Back

Louan DE PERETTI, a student in the Master cycle of the Grande École program on IÉSEG‘s campus in Lille, is co-founder of Watch Club Business School. After completing an internship in the world of luxury goods and French “savoir-faire”, he discovered his passion for the age-craft that is horology. This experience led him to explore this field in greater depth, to the point of co-founding an inter-school association dedicated to this shared passion with one of his friends.

Louan, how did your passion for horology come about?

Actually, a bit by chance, to be honest! I’ve always enjoyed beautiful objects, and the art of making them in particular. In my 2nd year of the Bachelor program, we had to do a sales internship, and I took part in a recruitment session for the luxury brand “Hermès”, organized by IÉSEG. Although the luxury sector wasn’t what naturally attracted me to begin with, my sensitivity to French know-how got me hooked. My profile fitted in well with the company, which gives great importance to social diversity. At the time, I was part of the Bureau National des Étudiants en Ecoles de Management, an inter-business school association, where I was in charge of social diversity in business schools. So, I was accepted for an internship at Hermès.

During this professional experience at Hermès, I learned a lot about French leather craftsmanship, which I found fascinating. Then I was placed in the “watchmaking” branch, where I had the opportunity to talk to a clientele passionate about the horology sector, and with this taste for detail!

Because of my passion for the field, but also for the “savoir-faire” embodied by Hermès, I decided to continue working for the luxury brand after my internship in Bordeaux. The company offered me the opportunity to join their boutique in Lille, to work alongside my studies. The discussions I had during this experience reinforced my decision to go further and continue with another internship in my 3rd year, in horology, to find out whether this was really my preferred field for the future.

So, you went to a small watchmaking company in Alsace…

Yes, I went to a small French luxury watchmaking house called Apose. There, I discovered the secrets of the craft and realized that I was really passionate about it. The fact that this trade is the result of a long tradition and unique know-how makes it particularly noble. What’s more, it requires a great deal of patience and rigor. What particularly impressed me during my internship was to understand how the mechanism of a watch works, and to see that even if industrialization has taken over, there is an ancient knowledge that machines cannot reproduce. The human hand is still needed to make certain things.

I’ve spent a lot of time researching the history and techniques of watchmaking. It’s a practice that took off after a Swiss reformer banned the wearing of jewelry in the 16th century. During winters when there were no crops in the fields, farmers practiced watchmaking. A visit to the subcontractors of the major Swiss watchmaking houses reveals a world far removed from the glitzy, luxurious image one might imagine. It’s actually a very simple world, but one that hides a real wealth of history. 

So your passion is what prompted you to create the Watch Club Business School association?

I have a friend (Paul-Antonin Chausse), a student from another school, who did an internship in Japan with a major watch manufacturer (Tag Heuer). Like me, he’s passionate about this sector. As we talked, we realized that, in business schools, there were a lot of conferences on auditing, finance, even luxury goods, but never on the watchmaking sector in particular. So we wanted to create this opportunity, knowing that there might not be enough enthusiasts to fill a lecture hall and organize an event within the same school. On a whim, while I was on vacation in the United States, my friend suggested that we create an inter-school association. And that’s how the “Watch Club Business School” came about. 

Within a week of filing the articles of association and starting to promote it on social networks, we already had around fifteen students from different schools signed up! We realized that there was a keen interest in this field: some people were already passionate about horology, while others were new to it and curious to learn more about this art.

What was the aim in creating the “Watch Club Business School”? What does the association actually do?

Our aim was to bring together as many students as possible who are passionate about or interested in horology, which is why we chose an inter-school approach. We create events in partnership with brands, and have also launched a free membership system giving access to a community divided into groups by city, as well as event announcements and internship opportunities. We’ve also set up a glossary to make watchmaking more accessible, even to neophytes. We also produce educational content on social networks, such as weekly news in the form of slides, and various articles on the history of watchmaking houses or specific watches.

Today, we have over 400 members, including 32 active members, and we’re the biggest watchmaking student association in Europe, with 18 business schools represented! We have already organized 5 events in collaboration with prestigious brands such as Baltic Watches. And we’ll also be collaborating with TimesToWatches, an independent watch fair in Geneva!

What is your relationship with companies in the watch industry?

The companies have been very positive about our approach. They saw an opportunity to communicate with students about their brands and products. Some of the major watchmaking houses have even contacted us to create a talent pool, as they are finding it hard to find passionate business school students. The companies are well aware that these enthusiastic students generally have a better understanding of the sector, and that their studies provide them with the skills and knowledge they need to make the most of their various missions (sales, marketing, but also management positions). These companies see our initiative as a response to a potential need in human resources, which is extremely rewarding for us. They also perceive our association as an opportunity to communicate with their future clientele. We are therefore regularly invited to events. Recently, the watch brand “Hamilton” invited us to the premiere of the film “Dune 2”, which features Hamilton watches!

What about your role at Watch Club Business School?

My role, as co-founder and co-president, is mainly to represent the association. This involves meeting with companies, as well as managing contacts with schools and other partners. Secondly, I also have a strategic role in defining how we operate, particularly with regard to our presence on social media and the production of quality content. This enables us to build legitimacy with brands and show that we’re serious about working with them.

This strategic approach is also reflected in our choice of events and collaborations for the future, as well as in our decision to create a community of members to build loyalty and a sense of belonging among our members.