Over a decade ago, I, too, had serious anger management issues, and I can tell you that learning to walk away takes enormous effort and self-awareness when you’re trying to un-learn poor behavioural patterns. It’s certainly not a switch you flip overnight. So the fact that he recognised the tension building and chose to leave rather than cause a scene would suggest he has actually learned some lessons from last year’s incident.
The watch community’s reaction has been, perhaps predictably, quite mixed. Some people are saying “there’s no smoke without fire” and questioning whether Sylvain has a fundamental temperament problem. Others are pointing out that everyone has bad days and we should cut him some slack.
Both perspectives have merit, but I think what’s really happening here is that Sylvain’s reputation from last year is unfairly colouring how people interpret this situation. If this exact same incident had happened with literally any other independent watchmaker, would we even be talking about it?
If there are any takeaways from this whole situation, I reckon they’re pretty straightforward. When you’re handling someone else’s prototype, especially during a high-stress event like Geneva Watch Days, extra care and communication go a long way. A simple “how does this caseback open?” could have prevented the whole situation.
For creators showing their work, maybe consider having a trusted friend or colleague handle the actual demonstrations when you’re running on empty. Your emotional state will affect how you perceive everything around you, and also, how you are perceived by your clients and colleagues. If you know you’re out of energy, don’t put yourself in these potentially difficult situations.
Conclusion
This was a misunderstanding between two passionate people who were having very different experiences of the same moment. Tim probably thought he was showing professional interest in someone else’s watch. Sylvain probably felt like his precious prototype was being treated carelessly.
Neither interpretation is wrong, and both are completely human.
I think the real lesson here is more to do with the pressure cooker environment of Geneva Watch Days and how it amplifies every emotion. The watch community is small enough that these kinds of misunderstandings can spiral quickly. I actually think the best course of action here would have been for me to say nothing at all in SDC, but because I wrote the story last year, I figured it would be unfair for me not to write this one and clarify that this is not a “repeat offense.”
I guess I am learning too… I definitely don’t want this to be considered a gossip column, but, now you know the story. “All’s well that ends well” is what I said last time… I do think maybe Sylvain should just make two prototypes for his next watch to reduce the stress of showing it to people, because accidents do happen, and having everything riding on one prototype is not the best way to manage an ever-present risk.