Severin Wunderman 1938-2008
With the passage of Severin Wunderman, the watch industry has lost one of its true greats. A gifted entrepreneur who overcame numerous adversities in his life, including surviving the holocaust, and a near-death bout with cancer, Wunderman rose from humble beginnings to make Gucci watches a global icon in the 1970's. After acquiring Corum in 1999, Wunderman brought his same brand of creativity and dynamism to enriching this brand, reinvigorating Corum's established collections, while adding expressive new lines which reflected a distinctive sense of artistry and provocation.
As skilled a businessman as he was, Severin Wunderman placed equal emphasis on the values of consideration and reciprocity, something which won him great loyalty and admiration from associates and colleagues. Perhaps because of his many near brushes with death, Severin chose to take a contemplative and even occasionally humorous stance on issues of mortality, something reflected in the striking themes of various Corum timepieces, such as the Vanitas series in the Artisan Collection, and various limited edition Bubble watches.
Passionate about art and a variety of subjects, Severin Wunderman's greatest asset was his family, whom he called "my strength." His youngest son Michael is currently the president of Corum USA.
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At Baselworld 2008, ViaLuxe had the honor of spending time with industry visionary Severin Wunderman and his son, Michael Wunderman.
Here is a component of that interview in memorial of the sad passing of Severin Wunderman. Our hearts go out to the entire Corum family. Mr. Wunderman will be greatly missed.
TRANSCRIBED INTERVIEW:
VIALUXE:
Mr Wunderman, can you tell me how you got involved in the watch industry?SEVERIN WUNDERMAN:
I was born in Brussels, Belgium and I came to the States when I was 15 and I started in the watch industry when I was about 20. I worked as a salesman for a French firm and my luck and my life turned around when I met Aldo Gucci - and that was the beginning of a very long friendship. He was my mentor, my friend, and he made our fortune.
VIALUXE:
Mr. Wunderman, it must be incredible to work with your son, Michael. Can you tell me what that’s like? SEVERIN WUNDERMAN:
Michael is the only one of my kids that has the passion as I do. In the watch industry you either have the passion or you don't. I have other businesses - let’s put it this way - the watch industry represents this much profit (small) and this much problems (larger). Whereas the other ones represent this much profit (big) and this much problems (small) and Michael is the only one out of all my children that really has the passion.
VIALUXE:
Michael, tell me a little about what it’s like working with your dad.MICHAEL WUNDERMAN:
Fantastic. My father, as you know my father is an icon and his success is contagious. He has been able to teach me so much in my life and has been my mentor. There are too many things I could tell you about my father. He's fantastic. He has supported me and there is no better of a father that I could have asked for.
SEVERIN WUNDERMAN:
You see Michael has also spent 7 years in La Chaux de Fond and coming from Beverly Hills that’s about the equivalent of coming from Lagos Nigeria. Fortunately now he has returned back to the States and he and my nephew are running the whole American division.
VIALUXE:
Talk to me about your relationship with Corum, the watch company.SEVERIN WUNDERMAN:
Corum is basically a love affair. Matter of fact one of the Corum watches, the Romulus, is one of the first watches I copied at Gucci. Corum also was always a brand that - matter of fact - I still always wear the $20 Gold Coin watch because the first time I ever saw that watch it was about $5000 and that would have been about $4999 more than I had. It’s really unbelievable that after so many years that I end up being the owner of the company.
VIALUXE:
When did you start to notice that Michael was starting to get the watch bug? SEVERIN WUNDERMAN:
I think it was at Gucci......In London.
MICHAEL WUNDERMAN:
No, no. The first watch you ever gave me. It was a 9000 with an MOP face. I remember it. It was like an eye. It was intriguing to me.
SEVERIN WUNDERMAN:
Michael was at one point - We were doing very well in the UK and my director happened to quit. I said, "Michael why don't you go there and keep it until we hire someone." And we completely forgot about it and Michael took over the English market and increased it 35 percent.
MICHAEL WUNDERMAN:
So it was really sink or swim at that time...
VIALUXE:
What advice did you give to Michael when he joined the watch business?SEVERIN WUNDERMAN:
Always have the respect of your peers and your employees. There has never been an employee of mine that I haven't done the job that he has. You do everything yourself. You always want to have the respect of your employees. You’re only as good as the people that are around you, and that’s the most important part.