Dear friends of IWS, we had the opportunity to interview Fulvio Locci, designer of Wyler Vetta. An ultracentennial project recently relaunched by a totally Italian leadership. And as good Italians, we could not pass up the opportunity to tell you about the direction of the brand through this interview.
Wyler Vetta is a brand founded in 1923 by Paul Wyler and marketed by Innocente Binda in the early 1930s. The brand is famous for being among the first in the world to use marketing strategies in sports and art, but especially for organizing the launch of its watches from the Eiffel Tower and Seattle Tower to demonstrate the sturdiness of its watches.
As you can see, a watch with very interesting historical relevance and strongly intertwined with our Italy. Without further ado, here is our interview with Fulvio Locci.
The Interview
Edoardo Armentano: Hi Fulvio, for those who don’t know you: who is Fulvio Locci?
Fulvio Locci: I am a watch enthusiast, as a child my favorite hobby was to insert paper dials, designed by me, into the clocks I found at home and took apart. It was born that way. There was no one in the family who loved watches, who could pass this passion on to me. From a game a job was born, which came to fruition when I founded Locman in 1985. I still draw dials in pencil and put them under the glass.
Edoardo Armentano: Does work done by hand, not by PC, have more emotional aesthetic characteristics?
Fulvio Locci: The designer’s job is a feeling job, apart from the need of the market of the moment that leads us to interpret trends, it is something that starts from within.
Edoardo Armentano: How much of Fulvio Locci can we see in this rebirth of Wyler Vetta?
Fulvio Locci: When Marcello Binda and I started envisioning the brand in 2020, I looked closely at the brand’s production over the years and noticed that the preferred style had become elegant, while the brand has always had, instead, a sporty-elegant DNA. We changed direction and reset both technical and aesthetic positioning. These decisions brought our Jumbostar back to center stage.
Edoardo Armentano: In fact, rereading the brand’s history, we talk about rugged, sporty watches, even with high-altitude launches to testify to their shock resistance.
Fulvio Locci: We are actually known for our notarized experiments. In fact, we remember the 2 launches carried out in Paris, 25 years apart. In 1931 and 1956, from the Eiffel tower, and from the Seattle tower also in 1956. The objective was to test the robustness of the case but especially the movement. Our main innovation at the time was, precisely, the Incaflex patent: an anti-shock device that protected the balance wheel from shocks, even the most intense ones.
Edoardo Armentano: How important is it for you to take inspiration from your story?
Fulvio Locci: Fundamental, especially if you have a 100-year-old one like ours, not to enhance it would have been a shame. We are talking about a catalog that began in 1924, we have started research just recently aimed at finding historical pieces to create a Wyler Vetta museum. It will also be useful for us to take inspiration for new lines and models.
Edoardo Armentano: So what has changed in Wyler Vetta? Compared to before, do you have more freedom? Do you have more autonomy?
Fulvio Locci: With Marcello Binda we can act with complete freedom as an independent brand. This allows us to make design and technical choices that are totally consistent with the brand and our goals of positioning the brand among the mid- to high-end watch brands. It is to be considered a startup in its own right, but a startup let’s say “over a hundred years old.”
Edoardo Armentano: What do you like most about being independent?
Fulvio Locci: I believe that nowadays putting your face on it has great value. Knowing that there are people behind a brand gives the consumer a way to better understand why the ideas and all the passion.
Edoardo Armentano: What about at the design level, since that’s your field?
Fulvio Locci: We remain, as I said, faithful to what is an elegant sports line, with some aesthetic developments. The most significant in recent times concerns the Jumbostar Chrono, available in 43 mm and 40 mm. The market nowadays demands different sizes from before, there is a renewed taste for smaller cases.
Edoardo Armentano: At the material level, will there be any changes?
Fulvio Locci: We are constantly experimenting, for example, Wyler Vetta is making instrument clocks dedicated to space and that will fly on upcoming space missions. I had experience in the past with Paolo Nespoli, a former astronaut and engineer. We are designing a watch that will have 3 time zones. It is a project that I am very excited about because, innovation leads to confrontation with companies from different sectors and the result of these collaborations is really remarkable.
Edoardo Armentano: Can you tell us more about that?
Fulvio Locci: I can’t reveal much, let’s just say that we will have significant benefits in terms of readability. When you are in orbit the drop in vision is significant. Therefore, it is necessary for dials to be large, clearly visible and readable. We are talking about watches with extra-large cases.
Edoardo Armentano: And how come 3 time zones?
Fulvio Locci: When you’re up there you’re traveling at 27,000 km/h, you see sunrise and sunset all the time. It is critical to have control over the time variable for this very reason. You have to have control over the Houston time zone, the instantaneous time zone and the home time zone. Mission-related information normally comes from Houston because everything is controlled from there. The time zone is for understanding what time it is and where the astronauts are. The home time zone is important to be able to communicate with family members, at a convenient time–maybe the astronauts are flying over the Pacific and the family is sleeping–it used to be that calling family members was not possible. But neither were ”trips” to space so long. In any case, this extraordinary project will also have a commercial spin-off, with a watch suitable for all wrists and for everyday and travel use as well.
Edoardo Armentano: When will you launch it?
Fulvio Locci: I cannot say anything at the moment, but we will keep you updated! 🙂
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