IWS meets Carlo Bartorelli, CEO of the Bartorelli Group
IWS: Universal Genève belongs to the history of watchmaking, but also to your own personal history. Looking back at the beginning of your journey, what did this name represent then, and what does it mean to rediscover it today?
Carlo Bartorelli: If we want to look at it a bit like a novel, it almost feels like I was predestined. The Polerouter, designed by Gérald Genta in 1954, was born in the exact same year I was born. There is already a certain romance in that.
For me, however, the return of Universal Genève is not simply a relaunch. I would rather call it a rebirth. And, from a personal point of view, a return to my roots.
Back in the 1970s, I was in my early twenties, studying at university and already working with my father in our boutique in Riccione. Watchmaking was a profound passion, and Universal Genève was among the brands we sold. Back then, it was perceived precisely for what it represents once again today: Le Couturier de la Montre, the tailor of watchmaking. There was a particular sensitivity to detail, to style, and to product quality.
I remember Universal Genève naturally standing alongside the great names of Swiss watchmaking. I was twenty, still learning, but I could already sense its value. Today, at seventy, rediscovering it means returning in some way to that moment in my life. And that fascinates me deeply.
When I first learned about the project, curiosity was immediate. I have always been convinced that without curiosity, it’s hard to recognize opportunities when they arrive. Universal Genève belonged to the memories of my youth, to the years spent working alongside my father. It was already in my heart. Then I saw the project, what they were preparing, and enthusiasm came naturally.
IWS: There is therefore a thread that unites Universal Genève not only with your personal journey, but with the very history of the Bartorelli family. What does it mean today to find yourselves once again alongside the Maison, this time in Milan?
Carlo Bartorelli: It means a great deal. It’s a project we deeply believe in, and its value to us goes far beyond a purely commercial dimension.
It fascinates us precisely because it’s opening a new chapter. Presenting the Maison in Milan and preparing to open its first standalone boutique in Italy here next spring is a source of great pride: it represents an important milestone in the history of our family and our company as well.
IWS: This new chapter opens during Milan Fashion Week. Universal Genève returns as Le Couturier de la Montre right in the city where fashion, design, and watchmaking have always shared a common vocabulary. How much does Milan matter in this rebirth?
Carlo Bartorelli: That is precisely the point: Milan and the rebirth of Milanese watchmaking. Milan is the capital of fashion; Universal Genève is Le Couturier de la Montre, the tailor of watchmaking; and the launch takes place during Fashion Week. These elements seem to meet in a very natural way.
I have seen the products and what they are preparing, and even the choice of the boutique in Via Verri, in the heart of Milan’s fashion, luxury, and design district, brings a great sense of coherence to the entire project. After all, we are sartorial even in our way of communicating.
IWS: A sartorial approach that seems to run through every dimension of the project: from communication to spaces, and naturally, to the watch itself. Where do you recognize the strength of Universal Genève today?
Carlo Bartorelli: I believe its strength lies in combining a rich heritage with products that feel relevant today. You recognise Universal Genève’s identity, but you also see the work on design, proportions, finishing and movements.
It has a very precise identity and the desire to offer something distinctive. I believe this combination can be particularly engaging for a contemporary audience.
IWS: Let us turn to the collection. Is there a watch in which you recognize yourself the most, almost by personal affinity? And which one do you consider central to the path Universal Genève is building?
Carlo Bartorelli: The Polerouter will naturally play a central role. It’s an exceptionally strong model, immediately recognizable, and I believe it will have great importance from a commercial standpoint as well.
Personally, however, I also find the Disco Volante fascinating.
I also find the work on women’s offering very interesting. It’s a territory that requires sensitivity and a precise path, but within the collection, there are models like the Disco Mini that I consider extremely successful.
IWS: The collection itself seems to suggest an idea of elegance that is less bound to rigid categories, built instead through shapes, materials, colors, and different ways of wearing a watch. Is this also a possible contemporary interpretation of Le Couturier de la Montre?
Carlo Bartorelli: Absolutely. The entire collection is traversed by a common thread. We see this even in the Polerouter models with mother-of-pearl and stone dials, where different colors and materials produce unique chromatic effects. It’s yet another way of interpreting the concept of Le Couturier de la Montre.
And of course, the women’s collection belongs fully to this universe. If we want to talk about a watchmaking tailor, we must imagine a language capable of expressing itself through different sensibilities.
Even the choice of straps follows this logic, with solutions of a strongly sartorial character. Product and communication thus end up speaking the same language.
IWS: Universal Genève can count on an extraordinary cultural heritage: great collectors, personalities, ties to motorsport, music, and the arts. When a name with such a deep history returns to the scene, where should one begin to tell its story?
Carlo Bartorelli: From the product. I believe this must be Universal Genève’s primary mission.
First, we must tell people who Universal Genève is and restore the depth of its history to the public. We are talking about a brand that possesses an authentic heritage and continues to have enthusiasts and collectors all over the world.
After years of enormous fervor in watchmaking, I believe we are entering a phase where identity and authenticity are once again gaining fundamental weight.
The most interesting thing will be succeeding in transforming this legacy into something contemporary: not replicating the past but understanding it and making it evolve.
This is what I perceive in the collection: a reading of tradition capable of dialoguing with the evolution of design and technique.
IWS: At a time when watchmaking is once again questioning the value of identity, what space do you imagine for Universal Genève? And how far would you like to take the relationship between the Maison and Bartorelli?
Carlo Bartorelli: I believe today that the value of a watch must emerge first and foremost from its identity. High watchmaking, to me, cannot just be a matter of communication: there must be something authentic in the product, something you can feel when you hold it in your hand.
With Universal Genève, we are only at the beginning. I chose to believe in this project because it brought me back to my roots and because, when I was invited to Switzerland to see the collection, I rediscovered something I knew and, at the same time, something new.
When I pick up a Universal Genève, I see history, but I also see a contemporary watch with its own distinctive character and quality.
It’s also for this reason that today I place no limits on what our partnership with the Maison can become.
IWS: On one hand, there are collectors who have known Universal Genève for decades; on the other, a generation encountering this name for the first time today. How do you build a bridge between memory and discovery without turning heritage into nostalgia?
Carlo Bartorelli: By making people perceive that a true history exists behind Universal Genève, without limiting ourselves to simply re-proposing it.
The past must be respected and understood, and then it must be capable of evolving. I believe this is the path: building with care, giving the project time, and thinking about Universal Genève with a medium- and long-term perspective.
Those who already know the brand must be able to recognize its identity. Those who are discovering it today, instead, must have the sensation of encountering something new that nevertheless possesses deep roots.
What is remarkable is that the attachment to Universal Genève endured even when the Maison was no longer at the forefront of contemporary watchmaking. Collectors kept its watches, stories and identity alive. Today, that connection provides a strong foundation, but the new collection must carry the story forward.
Now, we must write its next chapter!
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