Dear friends of IWS, it was October 2023. I remember that moment perfectly: I was taking a break, scrolling through Instagram with my usual lightness. As is often the case, my feed was populated with images of watches. But among all of them, one in particular caught my eye: round case, small seconds, a clean and elegant design. It looked like a neovintage, but it was clear that it was a contemporary model. The kind of timepiece that, personally, I find irresistible.
Driven by curiosity, I open the post to learn more. I read the name: Raymond Weil and was surprised. In Italy it is a historic brand, but for a long time its traces had been lost. It wasn’t talked about much anymore, and I admit I thought that maybe the brand was experiencing a moment of decline.
Instead, a few days later came the news: that exact model, the Millésime, won the Challenge Watch Prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) 2023. This is a prestigious award, which rewards not only the quality of construction and care of finishing, but also the ability to offer a high-level mechanical watch at an affordable price. We are talking about 2,000 euros, taxes included.
Founded in 1976, Raymond Weil has never gone unnoticed. The company comes to life at a critical time in watchmaking: the quartz crisis. Against this complex backdrop, Mr. Raymond Weil chose to take a different path, founding a brand with a clear mission: to make high-quality, usable watches for the general public.
From the very beginning, the company takes on a family footprint. Alongside the founder is soon joined by his son-in-law, Olivier Bernheim, who represents the second generation and helps strengthen the company’s family and independent character. Under his leadership, the brand consolidates its identity, always holding firm to its original values.
Today Raymond Weil is led by the third generation namely Elie Bernheim, Olivier’s son, who is currently at the helm of the company. On the occasion of Watches & Wonders 2025, we had the opportunity to meet with him to get an up-close look at the vision guiding this new chapter.
The interview with Elie Bernheim
IWS: Hi Elie, it’s a pleasure to meet you and I wanted to congratulate you on GPHG and this new course!
Elie Bernheim: Nice to meet you and thank you, I am very excited to see the arrival of the Italian audience.
IWS: Tell us more about it!
Elie Bernheim: We are very pleased with the results we have achieved in the past few years of work. Our efforts have led to steady growth, and today we have a well-established clientele in different areas of the world.
If I had to define the aesthetics of our watches, I could speak of an almost Saxon taste, understated and elegant. Our historical target markets have mainly been the United States, Great Britain and Australia. These areas have long been the beating heart of our international distribution and success.
IWS: What changes has the arrival of Millésime brought?
Elie Bernheim: We did not expect such an exciting result, but yes, we are indeed paving the way for a whole new clientele.
IWS: What are your values?
Elie Bernheim: The values passed on by my grandfather have never changed. Our goal remains the original one: to create watches that are custodians of the perfect balance between quality and price. It is a simple vision, but an extremely solid one.
We try to work intelligently, maintaining a constant balance. This is true in our relationship with our clients, of course, but also with our suppliers and partners. We believe in a healthy business model based on mutual respect and sustainability of relationships over time. After all, the key to everything is right there: in balance.
IWS: How did the collection come about?
Elie Bernheim: It was the time of the pandemic, the world had stopped. During a reopening phase, I was in Venice with my family. I remember perfectly that unreal scene: an almost deserted city, suspended in time. Walking through the silent calli, I found myself admiring the beauty of St. Mark’s Square, perhaps as I had never experienced it before. It was a unique experience that will probably never be repeated.
That’s when I started thinking about Italy, France, Japan: markets where the passion for watchmaking is deep, cultural. And I realized that although we had a historical presence, we lacked the right product to dialogue with those audiences. We had to think of something new, something that spoke their aesthetic and cultural language.
It was from those reflections that, some time later, Millésime was born. A project that represents a real change of pace, the result of listening, observation and a desire to evolve.
IWS: And here is the GPHG!
Elie Bernheim: To be honest, we didn’t give it too much thought. It was certainly an immense honor and a great satisfaction to receive that recognition, but our focus has always been and remains the passionate audience.
The goal was to offer them a new product that could express our ideas, our vision, but without ever losing sight of one of our pillars: accessibility. We wanted to stay true to our identity, to our binaries, and we can proudly say that we succeeded.
We are now focusing on the “side effects” of this success.
IWS: Side effects?
Elie Bernheim: The success of Millésime brought us… a “positive problem”! An unexpected but stimulating effect: it raised the perceived level of our brand, and as a result we were faced with a clear need to evolve the rest of the collections as well.
We started with the Freelancer, introducing a new calendar complication. It is a fascinating feature that we wanted to offer in an attractive price range, under 5,000 euros. We were able to launch it at 3,500, and we are very proud of it.
Our approach is this: to be in constant motion, renewing ourselves relentlessly, but always in a way that is consistent with the values on which Raymond Weil is founded. The balance between innovating and staying true to our identity is what drives us.
IWS: What importance do you place on the product?
Elie Bernheim: Total. At the end of the day, the watchmaking market works like this: if you offer a nice product, people will approach. The attraction comes from the quality and appeal of the object.
But that is not enough. If that allure is accompanied by a fair, balanced price, then something more solid is created: a plan, a lasting relationship. The real goal is not just to attract attention, but to build a bond that will hold over time.
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