On Saturday, we will communicate the secret code to the Mille-Mer Ambassadors and Buyers of the Bohen StarDiver. It will give them the priority for, at least, a week in advance and a special price to say thank you.
After that time, the store access will be open to everyone and the price will start to change gradually until reaching its final price.
It will be possible to pay in three or four installments, by choosing the “offline payment” option in the payment form. In this case, you will proceed with 3 or 4 bank transfers. For countries outside Europe, please note that transfer costs will be at the buyer charge.
Even if we increased the quantities from 300 up to 500 pieces, the delivery date will remain in September.
The launch of our third model, the Bohen Grande-Marine, is a big turning point for us. It is also an opportunity to share with you about our experience, busy with work and without seeing the time passing.
After the success of the Mille-Mer, the Bohen StarDiver has kept all its promises since we sold more than half of the stocks in less than a year. This is a remarkable result considering its positioning as a pure tool watch; a result thanks to enthusiastic press and through word of mouth which allowed the brand to be established in more than thirty countries worldwide. Our fundamentals are excellent, so far Bohen is a success story and we are working hard to keep it that way.
Currently, we are about to obtain the “innovative company” label, which will allow us to invest sustainably in research and development. Our peers and our manufacturers no longer see us as a micro-brand but as a young, up-and-coming brand. We obtained significant financing which allowed us to completely avoid the risk of having to bring in investors and dilute our capital, thanks to the commitment of “Region Sud”, “Chamber of Commerce” and the “Public Investment Bank”.
Clearly, Bohen has consolidated itself extremely well and will remain a family business, as we wanted from the start.
As we have always wanted, our customers come from very varied backgrounds. Little by little, we were able to bring into our adventure major watch-collectors who were won over by our approach, which is as exigent as it is passionate, and who appreciated the fact that we only produce our models in small quantities.
Another point, and I admit that it is extremely pleasant, no one doubts on our seriousness, our quality, or our honesty anymore. It’s quite the opposite and it’s a reward that gives us strength and a lot of happiness.
For our chapter III, I have chosen to propose to you a watch of the same level as its sisters, but this time focused on elegance. The work on the dial brought us back to this “luxury” side, with a technical marriage between a color gradient and an anisotropy effect. Although masculine, the general dimensions are also more contained, we have even managed to produce, probably, the thinnest watch with waterproof to 600 meters on the market.
On the price side, we keep on the same way by tightening our margin as much as possible to balance with the increase in raw materials. To be frank, our margin is perfectly sufficient for us since we are a light structure and we have chosen not to work with retailers. As a result, the Grande-Marine will be substantially more accessible than the Mille-Mer, although its manufacturing cost is very close. You have understood, the Grande-Marine was born to become, over the years, a great classic and of course, it will have variations because I don't like to do the same thing twice.
Finally, let me tell you that we are already working on other projects. Our next model will be a very prestigious chronograph, trust me.
Bohen's vocation is to inject a strong dose of emotion and to bring the exception to a market made up of copies, re-copies, homage watches (a term used by small brands to steal from the big ones) and re-issues or re-editions (term of big brands lacking inspiration)…
With Bohen, you made the choice of the small brand, because you know we are doing the work that the big ones no longer do. The fault is on the financiers, on the shareholders, on the race for profitability, on marketing, on optimization.
Let's stay small, but think big…
Sincerely, Blaise-Dominique.