How Serica Is Building One of Watchmaking's Most Distinctive Design Languages

Welcome to The Micro Collector, a podcast where I talk with founders and operators behind some of the most exciting microbrands and independent watch companies. I'm your host, Justin Dorfman, and in this episode, I'm joined by Jérôme Burgert and Gabriel Vachette, co-founders of Serica. Serica is one of those brands that immediately stands out. Their watches combine the rugged functionality of true tool watches with a level of elegance, refinement, and design language that feels completely their own. In this conversation, we get into the story behind the brand, from how Jérôme and Gabriel first met, to launching their original field watch, to building one of the most distinctive design languages in modern watchmaking. We also talk about their philosophy around design, bracelets, and product development, why they chose to remove their logo from their dials, the launch of the Parade Collection, and how they think about building a brand that extends beyond just the watches themselves. If you enjoy this episode, please be sure to subscribe for more conversations with the people behind these incredible watch brands. And with that, please enjoy my conversation with Jérôme and Gabriel of Serica All right, Jérôme, Gabriel, welcome to The Micro Collector Podcast. I'm super excited to have you on today.

Thank you. Justin, pleasure to talk to you today.

Absolutely. Well, I was just telling you before we hit record how much of a fan I am of you guys and your your watches As you know, I my first event that I ever went to actually in the space was Windup Dallas and You know, I had the goal of leaving with only one watch I tried on I was there all three days So I tried on as you can imagine and an enormous amount of watches and I stuck to my goal of just one watch and it was The Serica 6190 TXD, I just could not leave without this watch. And I've enjoyed it so much since. As I said to you before we hit record, sometimes I don't even remember that I'm supposed to be checking the time. I get lost in the dial in the finishing. It's just such a beautiful watch that wears incredibly well. And it's got, it's chronometer certified, it's got all the features as well. So I had to get you guys on the podcast to hear the story behind this watch. And behind the brand.

These watches are made to make all of us crack a smile and then tell time. So if that's how you feel then... Mission accomplished.

Absolutely. And it's something that I've noticed a lot about your watches as well, right? Like these are tool watches, you know, I know you have some other collections that you've introduced, but you know, you've got your field watches, you've got your diving watches, but they're not your average tool watches in the sense that they're sort of only for the purpose. There is a design there, there is, you know, that attention to detail on the dial. It's something that you could wear with a suit. And a tuxedo as well as out in the field and for diving. That's something that we can get into more detail, but I just really, really love about this particular watch.

It's funny that you mentioned that because that's precisely the whole ethos and ambition behind the brand, you know, to combine the hardware and specs of the tool watches of the real professional instruments with the distinction, with the wearability, with the enjoyment, with the refinement of a dressier piece. So you don't have to choose. No matter who you are, what you do, wherever you go, you can wear the watch and it stays relevant.

We don't like to choose, we want the whole lot, I guess.

Yeah, absolutely. Well, you guys definitely executed on that. But let's maybe take a little bit of a step back. For those that maybe aren't familiar with Serica, maybe you guys can do a little bit of an intro of your background. I always love hearing about how founders of watch companies first fell in love with watches and maybe a little bit about how you met each other as well and then starting Serica. What was the inspiration behind? You know what?

We don't just love watches, we don't just love design, but let's actually go and create our own brand.

It's a long story. Basically, I'm going to start and then Jérôme can follow. We were too, like, enthusiasts for sure about watches, because we have different stories around watches, backgrounds, but we were very fan of watches since... For my part, like, for myself, let's say I was 14, 15 years old, I used to look at my father collecting watches, because he inherited of his, of my grandfather watch. It's kind of a family thing. We were not in the business of watches, but it's more like the object that resonates, and this family story got me into collecting watches with my small budget at first time. And then I created a media on watches when I was fairly young, beginning of working. It's a French media that still exists. It's not my job anymore and it's not my company anymore. But it actually allowed me to meet Jérôme, of course. Big thing. Also get to know better the industry and have the opportunity to basically discover everything behind the object that I used to love and I still love. And the way we met actually is because I was looking for someone to handle the editorial part of the media, of the magazine. And his brother reached out to me and told me that he had the guy, and that's how we met. Basically, we met online, and he was right, and he was right, and it was like in 2015, if I'm correct. 2015, yeah, a long time ago now. And then we started collaborating together on the media part, then we thought about the idea of creating products around watches so we developed a first brand around accessories, straps, leather goods. And then a few years later, like a couple of years later, we launched the first Serica watch in 2019. And the rest is history.

What was that first watch that you guys launched and maybe tell us a little bit about that process. I can imagine it's quite overwhelming trying to figure out all the pieces to come together, but tell us about the journey.

When you decide, when you choose to, when you risk everything to create your own watch company, it's not just because, okay, I've been working with watches or I've been collecting watches, I want to make my own watch. That's one thing that usually leads to just another one of so many other watches. I think if we walked down that path, if we took that risk, if we took that chance, it's really because we thought that we had something to bring to the table, something to offer. Speaking of which, was acknowledging basically that we all fell in love with watches through vintage watches, through beautiful timepieces from the past, and that we could not really find nowadays, at least within the price range that's not out of reach for most of us.

And that has been studying again these watches from the past, but not to repeat the past, to learn from it, to understand it. And then to bring to the table something creative and personal that would, according to us, tick those many boxes. And these many boxes are are relevance, are sophistication, are personality, are specifications to create the object that if you combine all those three things together we believe that you have a chance of creating something magical. A watch that has a potential to become timeless, a watch that every day you can put it on your wrist and you crack that smile that we talked about earlier. You don't feel the necessity to tell the time even if it does very accurately so. But most importantly you feel great. You feel a bit more like the grown-up you wanted to become when you were a child. You feel a bit more James Bond or whatever. You know that's the reason why we make these watches.

Yeah, it's funny you mentioned James Bond because James Bond actually played a big role in my own interest in watches it's funny because to this day, I enjoy whenever I'm wearing a watch that I really love, like this watch, and I stop at a stoplight in a car, I look at the watch and I feel very James Bond-like behind the wheel of a car with with the watch on, so I totally know where you're coming from. What was the model? What was that original model that you came out with? And maybe tell us a little bit about that watch in particular.

It was the original Serica field watch. It was labeled the reference Wrist Watch Waterproof at the time. Very no-nonsense design.

And the idea was to take the hardware specs of the field watch, but then keep all those specs, but elevate the game with design, with attention to details, with materials. So I did an enamel dial, for example, something a little smaller, a little thinner, great compact size. So the first one was not as refined as the current lineup, obviously. That was seven years ago. The original one with the hand wound.

The original one had a mineral crystal. The original one had only 10 bars of water resistance and not as much of great finishings. And you can actually see a notice on the cases today. But it was definitely a starting point to everything that followed.

And as you've started sort of building out your collection, what role do each of you play? Are you, and I noticed in your titles, at least in the emails that we've exchanged, it says co-founder. Have you guys sort of shifted into particular roles like based on skill set or what you enjoy doing or is it really a close partnership where you're working on everything together? Yeah.

It's both, yeah.

You

I think the fact that we enjoy working together and that it actually works is because we have separate roles in our different fields and Jérôme is mastering the product from the idea and designing it and make sure that what he has in mind is what you have on your wrist and he's a picky one.

I can tell. And I'm handling basically a lot of things to make sure that the company grows the best way possible. And let's say that we also share together the communication, image, and marketing part.

And the comment on Jérôme being a picky one, I think that's a good asset to have actually in this world where sometimes you need to push your suppliers and your partners to help you make that vision a reality. Can you talk a little bit about that? And maybe you mentioned that first collection and what you learned through that experience. And then as you expanded your collection, you mentioned, better finishing and sort of more details, how you've leveraged that asset, that skill set to push your partners to deliver on what you see in your mind.

No, you don't create a fully automatic Swiss made certified chronometer with all those materials from your head down from one day to the next. So it's obviously a process. And you mentioned people we work with.

Mechanical watch is obviously a complex little object. It's the sum of many different sets of skills, from the movement manufacturer to the case manufacturer, to the dial, to the crystal, to the ceramic, to the assembly, to the bracelet, to... Like, it's not something you don't... Like, I mean, you can. If you go to China and have things poorly done, you press a button and then it comes to your door without you paying much attention to it all. But that's obviously not how you create such watches. Start, you don't make many watches, so you need to find the right partners, the one who are eager to understand that you're picky for a reason, because you want to make something that counts, something that's relevant, something that better, that's the next thing, you know what mean? And if you do not find those partners ready to go the extra mile in terms of development in terms of quality control, in terms of finishings, then of course I can have bright ideas and bright designs. It never comes to life the way I expect it to because we're not gonna be the one polishing the cases, making chamfers. Making the dials, hand applying the indices and everything. So finding the partners who are as committed as giving birth to beautiful Serica watches as we are is actually a very important thing. And at the beginning, it's obviously it's easier now because we've been having a good relationship for the past few years, five, six, seven years. And each time a new watch comes out, like more beautiful and more sophisticated and better finished than the previous one, then that makes everybody happy. We are happy, but then the craftsmen are proud as well, you know. So everybody is part, everybody's proud to be part of this, like, bigger game, because it's a mechanical wristwatch is bigger than just my idea, of my drawing. It's bigger than just a dial. It's bigger than just a movement. So when we all, every single party who took part into the creation of such a thing, it just makes everybody smile again.

You mentioned the first watch and sort of that experience. Now maybe take us to today and I know you have a full collection. You have a number of field watches, but then you have other watches, dive watches, and so on. So maybe you can give us just a high-level overview of the collection today and what people can find there.

We have now four collections. I mean five in a few days actually, but we'll talk about it.

Indeed, we started with the Field Watch, then the Diver, GMT and the Parade. But I think what's interesting right now, and I mean, you saw all the line-up at Windup last time, is that now you have the vision of what Jérôme had in mind since the very beginning. Something like a collection of watches that are very unique. That share the same design language. Always pushing forward in terms of everything basically.

You asked us before what was the relationship we had with the people that we work with, suppliers and stuff. I remember the story of the GMT. The GMT has a very specific bezel, which is like a single block ceramic bezel. I remember Jérôme telling me that they were like very struggling a lot in having, you know, the perfect transition between the two colors. And it took like I don't know, like a year or a year and a half to get this very specific detail. At one point we thought it was kind of impossible. And if I'm correct, the guys that succeeded in getting this done actually were as happy as we were when we learned that it was okay and that they did it. So I think the trust that we have with our partners is also that they are very happy to push things and to see the results. It's one of many stories that we share with them. It's only the beginning. But in terms of product, yeah we have... Yeah it's always the... If I may put it like that, you know, from the very first original Serica field watch to now and what's coming, it's been the fine tuning, the always pushing the boundaries and going deeper into that idea to create a strong brand identity, unique design, and go as far as deep as we can, both in terms of execution and finesse, but also keeping the hardware specifications, and doing so expressing ourselves on different types of watches, obviously. So from the field to the dive to the GMT, with always this idea in mind. And then the Parade, which we released a couple of years ago, was something that at first seemed quite unexpected for many people but which isn't when you're in my head. It's not because it's the exact same idea just flipped the other way around. When you work on a tool watch, on a field watch, on an instrument, you start working within a very rigid framework which are the specifications. This is how the game is played, if you want to do this type of watch you need to display this and this, need to respect this and this and saying that it means that your framework of creativity and personality is contained. It's like you need to play by the rules. As I said, the Parade is just the exact same thing. Instead of starting with the specifications, you start with asking yourself a big broad open question which is what's elegance to you? Who are you? What's your shape? What kind of elegance do you want to embody with this watch? And only then you add the extra layer of going okay I want to do a distinguished timepiece a thin one a small one but I don't want to turn it into another fragile little dress watch I want to make it convenient automatic I want to make it wearable water resistant And again, it's a combination of things that I believe just brings it to the next stage, to the I can wear it anywhere and I can enjoy that watch without thinking twice. And we value that a lot at Serica

You know, I was one of those that was a little surprised when I saw the parade because it was a dress watch, right? And I was like, this is interesting. Very quickly, I felt like it fit in to the collection, right? And, you know, what you mentioned there, that ability to deliver different watches and even push yourself as creators outside of the self- made boxes that you created for yourself in your case tool watches to dress watches, but keep that design language intact is what I think separates the best watch brands from the rest, right? Because that is the key there and the ability to see across a room a watch and not even see the logo on the dial and I have a question for you on this because I know you don't have a logo on the dial, but to be able to look across the room and be like, that's that's Serica watch, right? And just recognize it is a demonstration, I think, of how strong a brand is. But to that question, it's one thing I noticed about you guys is you don't have a logo on the dial. I think I was looking very closely at mine and I see it very, very small writing right next to Swiss. There's Serica. And, you know, I showed your watch actually to a friend of mine at the show in San Francisco.

And he made the same comment. He was like, you know, I know it's a Serica just by looking at it. And it's really interesting. There's no logo on the, on the dial. It's almost like you guys are in a way saying, you know, proudly our design language is so strong. We don't have to do that. Right. Is that the thinking like what, was that decision? And was there any hesitation in that in doing that?

Exactly the thinking. You can say it's maybe the cockiness of French guys who believe their watches design language are going to be strong enough to be identified and recognized as such. It's also, you know, to tell you the complete truth, it's also acknowledging that brand name in order to actually have weight and carry weight. Need to, need time, you know? Right now, okay, we've been around for seven years and obviously, hopefully making great products and refining what we're doing and pushing the boundaries and keep making decisions that build trust in a way and confidence about the choices that we make from a design and a product standpoint. But on day one, Serica doesn't or didn't mean anything, you know? It's not a why put a name that doesn't say anything on the dial, yet?

To tell you the truth as well, you will never see a brand on any of our garments. If we choose garments just like watches, it's not because of a brand name, it's because it's well made, it's because it's well designed, it's because the silhouette is great, it's because the fabric is great, it's because the watch is great.

And by removing the name, it's also a way to encourage people to not look too hard for a brand name at 12 o'clock on the dial. But look what you have in hand. Look at the watch for what it is. Like, weight it, wear it. Tell me what you see. Instead of just like going, you're a Rolex guy, an Omega guy, or whatever. It's cocky at first. It might seem so, actually. Maybe.

Maybe it was, but the funny story that it kind of became a signature and it created actually a lot of, I would say, inquiries for our clients and customers. Even if you don't know Serica if you're a watch enthusiast, you can easily spot that this is a proper watch. This is something well-made, well-crafted, interesting. And if you enjoy watches and you don't know that you go like, hmm, what is it? And then you go closer, you try, at first, I guess the logical thing is try to get a sneak peek of the name or the logo on the dial. And if you can't find that, then you'll be inclined to pop the question. Excuse me, what are you wearing? And we got that feedback so often about guys, have like the wildest collections of watches, and when they wear the Patek, they wear like the whatever, like no no one, it's not that no one cares, but no one pops a question and inquire about the watch. And it makes sense in many ways because these watches are great, but we all know what it is, we all know how much it costs, we all enjoy seeing them, wearing them, we don't feel the need to interrogate the wearer to know what it is, we don't need to. Serica was just the very beginning of the adventure, so of course not everybody knows what a Serica watch is, I like the fact that people talk the question. It's good sign, I guess.

Yeah, and the other thing that I've noticed about your watches is the sort of investment in the bracelets and the straps. And you did mention that, you know, that was kind of the world you came from prior to then getting into watches. So that makes sense. But it was actually something that stood out in our conversation in Dallas. And one of the reasons why I was like, oh, I really want to buy this watch and be a part of this brand, a collector of this brand. I think it's a very overlooked part of a watch for a lot of companies, right? They'll create a beautiful case and dial and then just put a sort of factory strap, if you will, on it, right? And I've heard from countless collectors that the first thing they do when they get a new watch is take off the strap or the bracelet that comes with and put something on that they like, right? And that's comfortable for them. So can you talk a little bit about that decision as well? Deciding to make that sort of investment and the sort of thinking behind it.

I think in terms of, I mean, when you wear a watch, you wear a case, but you wear the entire object. And the strap is so important in terms of feeling, in terms of look, of course, that we wanted to have like a complete offer in of course having like the most unique pieces of engineering and on the wrist but it had to combine a case plus a strap that are very unique first one was the BONKLIP we actually, unveiled on the second edition of the Fieldwatch. And it came out as a surprise for lot of people because it's a design that we didn't invent it but we completely redesigned for this very specific watch. This bracelet, you can give us your feedback but it's both a bracelet that is very comfortable, very adjustable, it's very light but it also fits perfectly the kind of watch that you have on your wrist. And the combination of the two makes an object that is very unique. And I think it was the approach since day one with this BONKLIP bracelet that then went on. Diver with his very unique approach on stainless steel bracelet and every single collection needed a very unique bracelet and as you've seen the latest one that we unveiled on the GMT was quite something. Yeah, was quite something. We actually, we had planned to reveal it maybe a year and a half ago and actually it took more than a year to more than expected to develop. To have it right. Yeah. But I think it's very, you know, when you go to the full extent of making individual watches that are relevant within the brand identity of a broader design language, you don't want to stop doing half of the job. As Gabriel said, it's not just a watch head, it's not just a dialer hands. It's a watch head that is attached to your wrist through a strap, a bracelet and a buckle. And if you put anything random, everything off the shelf, anything standard on it, then your watch becomes standard.

If you put a bracelet that comes from another brand, I will say Oyster, Jubilee, Beads of Rice whatever, we see so many of those, but they make the watch look like just something else. Do create your own thing. We want to be Serica. We don't want to be whatever. It's going to the full extent of making a bracelet that is unique, and most importantly, a bracelet that will that will fill the bill in terms of what we expect from a bracelet is very important. And by that I mean, before I actually started to design and work and start to ask myself the very questions about like, why do I need a bracelet? I was not a massive fan of stainless steel bracelets. Even the good old oysters and stuff, mean it's a it's lightweight, it's great, but in terms of micro-adjustment, in summary, it was never perfect. Again, I'm a picky one. So I really wanted something that's lightweight, something that slides visually, and something that you can micro-adjust without having to require any extra set of tools. And on top of that, I want a unique personality and a unique design language that does not look like the other brands' bracelets. So once you list all these specifications, then you can actually start to work. And to tell you the truth, bracelets are way more difficult to create than watches, than watch heads, for me. It's a longer process, because you have the set of tools that you have, I mean, in order to differentiate yourself from the others, is extremely limited, right? And yet the purpose is very simple, so there is not so much you can... You need to iterate about the well-known, but you want to stand out. So, need to be creative.

Yeah, and I think the comfort is, I mean, it's the part of the watch that probably determines the comfort the most, right? And you asked for my feedback. I love this bracelet. Mean, it's everything that you said. It's something that caught my eye when I first saw the watch. And I know whenever I'm with other people and they see it, they ask, know, what's that bracelet? It's one of the parts that they ask about the most.

It's also incredibly lightweight, no tools needed to adjust it. Throughout the day, I might be outside and the wrist swells a little bit and I make a quick adjustment. And what's really cool, and this happened when I first checked it out with you guys, is when people ask about it, I just give them a quick demonstration of how it works. And they're even more amazed when they see how it works than

Thank

The design itself. So that's where you know, I think, you've done a really great job on that front.

I wanted to ask about the new watch, so by the time this episode comes out, the watch will be out there. Maybe you can give us a sneak preview of that watch and tell us a little bit about it.

Sure. Yeah, I can tell you about this watch. Maybe I'll give you a quick note about the intent and the intention behind the watch before revealing the watch. So basically what will come out, came out, I don't know when you're going to publish the video, is basically creating a watch that acknowledges that the Field watch is actually the most versatile piece we have. No complex scale or rotating bezel, no unusual shape, something very easy to read, easy to wear that packs all the punch. Wearable, beautiful format. That said, when the wrist size drops down below 16, 15.5, 14.5 centimeters, don't ask me to translate into inches, the watch doesn't always sit as well as it should. And by that I mean as well as we expected. And by small wrist I don't mean women, I mean both men and women obviously.

So the idea behind this watch was to create a new Serica field watch. Something that is obviously smaller, thinner, most importantly with a shorter lug to lug in order to wrap around smaller wrist very nicely. The idea was not to give birth to just a shrinked reduced version of the existing one, but create a watch that would be reduced in size. But not in personality and not in specs. So we wanted to keep the presence. We wanted to bring a new face to the Serica Field Watch. And we wanted to keep all the hardware and specs that made the watch so relevant in the first place. That means fully automatic. That means chronometer certified. That means water resistant down to 200 meters. Not any of a lesser watch. The brand new reference 7505 drum roll. It's actually a 35mm case only 9.6mm thick with the polished flanks the lug to lug drops down from 46 down to 41.5mm and you have All the personality of a Serica field watch, of course, you have the flat top brush bezel, you have the BONKLIP bracelet, but it's a completely different watch entirely. The bezel is wider, you have those cardinal markers on the bezel, the BONKLIP tapers a bit more, you have new lugs, curved lugs, curved end links, and a brand new clasp that makes this watch very unique. Put it on my regular 17.5 cm wrist for you to see. We wanted this watch to keep all the presence of a real tool watch, know, to look like a ladies version of it, not to look like a lesser version of it, not to look like a more vintage version of it. So as you can see, the lug width is full size, 20 mm. The crown is full size.

And so it makes for a watch that packs a lot of presence on the wrist, despite actually being only 35 millimeter wide. And this shorter lug to lug on smaller wrist, on my watch wrist, it looks so good.

It looks beautiful. And I know, you know, it's hard sometimes to communicate these things, these improvements and advancements through the website and so on. So I've seen you guys obviously Windup at different shows, which I'm sure plays a big role, right? People have seen your watches. They finally get to try them on for the first time. But I've also seen that you guys have, I think, a showroom or a boutique, your own boutique.

We have a boutique since actually the first boutique was in 2021. So basically we when launching Serica, we knew very quickly that we wanted to have a place where we could host the brand and the product for people to come in whenever they wanted to discover what we do. And quite on the early stage of the brand, actually, we decided to open, let's say, first sort of a mix of a showroom and a boutique and since then it evolved as a proper boutique that is now in Paris in the third arrondissement, Rue de Turenne. If you ever come to Paris feel free to come and say hi. We have good music, good coffee and a proper environment to let's say present the product that we make the best way possible.

By that I mean that we not only wanted to create the most reliable pieces that you can find in our market, but also to create a proper brand. Creating a brand is the product first, of course, but it's everything that surrounds the product. So it's the image, it's the way you communicate, but having our very own place was a big part of it as well. People to be able to take their time to experience something very unique, as much unique as the product. And we also wanted the people inside the boutique to be able to explain what we do the best way possible. You know, I believe when you have a boutique, when you have a store, and when you build a brand, as Gabriel just said, it's just a continuity of the original idea. It's everything you do needs to be aligned. If I'm telling you that we build watches that are reliable and sophisticated, then every point of interaction with the brand needs to tell the same story. The music you listen, the coffee you serve, the way you dress, the way you shake hands, the way you express yourself. It needs to tell the same story. Otherwise, very instantly you're not you lose all form of credibility. And it's a good thing because we do that because that's what we value. We bring that to the table because that's what we have inside of us. That's who we are, basically. That's why we want to express. So there is no game at play here. It's just a continuity of making sure we share our story and our vision the best way possible.

Yeah, and I can see that on your website too. Know you have a section of your website where you have almost like the bulletin, right? It's like a newsletter of the art and the music and the films that you guys like. So I can feel, you know, your sort of interest and your passion for the arts, right? And it shows through in your watches. And I am actually going to Paris this summer. So I'm going to stop by the boutique.

I'm excited to experience it in person and also experience the good coffee as well while I try on the watches.

Jérôme, Gabriel, this has been an absolute pleasure. As you know, I'm a big fan of the brand. I'm a big fan of you guys and what you're building. So thank you so much for taking the time coming on here, telling us a little bit about the story behind the brand.

It sounds like the boutique is a great place to experience the watch. Where else if people want to follow along, if they want to learn more about the watches, learn more about you guys and your journey, where are the best places online that they can go to?

Well, online of course, but physically we have now few stores that actually host Serica such as the Time+Tide Studios in the US, so in New York, UK, London and Melbourne. We also have a few partners in Asia. So we're trying to develop like a network of let's say like-minded people that we can work with very closely and that we can ensure that the whole Serica experience can exported to their places.

Awesome. Well, I'm sure many people listening to this or watching this will be eager to check that out. But again, thank you so much for taking the time today and have a great rest of your day over there.

You too. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. It's a pleasure.