Very rarely do I write about particular people in the watch industry because of the dirty politics associated with it, but this time around it’s for a different reason. I don’t know how many of you like the brand Corum, but even though I would personally rather wear a Casio G-Shock with a smelly Velcro strap, it has always had it’s own niche of dedicated collectors. They have been Fine Swiss Watch Makers since 1955. The man responsible for taking the brand to new heights was none other than Severin Wunderman. Severin was an absolute legend in the industry and very well respected. He had a vision, a very rare passion and his outlook on life was anything but conservative. He lead the most interesting life, till it sadly came to a screeching halt when he died of a stroke on June 25TH 2008. He was 69 years old. Severin had a long stint of success starting in 1972 when he was given the liscence to produce Gucci watches by the Gucci family. Severin was able to produce these timepieces under his own company Severin Montres Limited, for a good twenty-five years. This relationship was eliminated by The Gucci Group in the late nineties because they wanted to regain control and produce their own watches like happy little fascists, that didn’t really matter because they are still god awful and no one likes them except women dancing around a pole.
Even though this long relationship came to an end, Severin made good, because in 2000 he bought Corum SA, and has since increased it’s distribution from Zero to almost 200 points of sale in the US market alone. The brand went from a stodgy old coin watch to their iconic identity with the infamous bubble watches which became their bread and butter staples. These limited edition Bubbles also were done in the name of charity, when Corum SA donated the proceeds of a quarter of a million dollars of sales to the Victims families of the Sept 11 twin tower attacks in 2001. These limited edition bubbles had dials of the American Flag and the caseback representing the pride of America. His charity also spread further with more personal issues as he was battling lung cancer, where he donated millions to cancer research. Severin always had his own unique flair, incorporating skulls into his bubble watches making them limited with crazy packaging and being ahead of their time in such a stuffy traditional industry.
Today, Severin’s son Michael Wunderman who was the President of Montres Corum, has returned to California and become the President of Corum USA, as of this past January. He has been a pillar of strength to Severin over the years, and even with the horrific tragedy of his fathers death, he plans to carry out his fathers vision in his own unique way. His involvement over the past 10 years in Switzerland, home of watchmaking has been one of the key factors in catapulting the success of the brand from a global perspective. With the reconstruction of the Admirals Cup two years ago, the brand has been reinvented making a hearty masculine watch with creativity, passion and watchmaking as the future new icon of Corum.
For the US market, Corum is lauching the Admirals Cup Challenge Black Flag, which will be a 100 piece limited edition that will be unveiled November 20TH, 2008. This is a watch I wouldn’t mind wearing for the day. The case is a staggering 48 mm octagonal shape, and is constructed out of black titanium with a rubber bezel, the dial is black and coated with blue superluminova for the ultimate black rebel aesthetic. The functions include a three register chronograph with bold Arabic numerals, a semicircle seamless integrated date wheel in between the three o’clock and six o’clock chronograph registers, and a 24 mm black rubber strap that you could whip anyone’s ass with. The movement is just as solid as the the housing, which is an automatic chronometer COSC certified Corum caliber CO753 movement. As much as this year was the end of an era for Corum, this is the start of new brand that has one hell of a platform to grow from!
pic courtesy of www. corum.com
JOHNNY FLYBACK 