Following the successful launch of its first Master’s degree in Luxury & Digital Strategies at the start of the 2023-2024 academic year, the ISG LUXURY GENEVA will offer, from the start of the next academic year in October 2024, the Watchmaking industry’s first MBA in International Fine Watchmaking Management, designed to train students from all over the world in the marketing, communication and management of Haute Horlogerie brands in Switzerland and around the world with the support of the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie.
Taught 100% in English, the International Fine Watchmaking Management of the Watch Industry MBA has been created by Cédric Laforge, an expert in marketing and communication in the Haute Horlogerie sector for almost 15 years.
It is a unique, comprehensive, and rich MBA that has been tailor-made from Geneva, the innovative and ancestral beating heart of Haute Horlogerie, specifically to meet the needs of a growing industry.
This MBA aims to enable future students to open the doors to the world of luxury, acquire high-level expertise in the management of Haute Horlogerie brands, acquire the marketing, management and management skills needed for immediate and operational employability, and understand the challenges of tomorrow in a context where the Haute Horlogerie sector is undergoing profound change.
It was created for students with a bachelor’s degree and working people looking to specialise and change careers to enter the promising world of fine watchmaking.
Designed to generate future specialists in the Haute Horlogerie industry, the ISG Luxury Geneva’s MBA International Fine Watchmaking Management breaks new ground with a new, innovative, hands-on teaching format designed to provide personalised support for each of the 25 students, enabling them to forge closer links with the professionals involved, benefiting from the interactivity necessary for better learning, and increasing potential employment for participants.
The MBA International Fine Watchmaking Management is built around 8 strong pillars of development for the students to give them all the keys to this constantly evolving world:
- Fine Watchmaking Culture, History & Perspectives
- Fine Watchmaking Digital Marketing
- Fine Watchmaking Client Management
- Fine Watchmaking Entrepreneurship & Brand Governance
- Fine Watchmaking Brand Building
- Fine Watchmaking Product Development
- Fine Watchmaking Sales Management
- Fine Watchmaking Leadership
The MBA is ideal for those seeking positions in Haute Horlogerie, including roles as a Marketing Manager, Media and Advertising Manager, Sales Ambassador, Business Development Manager, Visual Merchandising Manager, Business Analyst, and more.
To benefit from this high-quality, specialised training, international candidates from a wide range of countries must submit a detailed application and attend an interview with the school’s Director and the MBA’s Creator. A native or certified level of English (C1/C2) is also required.
Franck Belaich, Director and Founder of ISG Luxury Geneva, commented, “Haute Horlogerie exists and is understood today only in its confrontation, and its conjugation between past, present and future. Challenging Haute Horlogerie today and tomorrow will enable our students to prepare for a fascinating world between capturing elusive time, exceptional watchmaking tradition and perfectly honed marketing/communication strategies to make this ancestral industry one of the future Luxuries of tomorrow.
With this new program, ISG Luxury Geneva aims to train enlightened, proactive, and responsible professionals beyond their product and business expertise, sector, and market as part of an ever-changing world of haute horlogerie.
The future graduates of this program will know how to act and react to all the new challenges to accompany watchmaking houses towards a radiant future with respect to a rich heritage and the perfection of the gesture of watchmaking art.”
Cédric Laforge said, “Haute Horlogerie is one of the most resilient sectors of the luxury goods industry, which today delights collectors worldwide. Watch enthusiasts flock to buy unique and rare timepieces from the finest Watchmaking Maisons, eager to own a piece of history.
“Many people dream of Capturing the moments of a lifetime through the purchase of a watch. Which timepiece from an exceptional watchmaker isn’t passed down from generation to generation as a delightful obligation, a foil to the passing of time and one societal evolution after another?
“Our students will benefit from the best experts in the field to shape together the Haute Horlogerie of today, but above all, the Haute Horlogerie of tomorrow, in which the students of the MBA International Fine Watchmaking Management will be immediately employable, adaptable and efficient.
“They will immediately be ready to act, make the right decisions, put concrete knowledge into action and apply new ways of managing to create the sustainable future of a flourishing industry that must be perpetually resilient to continue doing what is most beautiful: making its customers dream.”
Aurélie Streit and Pascal Ravessoud, Vice-Presidents of the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie, added, “Fine Watchmaking is a forward-focused sector that is certainly in need of exceptional craftsmen, but also future managers capable of understanding the uniqueness of our industry and its specificities in order to lead the finest Maisons to success.
“We are very happy to support ISG Luxury Geneva in creating this pioneering MBA for our industry. We share the same pursuit of excellence in our teaching philosophy with ISG Luxury Geneva.
“Future students will be able to benefit from high-level courses in watchmaking culture provided by the trainers of the Fondation Haute Horlogerie, and we are very pleased about this.
“Graduating with the MBA in Fine Watchmaking Management will be contingent upon obtaining the Watch Advisor certification, the only certifying training in watchmaking knowledge in the industry. This would be a very fine accomplishment for future passionate students!”