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The ‘recognisable character’ Lockett talks about isn’t simply to do with the look of the watches, it’s also about perception. In the US the brand has forged a very useful strategic partnership with the world of aviation. Developing it’s tag line of ‘Nothing Impossible’ Torgoen Swiss has become the timepiece of
Brand Profile
Torgoen Swiss A new watch brand on the circuit, Torgoen Swiss is winning fans for its sporty good looks as well as competively-priced quality Jack Hawksworth in action!
o jewellery retailers who carry a healthy stock of watches, it can be something of a holy grail – namely a well-made, well-priced brand that isn’t gracing every other jeweller’s window. They’ve got their high-end names with the associated kudos, they’ve got a smattering of fashion brand timepieces to maintain their style cred – now they need something, well, just ‘a bit different’. So, step forward Torgoen Swiss. Not only is it pretty new to the UK – a handful of stockists and growing in a measured manner – it’s a relative newcomer globally, having been established just 13 years ago. Designed in the USA, but Swiss-made using Swiss movements, Torgoen Swiss has
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developed to become a very well-recognised brand in America, largely thanks what executive vice president Mike Lockett describes as the ‘price value relationship’. With retail prices sitting very comfortably below $1,000 (£160 - £540) this is a brand that offers, in Lockett’s words: “high-build quality for a mid-price watch”. Elaborating on the theme, he adds: “There are very many fine timepieces and watch brands on the market today, but we are one of the very few companies that operate in the mid-price segment offering this kind of build quality. We deliver highquality timepieces designed with recognisable character at very affordable prices.”
choice of top aerobatic pilot Spencer Suderman, whose flight school is actually called Torgoen Academy. In fact Torgoen was actually founded by another pilot, Benzi Rosenski, so it stands to reason that the qualities of the watches chime with the needs of airmen – and any other sportsmen come to that. While pilots may well be lured by just such an affordable quartz timepiece, the ‘Nothing Impossible’ ethos has been adapted for the UK market. Torgoen Swiss is now distributed in the UK by John and Peter Carmichael of Since 1853 Ltd, who have broadened the meaning of the phrase by embracing “highachievers in sport on land, sea and in the air”. The first ambassadors for the brand in the UK are two British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) drivers, Matt Neal and Gordon Sheddon of Team Honda, who are currently first and third in the 2011 championship respectively. “Creating and building brand awareness is our focus for Torgoen Swiss” Matt Neal on the grid