REMY COOLS ON APPLYING THE BUGATTI METHOD TO WATCHMAKING

Rémy Cools is a prominent young independent watchmaker based in France and winner of the F.P. Journe Young Talent Competition in 2018. He first gained widespread attention with the Tourbillon Souscription in 2020, a highly finished hand-wound watch that captured the community's attention with its elegant design and technical precision. In late 2023, Cools introduced the Tourbillon Atelier, featuring a newly developed calibre housed in a 39 mm platinum case with domed sapphire crystal.

Born in France, Cools studied at the renowned Lycée Edgar Faure in Morteau between 2012 and 2018, later gaining experience through internships at respected names in artisanal watchmaking. His approach to watchmaking draws inspiration from Ettore Bugatti's philosophy of total control, responding to supply chain challenges by building capability in-house rather than remaining dependent on external suppliers. Cools' goal is to establish the only watchmaking workshop in France capable of controlling production A to Z, from components to finished watches.

His work is characterised by consistency of aesthetic DNA: sober design, simple forms, refined finishing, and an emphasis on emotion over ostentation. Currently producing in limited numbers with a small dedicated team, Cools plans measured growth towards seven to eight watchmakers and an annual production of 30 to 50 pieces, maintaining high standards of craftsmanship while carefully managing expansion. We spoke with him about autonomy as a creative principle, the philosophy of simplicity, and why patience is essential to building something enduring.

What has winning the F.P. Journe Young Talent Competition meant for your career in the years since?

It was really important for me, especially in the beginning as I was setting up my workshop. Many people follow the outcome of the contest, so it really helped me at the beginning of my career—for building awareness, and for finding future clients. It was really important for me, and even to this day some enthusiasts still tell me, 'Oh, you won the F.P. Journe contest.' I think it's a very important event for young watchmakers.

How do you see Mr Journe within the context of contemporary artisanal watchmaking?

Mr Journe arrived at a pivotal time for the industry. This was a different era for watchmaking at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Independent watchmaking was not celebrated as it is today—it was far more complex to develop clientele and build a business. For that reason, what he achieved is truly impressive. I consider him a pioneer of the new era of independent watchmaking.

Is there camaraderie amongst your generation of artisanal watchmakers?

Yes, we talk about a lot of things. Watchmaking, generally. But for us, one of the main topics of conversation revolves around suppliers. Generally it's about exchanging experiences with the supply chain. For example, a fellow watchmaker asked me, 'Oh, I have a problem with my case maker.' So I told him, 'Okay, mine is really good, so I can give you his contact.' It's really small-scale work, so I think it's good to have this exchange. But after that, yes, we speak about everything outside of watchmaking too.

Is greater independence partly about consistency—not being held hostage to ups-and-downs of relying on others?

You used a good term: independent. It's not a commercial or marketing word; it's really a spirit in business and a spirit of craft. My goal is to be really independent in terms of craft, of manufacturing, and to control the production from A to Z. But it doesn't take two years to achieve—it's a long, long process. But for me, it's really important not to be, like you said, hostage to the supplier, because it's a pain. You cannot control the quality, you cannot control the timeline, and then it's your problem with your clients. So it's a problem from A to Z.

Has the watch industry shifted from craft-focused people who learnt business to business people who learnt to appreciate watches?

You know, the problem is, when you go to a supplier, you're expecting somebody who is as fascinated as you are. You're searching for people who love their work and who are really focused on quality. And generally, that's not the situation. Generally, you yourself are fascinated and you want to have the highest quality possible and to work with honest people, but generally it's not the same on the other side. But for me, I take it as an opportunity to develop myself and to develop my workshop. I don't look at it negatively, like, 'Yes, it's a problem.' It's a good problem in terms of learning and developing myself further.

Did you learn the business side of running a workshop on the go, through experience?

I'm really focused—I think I do 70 or 80 per cent of my work time on the bench producing the watches, and the other 20 per cent is all the paperwork, administration, Instagram, publications. I'm really bad at that, but I need to have employees doing all this stuff. But you know, it's not like a big group with 10 employees for doing that, so for us it's really challenging to find the right people. And in terms of communication now, I think there's too much communication. For example, on Instagram—I don't consider myself a marketing person or something like this. For me, first, I'm a watchmaker, I'm an artisan. So I really want to put the communication in the right place. I don't want to make 10 publications in a week, each week. It doesn't make sense for me.

There's a Bugatti poster in your workshop. Are you inspired by automotive history, like the work of Mr Ettore Bugatti?

I'm really impressed by, and I really like, the life and work of Ettore Bugatti, because he was an artist and an engineer. When you look—and I really appreciate reading books about his life and his work—it was really incredible. It was the same spirit, I hope the same spirit, in watchmaking back in time and in the automotive industry, because he started at the beginning of the twentieth century. I think he set up his workshop in 1908 or something like this. And it was the same problems: supply chain, employees. So he said, 'Okay, we have problems with the supply chain, we'll do it all ourselves,' and he set up a factory with his own machines, with his own products. And like this, he controlled A to Z. And it was pure in terms of creation, because when you drive an old Bugatti, it's really emotional. And I really want to have the same emotion in my work. My clients tell me they have the same emotion—a very emotional product and a very strong relationship between the watch and the owner. To be different like him—back in that time, for example, all the big car makers like Bentley or Rolls-Royce were doing very big cars with big engines, and he said, 'Okay, I will do very small cars with small engines.' And with that, he won all the races back in time. It's really impressive, and I really like his work.

Has your design DNA been consistent since your school days?

My DNA has been there since I was in school, because if you look at my school projects and my schoolwork, it was always the same DNA. Some people said, 'You have to change,' or 'You can do this,' and I said, 'No, no, no, I really like this.' I just do what I like. Yes, it's more refined, I can say. It's more finished, more thin, you know—it's normal to have a progression. I really like to have the family link between all the products, because if you do your creation in a fashion way, if I can say that, it's not your product—you drive your product like the wind. So, 'Okay, now it's blue dial,' or whatever. For me, no. I do what I want, and it's a straight line to what I want.

Is sober design one of the pillars of your aesthetic DNA?

Yes, sober design. When you have something very complex with too many details, I think it loses a lot of emotion, a lot of things, because it's too complex for the eyes. For me, simplicity and purity are the most complex things to achieve, because if you don't have so many parts, first, it's very complex in terms of mechanical engineering to develop this. It's really pure, and you cannot do something wrong, because with the simplicity of the design and not so many parts on the calibre, you have to have perfectly finished parts. You cannot do something wrong because it will be visible at first sight.

Beyond cars, what else inspires you—sculpture, architecture, gastronomy?

I really like sculpture, and I really like gastronomy. For me, there's a similarity between, for example, watchmaking, sculpture, and food, because if you have too many ingredients, it's not so good. For example, the best food recipes are really simple—five, six ingredients maximum—but they're the best. To have six, seven ingredients, but really good ingredients, the perfect cooking process—that's the best. Even in sculpture, you can do a sculpture with multiples, like, for example, animals or humans or something like this. But if you have one animal with the perfect line, the perfect design, it's really impressive. I like the philosophy of this.

Is autonomy the only way to protect your vision?

The best marketing for me are my clients. They're very happy with my work and send me lots of photos, lots of wrist shots when they wear the watch. For me, that's my best publicity: my clients. If a client is happy, he will talk with other collectors: 'Okay, I'm really happy with my Remy Cools watch. It's really good.' But if the product is bad, you can have good marketing and good publicity, but it doesn't make sense. I think in modern times, in current times, there are too many people focused on marketing first and product after. And I think it's product first and marketing, publicity after.

What are your plans for growth?

The main evolution—I want to grow the team, but not grow too fast, like I say every time. But normally this year, I have one watchmaker coming to the workshop to make the team bigger. The plan is, I hope in three or four years, to have a small team of seven to eight people with different roles inside the workshop. The main evolution is to grow the production, but as a natural growth too, to go to 30 to 50 pieces a year. Now, currently, I'm manufacturing the foundation of, I think, 10 or 15 years in the future. For that, I take my time. A lot of people say, 'Okay, when is your new release watch? What time?' And I say, 'Okay, next year,' or '27.' But I don't want to go too fast, because if you go too fast, you do something wrong. So I prefer to take my time.

What's your long-term vision?

It's important to be really focused on your work, your vision. I have a vision—it's not a vision for two or three years. It's a vision for 10, 15 years. And you know, to create something strong requires a lot of time. I have this time, so I'm really lucky with that. And I put all my time into shaping the future, if I can say that.

Do you plan to stay in Annecy?