Raymond Weil, founder and honorary president of Raymond Weil Geneve, passed away at age 87 over the weekend. A pioneer and entrepreneur in the watchmaking industry, Weil in 1976, in the middle of the most severe watch industry crisis, founded his own company to create high quality watches with superior design at affordable prices.
His company was one of the first to emerge from the downturn that characterized much of the 1970s in the Swiss watchmaking industry. Today his company is one of the few watch brands to bear the name of the founder and still operate as a family business. His son-in-law Olivier Bernheim is at the helm and two grandsons Elie and Pierre Bernheim are the chief officers of the company today.
“Raymond Weil was a self-made man. He was my mentor and I learned so much from him,” says Olivier Bernheim, President & CEO of Raymond Weil. “His legacy and enthusiasm will live on through our family, his brand, its team over the world and all of those who wear the watch that bears his name.”
Weil occupied several high positions in various professional organizations throughout his career: he was President of the Geneva Watchmaker Union, Vice-President of the Watchmaking Industry Training Centre (CFH), and member of the Watchmaking Federation (FH) and other employers’ associations. Until 1995, he was also President of the Exhibitors Committee of the Basel International Watch and Jewellery Fair.
Other than watchmaking, Weil’s great loves of life were his family, painting, aviation and music. He was passionate about classical and lyrical music as well as about contemporary art.