On this week's episode of The Business of Watches, we wrangled some time with someone who was born into the world of the Swiss watch industry but who has taken an outsider's path to business success. Manuel Emch is the managing director of Louis Erard and also one-third of the radical upstart micro-brand Kollokium. We sat down last year, and Emch outlined his circuitous route and unique approach to building and selling watch brands. 

But first, Hodinkee Magazine's editorial director Malaika Crawford drops in to give her take on Louis Vuitton's latest novelties and La Fabrique du Temps with a behind-the-scenes look at the atelier and its skilled artisans and craftspersons. Plus–what is Rolex telling us with its latest group of Hollywood testimonees? 

Show Notes 

1:35 LVMH Watch Week 2026 

2:15 La Fabrique du Temps

8:30 New Rolex Testimonees in 2025 

11:00 Louis Erard 

11:20 Kollokium 

12:00 Grenchen, Switzerland

13:26 HEC Lausanne

16:00 Nick Hayek Sr. 

18:19 Jaquet Droz (Hodinkee) 

22:50 Jaquet Droz website 

27:30 Romain Jerome  

36:20 Louis Erard (Hodinkee) 

45:20 Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein 

54:00 MB&F 

58:10 Swatch AI Dada 

59:45 Kollokium (Hodinkee) 

1:02:00 Kollokium short film 

1:07:10 Tupperware 

1:13:07 Louis Erard Regulator