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- [00:00]
A
Foreign.
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B
Watch fans and welcome to another edition of the Real Time show. Live from Geneva watch days 2025 outside the pavilion in our glass onion. Today your friendly neighborhood watchmaker and jeweler are joined by co founder of Bimboo, Aldo Magada, who Alon has insisted he gets to introduce. So I'm going to hand it over.
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C
The man from Amsterdam, because I'm so happy to see you again, Aldo. We have worked together at Brightling, we've worked together at Zenith. I ran into you at Watches and Wonders. We caught up. You had a beautiful watch on your wrist. A prototype that I have in my hands. I'm like, wow, what's that? He said, wait till Geneva watches. And here we are with a new brand, Bimboo. Exactly what does the name mean?
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A
The Aldo, the name of the brand. You know, it's always very difficult to find a good brand name, but the name is coming from our family history. It's a nickname between my brother Mario and I and since we have four or five and it's probably coming from the Bimbol, the baby in Italian. And we decided to take it because we love this name and it's easy to pronounce in every language. And also what is important is reflecting something very important for us is the family link, of course. And we are here to make a lot of friends.
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C
So it's good to see you old friend. Congratulations on the entrepreneurship. You said co founder. Who did you found this company with?
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A
With my brother Mario. He's in health business still. I'm retired, he's not officially. This why I have time to do something, you know, when you retire. And basically we decide to do that because we wanted to have a brand which reflect what we love to have. And what we love to have is pleasure making fine product, meeting great people and having fun. Because at the end what is important is to have fun.
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C
Basically. La dolce vita.
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A
Dolce vita, but with the seriousness of the Swiss watchmaker.
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C
So you have an amazing track record in the watch industry. You retired, you just said your brother has different ventures.
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A
Yep.
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C
So you guys sat down, you wanted to have fun, you probably had fun designing. But why did you start? Because it's evident you didn't want to make a vintage brand revived, you didn't want to be a copycat. So where did you guys start?
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A
That's. It's very funny. I don't know if you know the Polaris from Omega, all the 80s model. I love this watch. It was designed by Genta, by the way. And I love this watch. And we were thinking about which kind of watch do we want? Do we want something very sporty, very masculine? And we said, no, what we want is to put people together, regroup them. So we don't want to have a gender or special way to do watches. So this watch is appealing, could appeal to both ladies and gentlemen. And what we want to do is something very, I would say, constructed design, but something also. You have the feeling to already seen the watch. So you have a kind of mixed feeling between, oh, it's new, but in fact, I have the impression to see this before.
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B
Fresh and familiar, as I like to say that.
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A
Exactly.
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B
It's a good combination, you know. Alan, hand me the watch. Because this is. This is the first time that I've actually taken a watch in hand on air, because I have not had much of a chance to get up close and personal with this. Wow, it is incredibly light.
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A
Yeah, it's 50 grams. Everything together. So the case, bracelet and the buckle.
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B
So talk to me about every element of the design in stage. Let's start with the movement, because this is a movement that people will have seen.
- [04:40]
A
Yeah, people who love watchmaking industry, they probably recognize it because we didn't change the bridges shape. It's the Pezeu 7100 Bose. 7001 is an old movement. I mean, from 1971 until the beginning of 2000. It's an incredible movement. Very thin, it's 2.5 millimeters. And we decided to use it because we thought it was a good link between also the traditional watchmaking and the new things. Because, of course, today a lot of people are taking some very technical movement. We don't care about it. I think if it's a special function, we care. If it's not a function, we don't care. And we want to have something very, not only trustable, but something very elegant. And the only thing we did, of course the aesthetic is different than the 7100, but for the hands, because the dial at the time was very thin, it was.02 millimeters. Of course, it's impossible to put stone. As you see, it's always a stone at 6 o' clock on the sub dial. Exactly. And what we wanted to have is something. We could also take some mother of pearl in addition. So we need something different. So we went to Concepto and we said, guys, we need to change part of the mechanism to allow us to do things. And they did it for us. And as you know, Concepto is an incredible manufacturer. And for us it was a big plus so we have this movement, it's not created by us and we never said is a manufacture movement because we don't believe on marketing bullshit. What we believe is on the transparency. And we said, okay, it's Peze 7001. Everybody knows and a lot of people knows in the high end watches you can find this movement or part of this movement. So that's the movement we decide to have. The case, as you see, it's quite, I would say, complicated. It's a titanium grade 5 and you have three different termination on it. You have the polish, you have the satin and you have the. How to say in English, I don't remember.
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B
Blasted.
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A
Blasted. Thank you. You're too good. And so the case, it's also thin. It's 8.8 millimeters thickness and even it's very thin. You have integrated the interchangeable bracelet system which is very easy. And it help you to have different kind of bracelet. We do bracelet. We have a collection of bracelet, of course. But if you have special, any special request, we will, we will fulfill it, no problem. It's a, it's for us, it's very important that the person can enjoy changing things without any kind of nightmare. We'll say.
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C
Rob, see if the mic picks up the click. It's so solid. I was playing with it.
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B
The click of the.
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A
Yeah. And this when you put in.
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B
Okay. And then back in. Oh, oh, it did pick it up. Do that again. That's very satisfying. And it's really robust as well. And that's a lovely thing to see in a watch that is so elegantly thin. And I know I sound like a broken record when I say this. You know, this is one of those watches you've got to get in hand to understand. Because I've seen pictures of it online. I didn't appreciate the proportions, the complexity of the case. It's not just different finishes, but it's multi component as well, which enables for absolutely exceptional transitions between that lower blasted level there, which runs around the outside of a brushed case back or satinated case back, should we say. And then you've got these hollowed out lugs as well, which are beautifully mirrored by a buckle. And I love it when people take time to design a buckle that integrates with the case. There's a lot of things going on here that I like. You know, the logo, it's a strange logo.
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A
The symbol of bimbo is pretty funny. It's like Internet things but with the kind of traditional way.
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B
And the great thing about it is it Fits on the crown really, really nicely. And it has this sort of sense of dynamism, like the way that the orbit around the B is angled makes it feel like it's moving forwards, which is always a nice thing in watchmaking. So tell me, this dial, how thick did it end up being then? Because you've managed to keep the watch incredibly thin despite having a.
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A
Well, the dial on this. On this version is probably around.07 millimeters.
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B
Okay.
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The. The big issue is, of course, the integration of the stone.
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B
Yeah.
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A
Because you have to have at least a certain thickness of stone to have the beauty of the stone. And you have also the index. If you see the index is not the Super Luminova index, it's ceramic Super Luminova. So it's very detailed and precise cut. Unfortunately, I didn't take some loop. I have one here so you will be able to see. But that the kind of detail, we love it. We think that people who are passionate about watchmaking, industry and watches, they love to discover their watch. You know, it's like sometimes you see some beautiful lady, but after 30 seconds, yeah, nothing special. And other time, you see ladies and you discovered the beauty is absolutely fantastic because it's just more than the first look. And that is a little bit what we. We are. We are proposing here.
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B
I can very much imagine that it is a watch that would really grow on you over time. I mean, it's made an impact on me just straight out of the gate. But it is something as well that has so many nuances to the design. Obviously comes from a lot of experience, of observation, and I imagine many, many, many prototypes and a long road to get into this level.
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A
Not really. It's funny, we take a lot of times to discuss with the designer. We are working with Edge Design. I don't know if you know the two guys, Olivier Le and Fabrice Gonet, These guys are talented and they do a lot of different models. But I took time to make a brief because, you know, my first job was a product manager. So when you are product managers, you're supposed to be able to do a proper brief and not something like you see too often now in the watchmaking. People are taking some picture and they said, okay, I want to have the bezel of this, the dial of that, but something totally new, which doesn't exist, of course, because if you do something look like it look like full stop.
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B
I mean, you mentioned the Polaris earlier, which is a model that's close to my heart. I used to love getting them across my Bench at Omega, when I was a watchmaker and I aspired to own one. I actually have still a Polaris case which I managed to buy new old stock. It's beautiful. I've never outfitted it with a movement or a dial, but I kept the case for years just because I love the colors and the form touch and the touch.
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A
The Polaris, if you touch. Of course it was grade one on titanium, so very, very easy to scratch. But you have with a small tissue you can redo it. But for me, when I was at Omega, it was already gone for a while. The Polarize. But I fall in love. I fall in love and I discover in the inventory some watches, you know, the three hands. Nothing fancy, just the three hands with titanium bracelet with red gold, which was very unusual at the time.
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B
Well, it's never really become usual. Like the way that the Polaris integrated the metals was I think still standalone crazy. Absolutely crazy. I'd love to see more of it. I mean, you know that I'm a huge fan of titanium and yellow gold because normally I would stay away from things like blue hands or a blue dial, which you can even get from someone like Debitune who we're recording with next. I think actually that's going to be exciting. But I love the thought of all those things together. It's extremely 80s, it's extremely early 90s. It's of its time, but it's just beautiful and we need more.
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A
Yeah, it's beautiful. And you know, of course everyone has an age and the watch have an age. So on every model, on every kind of period of time, you have some possibility to see, oh, it's an 80s, 70s, but whatever. If it's beautiful, it's beautiful, full stop.
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B
So let's talk some numbers now. So firstly, what's the retail price?
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A
The retail price is 13,900 Swiss francs.
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B
Okay.
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C
Exvat.
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A
In Switzerland, VAT is included after of course depend on the country. And I don't want to mention some countries where it will be absolutely impossible for us to export because we are selling only direct. That means during event. So we put passionate people together. But only 20, 30 max. Or you can buy of course on the Internet@www.bimboo.ch but unfortunately some countries like us, we. Forget it, forget it. But it's also a very, I would say confidential kind of watch. That means we are producing 100 pieces by 100 pieces. So you will have very few watch which looks the same. And I think for people who have already, I don't know 1015 watches, they want to have something different, but something with substance.
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C
So Aldo, when you started, was price a factor in the development or you said this is what it needs to be and it will cost what it costs.
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A
To be honest, it was the second part. It cost what it cost. Except that when we discover what is cost, when you do 100% in Switzerland, I don't say Swiss made, it's 100% manufacturing. Of course, the Allegate alligator is not Swiss, but manufacturing of the bracelet is done in Geneva. So the thing is the prices are stupid. I mean the cost price. Because of course we don't have any kind of quantity and we are a little bit tacky about some details. So it was a long way to develop things. So it's cost, it costs. But we said, okay, what do we want? Do we want something just design. Because we could do design and make something cheaper, I would say elsewhere than Switzerland. Or we want to celebrate also the Swiss watch industry with the craziness and the beautiful partner we have in Switzerland who can make extraordinary product. And we said, okay, we do for. For that and we will see. I think, I hope we will, we will meet some people who are totally in online with us.
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C
So on the case back, it's a Swiss manufactured. Indeed. Instead of Swiss made.
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A
Yep. It's. It's made in La Chaudfont Abbey product.
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C
Beautiful.
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B
Yeah. You can't get much better than Aurelian. That is absolutely top draw.
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A
You know the thing just before we go further, when a client is buying a watch from us, he will receive of course the usual guarantee certificate by the new technology. Because we have to do this. But in addition, he got exactly the name of the people who did the different component. So the hands, the dials, the case, the bracelet, the buckle, the movement.
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B
So there's provenance built into every piece. Basically it's a masterclass of watchmaking working with.
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A
We said, okay, consumer can choose whatever they want. They just have to be aware about the things. And you cannot say, oh, it's done in Switzerland and Switzerland is in Shenzhen. Sorry for that. It's not. I have nothing against the Chinese producer. They do very good things. But it's not our positioning. Our positioning is 100% made in Switzerland and transparency because the consumer can choose. Look at your iPhone. Your iPhone is a design in Cupertino and made in China. People said, okay, and you pay a fortune for that.
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B
So how many of them are there? How many pieces are you making?
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A
As I told you, the first series is 100 pieces. And we will probably after it change dials, we probably change some materials. We want to do some gold stuff also. And we will exploit a little bit the diamond bezel and different kind of things.
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B
Okay.
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A
But it's a very confidential kind of quantity.
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B
So using the perso calibre as a base, of course, is something a lot of brands have done in different degrees of success. And also you find it now in very many different price points. Did it. I mean, I'm guessing you did a great deal of competitor research before you got into this. No. Okay, that. You know what? Next I'm going to stop guessing because I've been wrong every time so far in this interview and that's, that's refreshing.
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A
No, no, no, it's, it's just because we, we, we don't have any kind of stupidity. I mean, I know a little bit the business and the thing is we want to do something after we try to see if we are close or not close to the competition and could we compare it? And I think the best judge will be the consumer. He will say, hey guys, you're crazy or guys, I love it.
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B
So what are they saying now? What's the reception been like for the time being?
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A
We sold 12 pieces before launching.
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B
Okay.
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They have no issue about the price. They said okay because they understood the value. You know, the price is what you pay, the value is what you remember.
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B
Oh, wow, what a quote.
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A
No, but it's true, it's true, it's true.
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B
And you know what? It's such a good quote. Unless you have any more pressing questions. Alon.
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C
Oh, last one, Aldo. So you're direct to consumer. What do you do if agents, distributors and or retailers come to you and say, oh, we love Bimboo, we want to retail it. What will you do?
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A
That's a different story. If the retailer coming to us, he said, hey guys, I love what you're doing. I totally online about yours we will discuss. But believe it or not, we cannot have the kind of coefficient than the other brands have. But we will do business, of course with them. But the problem is, you know how it works. I know a lot of retailers around the world. I go, we have lunch, it's fun. We are friends. He said, oh, give me three pieces, I will put in my show window. Okay. He put in your show window at the level of the dog who's peeing. And after three months you just coming back and said, aldo, sorry, nobody wants it. Said, of course nobody wants it because nobody knows it. So you have to sell it. It's not a watch like crazy great brand. I mean Rolex, Rolex. The guy from Rolex is coming. He had the number, the reference number. So he has three questions. Do you have it? Do you make any discount and how I can pay. It's a DHL point. He's not a retailer. A retailer, you know, I'm an old guy. So the retailers when I start was someone who was bringing some brands to consumer but you have to explain and you have to. So to come back on your question, Joseph, we are totally, totally open and to be also open on Saturday morning, I have a gentleman from Saudi, he's coming because he do exactly the kind of things he love to make events. And I would love to make an event with 20, 30 people in Riyadh and explain because today, as you know, when you start, you have to take time to explain, explain, explain and then sometimes to drink also.
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B
I tell you what, you're great at giving us appropriate sound bites on which to end. And tonight is the opening party which will be held here at the Pavilion. I expect to see you there definitely. I expect to have a drink with you and enjoy that very much with.
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A
My brother, also with my nephew, with my daughter. So you will see the mafia is here. Brilliant.
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B
We can't wait to meet the bimboo mafia. All right everybody, thank you for watching. As usual, like share, subscribe, follow along, get involved with this content that we're creating throughout the week of Geneva Watch Days 2025 and if you'd like to join the TRTS network, you can do so by contacting us on our usual channels. Stay safe and keep on ticking.
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A
Sa.