News For its sixtieth anniversary, Candino is treating itself to a second youth with Xenia Tchoumitcheva, the first successor to Miss Switzerland 2006.
A member of the Festina Lotus group since 2002, Candino this year celebrates its sixtieth anniversary. Indeed it was in 1947 that Adolf Flury-Hug, whose family was one of the watchmaking pioneers of the Soleure district of Thal in the late 19th century, founded the company in Herbetswil and then opened a sales office in Biel in 1954. Since then, much water has flowed under the bridge, but the company has remained true to its time-honoured philosophy: to offer Swiss made quality at an affordable price. Equipped with ultra-modern technology the better to preserve its traditional know-how, the Soleure site occupies a floor space of 1,600 m2 and every day produces around 2,000 quartz or mechanical watches which retail at prices ranging from 150 to 1,500 francs.
Candino watches are targeted at a wide international clientele and are sold today in 65 countries. Accordingly, the firm has aligned itself with mentalities specific to each country. Its product range and marketing therefore differ slightly from one region to another, but share the same image.
To showcase its new fashion collection in the best possible way Candino chose to team up with Xenia Tchoumitcheva, a young woman who has won over the Swiss with her personality and freshness and who is sure to please an international public. The firm’s new muse embodies all the qualities of an icon apt to inspire designers: a Swiss background and an international appeal, at once popular, glamorous and sexy and always elegant; a young woman who, at almost twenty years of age, has her feet on the ground and knows her own mind.
In terms of sponsorship, 2006 marked a high point of the company’s involvement in the world of tennis: while celebrating its tenth anniversary as official timekeeper of the Davidoff Swiss Indoors in Basel, it had the honour of timing Roger Federer’s first victory in his home town! However Candino is also delighted with the popularity of its own tournament organised in association with Swiss Tennis. Last year, more than 36,000 players representing 724 clubs from all over Switzerland took part in the Candino Champions Trophy, making this event one of the crowning moments in the competitive life of each club devoted to this popular sport. The firm is also active in other sporting partnerships across the globe. With a strong presence in Scandinavian countries, it was also the official timekeeper of the Nordic World Skiing Championships in Oberstdorf in 2005.
The new products presented at Baselworld 2007 – an event at which Candino takes part this year for the 50th time – reflect the firm’s image, combining ultra-modern materials (tungsten, titanium, ceramics and carbon), classic, fashion and sport lines and complications. Of particular interest is the firm’s own reference to its milestone, having chosen to mark its 60th jubilee with a stone... of the precious kind... as an embellishment to its commemorative watch, produced in a limited edition of 60 numbered pieces encrusted with 60 diamonds.
April 25, 2007
