In November, I announced that Benoit DeClerck, President of IWC North America, would be moving to be in charge of IWC in Southeast Asia, which probably is IWC's biggest and fastest growing market (not just for IWC –due to China, it's true for almost all brands). Ben has been a true friend of IWC collectors throughout the world. He's been extraordinarily supportive of me and this forum. A little known fact is that many or our drawing prizes came from Ben, and out of his budget, even though they were distributed worldwide.
I also mentioned that Gianfranco D'Attis would be succeeding Ben as President for North America. That's Gianfranco pictured here –a great guy who's also tall enough to be a basketball player. I was fortunate enough to meet and talk to Gianfranco last month at SIHH. I think it's safe to say “long live the king” : IWC has a very worthy successor to Ben (even if no one can fill his shoes) and a real friend of collectors.
Gianfranco grew up in Schaffhausen, and is first real job was as an intern for IWC in trade marketing. He started at the bottom, and he learned about IWC more than 10 years ago. He knows about this forum when it was first started and he knows all the “old-timers” at IWC. As such, Gianfranco really understands what IWC has been traditionally about. He understands watches and the values that collectors respect and appreciate.
You'd think Gianfranco is Italian, but despite his name and family heritage, his native language is Swiss German –although his English is fine too. He tells the story about how poorly he speaks Italian, and how people are surprised given his name.
Most recently Gianfranco has been head of IWC in the Middle East, centered in Dubai, and he's done really well building up that market. He's only been a little to the U.S., so there'll be some transition and much to learn. But given his intelligence and resourcefulness, I anticipate he'll do great.
Most importantly, or perhaps selfishly, Gianfranco wants to support this forum and collectors. He understands the value that collectors add to IWC. We talked about some events in the United States, and I will be following through once he settles in (translation: a U.S. collectors meeting most likely still will occur in 2011, but will be slightly deferred).
Also, I must tell everyone that I really like Gianfranco. He's unassuming and he listens; he's very bright, a really nice guy, and he's a straight-shooter. He'll be a good friend of all of us, and a pleasure for me to work with.
At the same time, I'll be staying in touch with Ben. So to my thinking this is a win-win for everyone .
