Geneva Watch Days 2025 — Clement Meynier, Amida

Summary

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The Real Time Show: Geneva Watch Days 2025

Guest: Clément Meynier, Amida

Date: September 5, 2025
Hosts: Rob Nudds & Alon Ben Joseph

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Episode Overview

This episode was recorded live at the Geneva Watch Days 2025 and features Clément Meynier of Amida. The conversation centers around the remarkable revival of Amida, the brand’s famed Digitrend "casquette" watch, and its bold new open sapphire iteration. Clément delves into the brand’s eclectic history, its innovative approach to mechanical digital display, as well as the technical and manufacturing challenges faced bringing these unique watches to market. The episode is also sprinkled with insightful asides on quartz-era survival tactics, reflections on the value of in-house development, and the creative spirit that drives modern independent watchmaking.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Amida Story: Past and Present

[00:39 – 03:44]

• Origins: Amida was founded in 1925, originally known for watches with the Roscopf movement and, later, innovative jumping hour modules.
• The 1970s & The Digitrend: The 1976 Digitrend was launched during the quartz crisis as a mechanical answer to digital LED watches, using an inventive prism system for "digital" display.
  • “They got the great idea and innovation to use a prism to make a light reflection display. That got patented in 73.” — Clément Meynier [01:20]
• Survival & Disappearance: The original Digitrend was avant-garde but not enough to weather the 1980s crash; Amida disappeared for decades.
• Revival: Clément and his partners revived Amida, initially reissuing the Digitrend, now evolving it with a sapphire case and mechanical upgrades.

2. Philosophy & Vision of the New Amida

[03:03 – 03:44]

• The “new era of digitals” slogan from 1976 still resonates: Amida aims for digital presentation with traditional mechanical heart.
  • “Having digital display of time, but still with a traditional watchmaking movement inside.” — Clément Meynier [03:31]
• Plans signal a vision for innovation while honoring the brand’s roots.

3. Clément's Journey: From CERN to Watchmaking

[03:44 – 05:34]

• Background: Clément started at CERN as an engineer, working on long-term particle physics projects.
  • “The project I was working on was started in 1980 and the implementation was forecast in 2120.” — Clément Meynier [05:01]
• Why Watches: Frustrated by delayed gratification, he turned to watchmaking for tangible, mechanical achievement.
  • “I wasn’t sure I would really want to spend my entire career working on something I would never see happening.” — Clément Meynier [05:17]
• Transition: He attended watchmaking school as a passionate side project, eventually becoming a full-time watch entrepreneur.

4. Technical Deep Dive: The Sapphire Digitrend

[06:10 – 07:58]

• Engineering Feats: Sapphire case is glued and meticulously machined (4 hours CNC, 23 hours hand-polish).
  • “The inside and outside of the prism must be really parallel. Otherwise you have some optical distortion, which is not good enough.” — Clément Meynier [06:50]
• Prism System: Core to the “digital” display; reflects flat numbers for vertical legibility—an optical illusion rooted in classic innovation.

5. Reflection Display: Mechanics of Illusion

[09:29 – 10:22]

• The watch is read from the side via reflected, flat discs—a periscope-like effect.
  • “It’s like a small periscope there.” — Clément Meynier [09:48]
  • “And reversed. It’s like a mirror effect.” — Clément Meynier [10:06]
• Meticulous calculations were necessary to ensure the numerical display appeared properly in the window.

6. Comparison to the Original 1976 Model

[10:34 – 11:22]

• Materials Upgrade: Original used plastic and base alloys; modern version offers mechanical reliability, sapphire, and automatic movement.
  • “We redesigned and we reformed everything to be sure that the reliability would be much better.” — Clément Meynier [11:09]

7. Movement and Water Resistance

[11:22 – 12:47]

• Movement: Now uses Soprod Newton with a center balance bridge.
• Water Resistance: Achieves 5 ATM, impressive for such an unconventional construction.
  • “Nothing to be afraid of. It’s a very strong, durable UV glue… this one, which has got a very complex construction and unusual shape, is capable of five.” — Rob Nudds [12:03 & 12:29]
• Caveat: Not recommended for diving, given the strap and intended purpose.

8. Market Approach and Customer Experience

[08:38 – 09:29]

• Price is CHF 4,500 before taxes and tariffs.
• Retailer partnerships are prioritized—critical so buyers can appreciate the tactile and optical phenomena in person.
  • “You need people to train people to explain to the collector really how it works in a deeper way.” — Clément Meynier [09:18]

9. Contemporary Casquette Scene & Reception

[12:47 – 13:22]

• Few casket-style competitors aside from some unknown Chinese brands.
• The revived Digitrend has found instant traction, leveraging its “cult” status among vintage collectors.

10. Brand Future: Beyond the Casquette

[14:00 – 15:01]

• The path forward is open—Amida may move beyond caskets to new form factors, drawing inspiration from but not limited by its archive.
  • “We will go in new territories and new Arizona...” — Clément Meynier [14:35]

11. In-House Module & Collaborative Team

[16:06 – 16:47]

• The jumping hour module is developed in-house, led by Bruno Herbas, and assembled locally.
  • “The module was developed by Bruno who is also a partner... all the components being machined, designed and everything is assembled at the end by our watchmakers.” — Clément Meynier [16:13]
• Co-founder Mathieu Alegre is acknowledged as creative lead—a designer also known for the Lyrique brand.

12. Clément’s Earlier Brands & Watchmaking Roots

[18:19 – 19:45]

• Pre-Amida projects included Coppo (quartz with wood dials) and dupontcel (automotive-inspired vintage pieces).
• Exposure to Digitrend’s driver’s watch heritage seeded the Amida revival journey.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On long-term thinking and hands-on work:
  “Six months to one year is quite short time compared to what I used to do before.” — Clément Meynier [05:35]
• On the reissued sapphire Digitrend:
  “The sapphire case is glued and it's machined. It takes like 4 hours of machining with CNC and then 23 hours of hand polishing.” — Clément Meynier [06:36]
• On the challenge of manufacturing:
  “First, only three people tried to make a prototype, and at the end, only one supplier made the real one properly.” — Clément Meynier [08:12]
• On retailer demo importance:
  “We think it's the kind of pieces that need to be seen, need to be handled to really appreciate...” — Clément Meynier [08:51]
• On movement scarcity:
  “When you see this, you see how much we have lost in the industry in the past 50 years because they were able to make such a small movement. Now you cannot find this in the catalog on any supplier.” — Clément Meynier [15:35]
• On friendship and founding team:
  “Before being a designer he was just a friend to me … six years later, thanks to his, I would say motivation and creativity, we managed to get back the brand and to relaunch it properly.” — Clément Meynier [17:01]
• On the allure of mechanical watches:
  “I just wanted to do something for real… something mechanical, real… in another normal time scale...” — Clément Meynier [04:48–05:01]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:39] – Amida history & Digitrend origin
• [03:44] – Clément Meynier’s personal journey
• [06:10] – Technical discussion on sapphire/prism construction
• [07:29] – Open vs. closed casket versions
• [08:28] – Manufacturing & supplier challenges
• [09:29] – How the display/reflection works
• [11:22] – Description of movement & water resistance
• [12:47] – Casquette as a market niche
• [14:00] – Brand vision for future products
• [16:09] – In-house module development
• [17:00] – Co-founders and design collaboration
• [18:19] – Clément’s previous watch brands

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Conclusion

This episode offers a rich mix of watch nerd technicality, brand heritage, and entrepreneurial zest. Clément Meynier’s transition from CERN scientist to watch brand founder, Amida’s revival of its iconic Digitrend, and the intricate technical and creative process stand as a testament to the enduring appeal and inventive capability of independent watchmaking.

Stay tuned for a future, in-depth follow-up with Clément and the Amida team!

Transcript

[A]

Foreign hello, watch fans, and welcome back to the Glass Onion outside of the pavilion for Geneva Watch Days 2025. We are joined today by Clement Menier of Ameda. And we're going to talk about one of the most striking watch designs to hit the market. It's something that is inspired by the past. But we'll let Clement give us the guided tour through the brand because this is the first time you've been on the show, isn't that right?

[B]

Yeah. Right. Thank you for the invitation. It's a real pleasure to be here today.

[C]

Good to see you, Clement. Welcome.

[A]

So tell us about the watch. Tell us about. Well, actually, tell us about Amida. Okay, let's go right back. How did the company come to this iteration? Because it's not the first time the Amida name has been in watchmaking.

[B]

Yeah, it's a really long story. Amida was founded in 1925, so most people know Amida because of the digital, which was actually launched in 76, but long before they were doing watches for 60 years. And they started as doing, you know, watches with a Roscoff movement. So which was the back in the time, it was a movement that was really used in a lot of different watches. And then they started to specialize working on this movement with on top of it, a jumping hour module. So you can find through different brands in the 60s, 50s, a lot of jumping our watches with Amida movement. Amida jumping our module inside. And then what happened in the 70s during the quartz crisis, I think, you know, a lot of brands started to use the LED display with quartz movement. And Amida said, okay, we know how to make a jumping hour could be a digital way of displaying the time. So they got the great idea and innovation to use a prism to make a light reflection display. That got patented in 73. And then they started to introduce the Digitran in 76, same year as the Jard Pergo casket in the Basel Faire. And that was in a way, really avant garde way of designing a watch. Because back in the time it was just a way for them to survive and to use their know how in traditional watchmaking with a design that could reproduce what people wanted to get. Unfortunately for them, that just crashed in the 80s. And a few years later we managed to get back the brand last year that we revived and we decided to just reintroduced the Amida Digitran with the same design, same spirit. And now we come with a new version, which is our own way of seeing the future of Amida with the open sapphire, where you can See everything that goes inside the piece with the jumping hour module and the prism.

[C]

So Amida has an amazing back catalog. Were you guys adamant it has to be a casquette watch, or did you contemplate to revive a different watch from the collection as a starting point?

[B]

No, the idea. And it was also the. When they launched this digitrain in 76, the slogan was the new era of digitals. And I think it's still something that resonates right now, 50 years later. And it's going to be the vision that will try to pursue with Amida. So having digital display of time, but still with a traditional watchmaking movement inside.

[A]

So tell us about your background in the industry. How did you come to this point?

[B]

Yeah, it's kind of a long story. And I started as an engineer and I started my career working at CERNS here in Geneva, which is the European Research for Nuclear center for Nuclear Research. Having great project, a lot of theory, doing physics and engineering. At some point, I just wanted to do something for real. And I started to go to the watchmaking school, doing some proper stuff with my hands. And I started really to get into the watch industry like this. So it was. At first it was just a side project, side hobby. That came a passion. And I decided in 2028 to launch my own brand on Kickstarter. And then, long story, but here I am today with Hamida Rob.

[D]

And I started laughing simultaneously when you said real, because we were looking for sound bites. So imagine you work at cern. CERN is doing the realest thing of everything, looking for the Big Bang, the Big Bang Theory.

[A]

What to do something that matters, but.

[D]

That could have been also related to relativity theory. So you wanted something mechanical, real.

[B]

Yeah. Another normal time scale as well, because the project I was working on was started in 1980 and the implementation was forecast in 2120. Wow.

[A]

Oh, my goodness. So you wouldn't see it.

[B]

I wasn't sure I would really want to spend my entire career working on something I would never see happening.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

No. So that's why.

[A]

Yeah, that is a great preparation for dealing with manufacturing delays and bottlenecks. You know, like, everything must seem rapid to you. Oh, yeah, It's a ride.

[E]

Yeah.

[B]

Six months to one year is quite short time compared to what I used to do before.

[C]

What did you absorb of your previous career into watchmaking?

[B]

Curiosity, I think it was really the way what's driving me is to learn and discover new things. So I'm always keen to discover and to understand how things are working. So I think that's the main reason why I started to be so passionate about watchmaking. Every time I see something, I say, okay, is it something new? How does it work? And I need to understand.

[A]

Well, that's a good attitude to have, of course. It's what gives us innovations like this. And the model you've got with you today is particularly arresting because it has this massive glass top. Now, I was looking at this last night, I think, and fawning over the shape of a sapphire crystal, and we were wondering firstly, how you did it, and secondly, how is it attached to the case? Is it glued or is it some kind of gasket?

[B]

Yeah, the sapphire case is glued and it's machined. It takes like 4 hours of machining with CNC and then 23 hours of hand polishing. And you need to have really the two surfaces. The inside and outside of the prism must be really parallel. Otherwise you have some optical distortion, which is not good enough. And this is one of the biggest challenge of this piece is actually the prism that is inside and that reflects the light, because this one has to be super in terms of optical properties, super clean. And also the accuracy of the polishing and the CNC must be really, really accurate.

[C]

So this is chapter two, basically, for you guys. You launched a brand with a closed casket. Yeah, this is the openwork.

[B]

I would say it's chapter 1.1.

[C]

1.1, yeah.

[B]

Because we revived the brand with the original design because we wanted to reconnect with the brand which designed disappeared 50 years ago almost. So just doing what they did in the past, and now we are slowly starting to get our way of imagining the future.

[A]

It's a huge amount of work that's gone into this. I mean, that sapphire crystal alone. How long does it take to make one of those? You said four hours on the machine and then how long? 23.

[B]

23 hours of polishing.

[A]

Wow.

[E]

Yeah.

[A]

And that's done. I mean, where's that done?

[B]

In Asia?

[A]

Oh, okay. Blimey. Good job. Really. Their hourly rate's a bit more affordable now than it done in Geneva. But yeah.

[B]

It was a great challenge in terms of manufacturing to find the supplier that would accept the challenge. First, only three people tried to make a prototype, and at the end, only one supplier made the real one properly. And the production.

[A]

And what's the cost of this piece?

[B]

This piece is 4,500 Swiss francs are yielding taxes.

[A]

Okay, excluding taxes, that's worth knowing, but.

[B]

I mean, excluding tariffs as well.

[A]

Yeah, of course. It is a great value piece. I would Say, for all that work that's gone into it, do you intend to have a retail network or are you just going to sell direct?

[B]

No, no, we want to have a retail. I think it's from the beginning we want to have, you know, 50, 50, let's say. And we think it's the kind of pieces that need to be seen, need to be handled to really appreciate the finishing first and then the. The way it works, because it's really complicated. And I see now it's been a year and a half that we launched the brand, and it's a lot of work to explain people how works the reflection. Most of them, they really don't get it at first. So you need people to train people to explain to the collector really how it works in a deeper way.

[A]

So let's just zero in on exactly what you're talking about then, when we talk about a reflection. So, as you can see here, this casket, as all caskets, is red from the side of the case, basically. And you've got your numbers that appear to be vertical in those apertures, but they're actually flat. They're flat discs. And so what's happening is they're being reflected by. It's like a prism, isn't it?

[B]

Yeah, it's like a small periscope there.

[A]

Along that line of the case, just above the numbers there. And then that reflects so that they appear to be standing up. And so as a result, the numbers printed on the discs are italicized, really, aren't they? So that it kind of adjusts.

[B]

And reversed. It's like a mirror effect.

[A]

Oh, yeah. And reversed. I didn't even realize they were reversed.

[C]

Because you're holding it upside down.

[A]

Maybe it's because I'm holding it into the camera. I'm not sure if they are reversed in the camera, but yeah, maybe they're the right way around in the camera. That's. I can't even tell. I've lost my mind.

[B]

A lot of work also, and the calculation to get the optical system to be sure that the reflection would be fine and then everything would fit in the. In the window.

[C]

How much different is it from the 67 pieces? No, 76.

[B]

76, yeah.

[C]

Sorry. The original 76 pieces. How off are you from? They weren't automatic.

[B]

They weren't automatic. They were based on the Roscov movements. I would say it's not really reliable and quite cheap. The prism was made out of plastic and the case also was an alloy. So everything was made, I would say, on the cheap way because back in the time, the idea was just to compete with the quartz movement and LED movement. So they tried to reduce the cost and everything. And we redesigned and we reformed everything to be sure that the reliability would be much better.

[A]

Is. Is this a Franzer Bush movement inside as a base?

[B]

This one is so proud. The base. So Newton.

[A]

Oh, it's the Newton. So it's got the balance bridge.

[E]

Yeah.

[B]

Which is center. I think it's really nice to have the balance bridge in the. In the center.

[A]

So the Newton is about 4.6 millimeters thick. Yes. Yeah. So it's a millimeter thicker than the M100, which is Soprod's most generic movement, I would say. There's something on the back of this case which has caught my eye. Five atm.

[E]

Yeah.

[A]

Is that true?

[E]

Yeah.

[B]

Let's try.

[C]

Into the Lake.

[A]

Well, you know why I'm asking? Because, I mean, now, for some people that haven't encountered glued crystals before, it's nothing to be afraid of. It's a very strong, durable UV glue. Is it that you use to fix it. So it's gonna. It's gonna stay in place. That's fine. But you know, there are loads and loads and loads of brands that still insist on saying three ATM on their watches. Whereas this one, which has got a very complex construction and unusual shape, is capable of five. So it's quite impressive. Kudos.

[E]

Yeah.

[B]

But then I would never recommend to dive or do.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Diving with this watch. It's always. It's always a topic to me because.

[E]

Yeah.

[B]

The alcantara strap is to me.

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

Not five atm.

[A]

Good point.

[C]

So you've mentioned Gerard Perregaux with the casket. They did a 2.0 recently. Collabs with Bamford in modern watchmaking. MB&F had a casquette watch today. And today is any other modern watch on the market or watch brand that does cascade.

[B]

We have seen some Chinese. Chinese brand that I don't really know that we're trying to make casket.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

But no.

[C]

Nobody else.

[E]

No.

[C]

How's it been received ever since you started?

[B]

Really? It was great because I think it's really interesting because the vintage Gigi trend was actually really popular to the collectors. A lot of collectors already had the vintage one, so it was something that was still having awareness around the brand and the design, even though the brand disappeared 40 years ago. So when we launched the brand, we got a lot of interest people who still were aware of it. So was not like starting from zero.

[C]

You call this 1.1. What's in the pipeline that you can reveal for the brand Amida. Will you go back to round watches, different watches, non digit trend watches? Is that the ambition?

[B]

So far there is no. The plan is still open. We have a lot of ideas. So we are trying to different stuff. But yeah, for sure I can say at some point we will just make something which is not a casket.

[C]

Will you always look at the back catalog or do you think that you'll push the brand into contemporary terrains where you will make something new?

[B]

Yeah, I think we will go in new territories and new Arizona because in the catalog you could find. We have found really fun stuff and it was huge. We found the rings with a small movement inside. Some really funny stuff, but nothing that is so, you know, in current. In line with the Digitrend collab with Bernay.

[A]

Yeah, very interesting. Do you know of Bernay?

[B]

Yeah, the Vintage Movement.

[A]

Well, the watch manufacturer that focuses on using making pendant watches and ring watches and fob watches. We spoke with their owner and leader, Carol. Yeah in. In April at Time to watch us and they have a whole load of like crazy like new old stock and you know, brilliant stuff that they're bringing back to life and up to date. So yeah, we could put you in touch. That would be an interesting, interesting collab, wouldn't it? She knows how to get it built, that's for sure.

[B]

But yeah, for sure. When you do something like this, it's much better to find a vintage movement, vintage stock because if you have to redevelop such a small movement now this would be I think a big challenge. And you see when you see this, you see how much we have lost in the industry in the past 50 years because they were able to make such a small movement. Now you cannot find this in the catalog on any supplier. And if you want to do this, it will take quite a long time. Huge investment.

[A]

Who makes the module for you now?

[B]

We work in house.

[E]

Yeah.

[B]

The module was developed by Bruno who is also a partner in the. In the. Bruno Herbes with a partner in the. In the brand. And we have all the components being machined, designed and everything is assembled at the end by our watchmakers.

[A]

Crazy. It's a great price for something like that that's got so much about it that's done here as well. And to think that you've got a retail margin or enough of one to aspire to sell a few percent through that channel, that's just very well done. Obviously we should get more watchmakers from cern. They seem to know what they're doing apparently.

[C]

And we spoke about one co founder is a third, I believe is Mathieu.

[B]

Yeah, Mathieu.

[C]

How did you link up with Mathieu? Because Mathieu is a fantastic designer.

[A]

This is Mathieu Alegre.

[B]

Yes, Mathieu Alegre, the creative mind behind Amida. Yeah, he's a great designer and before being a designer he was just a friend to me because we know each other for I think 10 years and actually we started to work on the Casquet project, I would say six or seven years ago. Thinking about doing something like this because I was curious to first time I think he introduced the design to me and I was so curious and struck by the originality of the design and to understand that I immediately get into the the project. And six years later, thanks to his, I would say motivation and creativity, we managed to get back the brand and to relaunch it properly.

[A]

So if anyone doesn't know Mathieu, then another one of his brands is Lyric. Beautiful watch. Really well received, extremely sensitive touch, great colours, lovely hands, beautiful lugs.

[C]

I had the honor to work with him.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

On the ACE collab.

[B]

So.

[C]

I know, I know. Hands on how good he is.

[A]

Yeah, he's a real deal.

[B]

Two different stuff. The Lyric, really classic. Really.

[E]

Yeah.

[B]

Great, great pieces. And Amida, it's, you know, he's good on all kind of territories.

[C]

So we jumped in your timeline concern. You start watch Brandt.

[E]

Yeah.

[C]

And then we jumped Amida.

[E]

So.

[C]

So what's in between?

[B]

In between there is quite the learning curves. So yeah. When I was at Stern, my first brand actually was called Coppo and it was quartz movement, really simple with metedard dials. So because I grew up in a family where both my grandfather were cabinet maker. So I always liked the craftsmanship and I started to make this wood market with dial. We use firs as well, stones and stuff like this. And I started this brand. I was just totally new to the watchmaking industry and my margin was like nothing. So at some point I was losing money on every sale I was doing. So I said okay, maybe I have to stop. And then I started to launch another brand which is dupontcel which is the automotive inspired brand with classic design, retro, vintage inspired pieces. And that's also how I discovered the digitrend Mathew because as the digitrend was named after the driver watch. So when I was looking and making some research for automotive inspired design, I quickly found Digitrene and it started to the discussion like this at the beginning six years ago.

[A]

I think we need to book in a full hour. We do for two reasons. One, it's a very interesting story, and two, my iPhone just blew up because of the heat. Your video's gone, so now everyone's looking at me. Just me.

[C]

Anyway, our views will go up now.

[A]

We. We reached a nice, natural ending point of the show, and we will definitely get you back on, if that's okay, because I think there's a lot of things that we can discuss, and I very much look forward to that conversation. Wishing you all the best, Claremont. Thank you for visiting us, and have a great fair.

[E]

Thank you.

[B]

Thank you.