J-P Suchel Interview
(best viewed at 1024 x 768)

To skip ahead to the Aquatique review CLICK HERE!


During the process of acquiring my Japy Aquatique 08, M. Jean-Paul Suchel, President of Japy Watches, and I became quick friends. Not only did he address all of my concerns, he was courteous, helpful and very professional. Once I had the watch and was enjoying it, I asked him if he would not mind being interviewed and he agreed. So without further ado, here is that brief interview:


N.B. -> I will be in dark-red & M. Suchel in dark blue


Let us begin with how you got started in the watch industry?

I entered the watch industry in 1983, taking care of international marketing. A few months later I was also in charge of the product design and development for one of the brand of the group I was representing. I was involved in product range strategy, new model definition and design, technical development marketing and export sales.


Are you a collector as well?

Unfortunately because of time and money, not as much as I would like to be. I have few divers, alarm, expedition, pocket and dress watches.


Other than horology, what are your other hobbies?

My favorite hobby is Scuba diving, which I try to practice as much as I can (unfortunately again not enough). I have been diving in many various places. Such as mines, lakes, caves, the Seine River in Paris, the caves under the Opera house in Paris and reefs offshore Saudi Arabia. One of my most unusual memories is diving at a tanker terminal in the Persian Gulf the day after Irak invaded Kuwait in 1990. I also just restarted playing the trumpet after a break of 15 years. It is like starting from scratch. Very frustrating.


I understand that unlike many watch companies that have disappeared and then resurrected in recent times, Japy has been a continuous entity since 1771. Could you tell us more about its impressive history?

Like many other European brands, the glory years ended with the 20st century. Most of the grand advancements and inventions came about between 1800 and 1900. That is why there was a period of calm between 1900 and the oncoming of the Quartz era, as it was for Japy. The three first generations of Japy, Frederique the founder, his son Louis Frederique and his grandson Ingenu were grand inventors. During the 19th century, Japy dominated the world's ebauche and movement production and were shipping to most of the great Swiss houses that were content with finishing and decorating the finished product. They eventually even started adding complications. Does this not remind you of a certain company we know? Japy's decedents continued their horological activities until 1954, spending more and more of their resources on clockworks instead of watches.

For succession reasons, the Japys sold their company to the French Jaz firm, who further reduced their watch production to concentrate on clockworks. That is until the end of the 70's, where the Japonese saturated the occidental watch world. Remember back then Omega was nothing when Nicholas Hayek arrived as consultant. Jaz then decided to regroup themselves with other French manufacturers in order to properly wrestle with the Japanese. Those manufacturers were Herma, Anguenot, Yema, Cupillard Rieme, Uti, Hour Lavigne and others. In order to give the groupe even more weight they were placed under the control of Matra. This groupe included electronics, automobiles, armament, missiles, and information technologies; in fact it was at the time the biggest high-tech groupe in France.

I entered Matra Horlogerie en 1983 and I was in charge of export marketing for Jaz, Japy and Yema. I was also in charge of product development. Then, all of a sudden, Matra decided to sell their horological division to a Japonese firm called Seiko! Seiko was disinterested in the Matra brand names; instead they reoriented the group to distribute their brands (Seiko, Pulsar, Lorus and Lasalle) in France, with the idea of using their plants. Seeing that there was no future for Japy, in 1996 I asked them if I could purchase the brand.

Therefore I have been with Japy since 1983 and decided to leave the groupe in order to assure Japy's survival.


How did the design of the Aquatique 08 come about?

It is based on my experience as a diving instructor. I have been using several dive watches, and have seen many others on other diver's wrists. I also exchanged experience with friends who are diving instructors, under water professional photographers, scuba diving raid organizers and the former captain and chief diver of Calypso, military divers. We cooperated with 3 members of the divers group of the French Fire and Rescue Brigade (belonging to the French army). Since nowadays everybody dives with computers, the diver's watch is now a safety instrument. This is why we focused on the core characteristics: robustness, water resistance, functionality and resistance to corrosion.

Robustness: The watch must sustain a rough use in a hostile environment. The case itself is made of two protecting shells so that shocks, scratches and vibrations do not affect directly the functional part of the watch. The crown is fully protected under a bridge directly cut into the outer case. We did not want any added parts which fixing screws could eventually bend or break under severe shock. The crystal is thick sapphire (2.4mm), and well protected as it sits recessed inside the bezel. The bracelet lugs are extra thick so that they cannot bend. The bracelet is also very thick so that we can use large diameter axles. The spring bars for the band are in large diameter stainless steel and shoulderless, which makes them much stronger. The movement is mounted into a metallic casing ring for a better rigidity, with a rubber-compensating ring for damping shocks and vibrations. The dial is concave for a better rigidity. The movement is not really flat, again for a better robustness.

Water resistance: We constructed the watch to sustain pressures of 30 ATM. This means a thick case, thick crystal and thick case back. Since the less possibilities of water entrance the better, we did not want a chronograph on which the pushers are weak points. The gaskets at the crystal, case back and crown are oversized. The crown itself is very specific, as this is often a weak point on a dive watch. The risk of shock has been removed thanks to the solid protector. Then we use two gaskets: one big O-ring plus one flat ring for high pressures. Unlike on standard screw-down crowns, our flat gasket is not compressed in rotation while screwing the crown, but only in compression, since the crown itself does not rotate. This protects the gasket much better. And we fitted the crown nut with a visual red marker so that the user can easily check the correct locking of it.

Functionality: the shapes of the watch and more specifically of the bezel were designed so that there is no sharp edge. Shocks or other part of equipment (such as the BC jacket) wont block on it but will slide. The bezel grip is angled to get a stronger grip in the anticlockwise direction a weaker grip in the other direction. The bezel is deeply engraved with a full minute track, and not only up to 15 or 20 minutes like on too many watches (I like to stay long under water!). The dial also has a complete minute track, and the hour markers are suspended above the hands. This makes them much more luminous and improves the reading even at an angle. The crystal is antireflection coated on both sides. The movement, although simple, is fitted with a chronometer assortment (Glucydur balance wheel, Nivarox 1 hair spring, Incabloc, polished steel fork and escapement wheel). The mainspring is made of Nivaflex 1, and the assembly tolerances are fine.

Resistance to corrosion: The choice of the material is the most important. We use 316L stainless steel for the case, crown and bracelet. The module lockers are in Titanium, with ceramic balls and Nivarox springs. And the Double Shell construction allows a much better rinse on the rotating bezel system, since there is more space for water circulation between the bezel and the outer case. As you can see, all design characteristics come from the function.


About its modular design, can you elaborate on how it makes the watch more robust?

The modular design is just one consequence of the Double Shell case construction. This is not the main purpose, but it gives additional interest to the concept. As earlier mentioned, the shocks and vibrations are not directly transmitted to the movement, but are damped thanks to the discontinuation of the material and to the 4 lockers. Last but not least, it allows the solid crown protection.


Are there other modules available for the T08 case?

Any module of the range can be fitted to the Modele 08, T08 or Type 32 outer cases. This includes Terrestre, Alarm, EoX, T32 and even the Chronographs.


As mentioned above, Japy has been associated with many professional dive teams in France, could you elaborate on the subject?

We have a strong cooperation with the divers group of the Fire and Rescue Brigade. These military men dive every day in cold or warm waters, very low visibility, a lot of stream and high rate of shocks and scratches. As a hobby, they participate to the only existing scuba diver raid, called Objectif Atlantide. Last edition was in Dominika Island in the Caribbean, next one will be held in Vietnam. We also cooperate with the organizers of Objectif Atlantide. Last month the Japy team of 3 teenager divers won Objectif Atlantide Jeunes. We also have a very good cooperation with a professional under water photographer who works for 3 major diver's magazines.


Any new models coming out?

The next model will be a dual time zone GMT, that can be used in the Modele 08, T08 and Type 32 outer cases.


Where do you see Japy in the future?

Japy has first to get better known on the watch market. We work at developing enduring watches for heavy-duty use, which combine our long tradition of watch making and innovation. We are in the process of developing our distribution network. We do not aim to produce in volume, as we want to keep the best control on our quality. One major opening within 2 years will be to enter the segment of ladies sports watches.


Lastly, why do you feel a dive watch collector choose a Japy of any other wristwatch in its price point?

First, I would like to mention that we develop our watches with the idea that they should not be kept in a closet, but they should be used in any circumstances.

The interest of Modele 08 Aquatique is triple:

#1 the value is targeted in the product itself and not in a well-known and heavily advertised brand. There is neither trend nor fashion in Japy.

#2 the name itself carries a lot of history, linked to innovation and tradition. Frederic Japy is the one who turned the former "etablissage" organization to the "manufacture" organization. He founded the first Manufacture of watch movements in 1777. #3 the watch itself features many innovative characteristics, as listed above

And Last but not least, we manufacture in small quantities, and each watch in individually numbered. As of today, only a few hundreds have been produced. The collector can be sure that it will remain rare on the market.


Thank you very much M. Suchel for taking the time to answer my questions.

To proceed to the Aquatique review CLICK HERE!

Thank you for reading,

Marc



* Background design is a negative of the Japy website, to visit CLICK HERE!