Watchmaking post
Stop, watch and learn!

Par Joël A. Grandjean /TàG Press +41

The markets are the new leaders

The markets are out of the woods. We read about them everywhere… in newspaper articles and financial analysts’ columns. They had worked themselves into such a frenzy that they took control! But it’s still not clear just who those markets are…
 
It’s incredible how neologisms can take root in our language in next to no time, with not even a simple definition to explain their arrival or satisfy our legitimate curiosity. A bit like someone who starts speaking aggressively in public without so much as an introduction, or even without entering into the slightest common civilities. Well, that is exactly how the markets arrived, forcing their way uninvited into our collective unconscience. In some quarters, they are described as panicked and rattled, sick and hot-headed, while elsewhere they are accused of blowing hot and cold, having lost all reason, of kicking a currency when it is down, or even launching an attack on the government…

Even company chairmen are more than happy to kowtow
But who are they? Who are the faces behind this mysterious nexus that assumes the privileges of global governance? The power of these new leaders knows no bounds or barriers. In fact, they have so much power that they almost laugh in the face of the different political systems in place, even our good old democracies. Take Greece, for example, and its clumsy attempts at brandishing one of its old democratic weapons, admittedly somewhat dulled by use: the referendum. It was found out and the guilty perpetrator, despite his political career and stature, was forced to resign. It’s therefore safe to say that the markets are so powerful that most of today’s company chairmen are more than happy to kowtow.

Supported by the rating agencies, only just out of the woods themselves and similarly adept at language, albeit a far more identifiable one, the markets impose economic laws of their own, laws that are above laws. It would appear that behind this nexus, henceforth personified by our systems of expression, there lurk colossal, shapeless masses of money, the circulation of which is subject to certain conditions. Such astronomical dimensions are beyond our comprehension, but they are nonetheless responsible for dictating entire planetary deals. They compel us in the process, by will or by force, to speak the language of austerity, another popular term these days, even in times of pre-electoral campaigns. It is also a very popular term with those that take the moral high ground, often heavily indebted themselves, in order to disguise deficits of abysmal proportions.

In 2008, I managed to deobfuscate this nebulous power during one astonishing incident, when an interim report entitled ‘Interim Management Statement For The Three Months Ended December 2008’, intended for shareholders in the Richemont group headquartered at Bellevue, was made public on 19 January 2009, the date that marked the opening of the latter-day SIHH. This extremely important financial communiqué as far as the markets are concerned (oops, there they are again!), revealed poor results on day one of the International Fine Watchmaking Fair, which, as anyone knows, is half composed of exhibitors belonging to said group. That’s when I understood that the very markets you hear so much about these days, were not only faithless and lawless, but also in possession of great power, including the power to undermine morale. Believe you me, all it takes is a simple press release and there you have as much tangible proof as you need, as yet another Herculean effort and demonstration of rare creativity and staggering innovation goes down the pan! After all, the press much prefers focusing on the likelihood of failure than on the showcasing of an entire sector of industry.

Watchmaking, the stalwart seductress
Thanks to the strong Swiss Franc, the watchmaking industry has formed a resistance. Spurred by the fascination that it holds for these markets and the formless faces that represent them, it continues onward and upward, its head held high, given that timepieces are rarely purchased on credit … Markets, heed ye well, whoever you are! Watchmaking has arrived and is putting on a show, not only in Geneva, but also very soon in Basel and other attractive window displays across the world. And since the world’s money lies in your hands, it is you who are in danger of succumbing to the siren’s song. You, who think you know and control it all, I guarantee that in one rash moment, you’ll soon be parting with your money in a burst of orgiastic consumerism, forgetting all those sermons you gave about austerity… No hard feelings!

{*} See also issue no. 115 of the magazine Heure Suisse.

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