/ How the luxury watch industry has changed in 50 years – according to Carson Chan, chief adviser at the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie who turned his passion for car mechanics towards timepieces

Dec 30 , 2022

Carson Chan turned an obsession with mechanics into a passion for luxury watches. Photo: Kauzrambler

XXIV 2022

Chan got his start at Richard Mille before the brand became a household name – and still occasionally calls on the ‘humble’ 67-year-old Swiss watchmaker for advice

The advent of the smartphone means ‘the need for a watch no longer exists’, according to Chan, and they should instead be seen as art pieces – just like his favourite Cartier Pebble

“I began my interest in watches when I had to stop tinkering with cars as I moved back to Asia,” says Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH) chief adviser Carson Chan. It was the disassembly and reassembly of kit watches that appealed to Chan’s love of mechanics and jump-started his almost 20-year career in horology, across various roles in the auction, watch house and now advocacy spaces.

“I’m very blessed to work in an area which I enjoy,” Chan muses. “As soon as I saw the opportunity to combine my work and my hobby, I jumped right into it. Some worried whether it would kill the hobby but for me, it was something I really enjoyed, and I would do it all over again if I could.”

Carson Chan has a passion for mechanics – and that includes watches, cars, bikes and more. Photo: Kauzrambler

Chan’s career coincides with an interesting period for the watch industry. Starting with Bonhams Asia in 2000 as an auction representative, he rose to become CEO of the Asia operation, all while becoming more involved with a then-minuscule independent watch house named Richard Mille – ideally placed to watch its rise to prominence ever since, taking other independent houses with it.

“At the beginning no one knew about the brand, you could easily get [a watch],” Chan reminisces. “But Richard Mille was a master of marketing and a phenomenal leader. I learned the most with Richard and am proud to have been a part of the brand as it took off. We still see each other every once in a while – he’s very humble, if you go to him he’s always happy to help.”

Carson Chan, head of Greater China mission at the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie. Photo: Handout

Beyond brands, however, Chan has also seen monumental changes in the way a watch should be thought of. Over the last 50 years, he explains, the labels of a pilot’s, racer’s or diver’s watch have become less helpful, as precision timing instruments took their place. The advent of the smartphone and smartwatches linked to the atomic clock meant that accuracy was no longer a challenge to be solved by mechanical pieces.

“Whatever brand is selling their watches based on functionality is out of touch with reality,” Chan puts it bluntly. “Any function you name, my phone can do it better, more accurately, more inexpensively. The need for a watch no longer exists and one should look at mechanical wristwatches as art pieces.”