After 20 years of remarkable success in Switzerland – a country globally renowned for its watchmaking – he’s now ready to conquer the world in this new phase of his career: with a collection of one-of-a-kind astronomical watches, each crafted in a small town in the heart of the Netherlands.

To meet with Pim, we traveled to the Christiaan van der Klaauw office and workshop in Naarden. The company’s relocation to the middle of the country, from the province of Friesland where the namesake founder had both started and run the brand for decades, means it’s now conveniently located for a quick “in and out” from the Schiphol Airport. Marking one of the first big changes in his tenure as co-owner and CEO of the company, the move now forms one of Pim’s many considered and decisive steps – all aimed at securing the 50-year-old company’s unmissable name in the world of high-end watches.

We spoke with Pim about his stellar career in watches, from his education at the watchmaking school in Amsterdam to his early (amicable) refusal to work at Patek Philippe, followed by his instrumental role in the remarkable rise of watchmaking brands Frederique Constant and Ateliers de Monaco and, eventually, his return to his home country during the pandemic. For 2 years now, his complete focus has been aimed at bringing the one-of-a-kind astronomical watches of Christiaan van der Klaauw to the whole world and building a world-class brand based on quality, craft and the highest service that will live on for another 100 years, at least.

How did your life in watchmaking begin?

Koeslag: When I was about 16, I started to get interested in the idea of making jewelry – that had always appealed to me, especially the craft behind it. Especially the luxury segment.

So, I started looking for a program in Amsterdam, but my parents didn’t want me to go to such a big city yet, at such a young age. Being a parent now myself, I completely understand that. As a result of their decision, I completed another education first and finally started at the watchmaking school when I was 18. The school offered a combination of several crafts: goldsmithing, engraving, silversmithing, and watchmaking. We were required to do a little of each in the first year, but I knew after just a few weeks that watchmaking was it for me. I loved, and still love the fact that watchmaking is a combination of engineering and artistic design. Even back then, I thought that was really cool. Of course, you need technical skills to make jewelry, but creating a watch is even more complex: your design needs to incorporate a mechanism that sets something in motion, following the exact way you conceived it. I quickly became enormously passionate about that challenge. I still am.

What was your first introduction to the watch industry as a young student?

It was very gradual. When I finished watchmaking school, after 4 years, I had to choose whether to stay in the Netherlands or seek opportunities elsewhere. Within the Netherlands, a number of major brands and groups have repair centers. That’s nice and demanding work, but my personal feeling was that I liked to create things. Christiaan van der Klaauw was the only alternative – they were already creating timepieces when I was a student. Christiaan even came to my school once for a lecture, about 25 years ago. Even back then, I was enormously captivated by his story and work.

I even went to visit him in the province of Friesland once during my studies, and he still had all the beautiful lathes in his garage, because that was where the company was located at the time. That made quite an impression. So much so that when I finished my studies, I wanted to work for him – to be able to create. I had also gained experience by doing an internship at Patek Philippe in Switzerland, but my ideal was working at Christaan van der Klaauw. However, when I actually offered my services, Christiaan replied with: “Go to Switzerland for a few more years first, then come back and try again.” Those few years turned into 20 years, but there was a full circle element when I eventually got involved at Christiaan van der Klaauw a couple years ago.

What was your impression of the Swiss watch industry when you arrived there as a young boy from the Dutch province of Twente?

When I was an intern at Patek Philippe, there were already more than 1,000 people working there. I really got to experience a well-oiled machine. A machine with all kinds of rules and tight processes. That doesn’t take away from the fact that you can do all kinds of great things within such a company. But, before you even touch a tourbillon within that system, you’re 20 years down the road. You were only allowed to do that if you’d gone through every step along the way. On the other hand, you also get a good job for life, no question about that. But if you’re ambitious and, like me, want things to develop a little faster – let’s just say it was clear to me that Patek Philippe wasn’t the place for me. That’s why I said no to the job after my internship. But, after Christiaan’s advice, I decided to find another employer in Switzerland instead.

During my internship, I had also made good contacts at Frederique Constant, which was a less prestigious company. But it felt like there was a lot more space there, offering possibilities to create and pave my own path. There was an element of risk in my decision, because it was still a very small company. Only a total of 10 people were working there at the time. But it felt right. The company was a family business owned by the Dutch entrepreneurs Aletta and Peter Stas, who hadn’t been in Switzerland for very long, at that time. I was basically the first watchmaker with a degree they hired. The potential to make a difference at Frederique Constant convinced me to just give it a try. In the years that followed, the brand continued to grow. And I was also able to grow tremendously as an individual: from chief atelier to chief production, chief R&D, and, finally, technical director. In that role, I was responsible for overseeing all aspects of the product line at Frederique Constant. Looking back, that initial gamble worked out very well for me.

You chose very consciously to pursue the highest possible ambition, rather than take the safe road.

Yes, I had that in me from very early on: I’ve always wanted to make the most of everything, and that basically depends on your personal choices and actions. I became convinced of that from an early age. And I still am.

Eventually, you also had an important role in the development of Aletta and Peter Stas’s new brand: Ateliers de Monaco.

Because Frederique Constant was doing so well, all sorts of opportunities opened up to me – and in 2008 the decision was made to launch a new, high-end brand. I became its CEO at one point. That was the logical continuation of my role as technical director at Frederique Constant. Having been responsible for all its product lines, I was already the company’s public representative, to the press and in other areas of public relations. I found those interactions – getting to see how people reacted to the products – particularly fascinating. And it also provided me with insights to better understand how to be successful as a company in the watch industry. Those experiences then became the basis for a successful launch of the new high-end brand Ateliers de Monaco.

Why was the high-end segment chosen for this new brand?

That was, again, mainly a question of the highest level of ambition. At a certain point I had seen it all in the middle segment, with Frederique Constant. Eventually, I turned to owner Peter Stas and expressed my desire to delve further into the luxury segment at another company. His response was that we could start a new brand with more complex timepieces together. Two weeks later, he made his offer concrete and asked me to take the lead. That was enough for me to stay. To help build that all the way from the bottom up was a fantastic opportunity for me. From product development to marketing, brand image, and a specific customer base – I literally got involved in everything. In retrospect, it was a lot more work than I realized it would be at the start, but it also ended up resulting in clients like the Prince of Monaco, the Prince of Qatar, professional footballers, presidents – you name it.

Just like in made-to-measure tailoring – which is, of course, our domain as Atelier Munro – do you also build very close relationships with your customers as a high-end watch brand?

Absolutely, the target group for an Ateliers de Monaco watch is people who can buy almost anything. Which makes it very crucial, especially as a new brand, to be able to explain very precisely and specifically what makes your product distinct. In that same vein, we also believed very much in extraordinary service and close contact between the customer and maker. We’ve always been committed to that and it became a huge asset that I, as the CEO, was also a watchmaker myself. Moreover, we had a very clear focus on quality. Compared to the big brands, we couldn’t afford any production errors. When those happen at a brand with high production volumes, no one really hears about it. For us, it would have been disastrous for our reputation in those early years. Fortunately, it never did happen, partly because of our enormous emphasis on quality. And I brought that same approach and philosophy with me to Christiaan van der Klaauw.

How did you end up back in the Netherlands with Christiaan van der Klaauw?

Eventually, Citizen Group took over Peter and Aletta’s whole company, which included Ateliers de Monaco and Frederique Constant, among others. Things changed then. They employed some 20,000 people, which turned my role into much more of a managerial position. The element of entrepreneurship, which I had always enjoyed enormously, disappeared completely. That said, I found it very instructive to be involved on that scale. But I soon decided it wasn’t for me. I missed the space for creativity and initiative, so the time had clearly come for my next step.

I have 3 kids and my wife suggested at one point that she’d like to return to the Netherlands. Then the pandemic came and that may have given us the final push. At first, I didn’t have a definite plan, professionally speaking. I continued to fly back and forth to Geneva every week for a while. But after a year or so I heard somewhere that the then-owners of Christiaan van der Klaauw, Daniël and Maria Reintjes, were looking for a successor. Fast-forward a few months and we came to an actual agreement. That was 2 years ago now.

What was it like to return to the Netherlands?

It was a very interesting experience. I had gone from a small town in Twente to Amsterdam to study, but left for Switzerland immediately after my studies. I’d never had a job or even my own house in the Netherlands. Actually, a lot was new to me. Which made it all very special.

And what was it like returning to the company you had once observed as a student in Christiaan’s garage?

It was very nice to see what Daniël and Maria, together with Christiaan, had built with the company. Both at the product level – rewarded with the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Geneve in 2021 – among others. Also, in terms of marketing collaborations, such as with the world-renowned jewelry house Van Cleef & Arpel. But it remained a diamond in the rough, in my eyes. Christiaan van der Klaauw has a unique proposition thanks to its focus on astronomy – which is actually the basis of all Western timekeeping. How we go about that, including with our planetarium watches and our watches with 3D moons – no other watch brand does that! The commercial evolution that would be necessary to actually make that available worldwide is where I saw the greatest potential for the brand. And I had a very concrete vision for that, based on all the experience I gained in the years before I joined the company.

What is your vision for the future of Christiaan van der Klaauw?

My focus now, together with the team, is on commercial growth. That focus started in Asia, where we now have about 20 new outlets. We also want to expand further into America, the Middle East, and further into Europe – that’s how we need to steadily develop. I’m very much looking forward to that. Especially because there are all kinds of opportunities in retail at the moment, with the big brands having increasingly opened their own mono-brand stores, resulting in room and demand in the retail landscape for smaller independent brands that can offer customers something unique. In that sense, it helps that I can draw on the network I’ve built over the years, both on the commercial side and with the media. People know what I stand for because of my past.

Quality remains the core of everything. What I said earlier, about how important consistency was to the success of Ateliers de Monaco, that still applies. I also see that as an important personal trait: my insistence on guaranteeing top quality, no matter where I work. We’ve also expanded the studio in the last 2 years to increase production. Ensuring the highest possible quality is a challenge I both enjoy and put a lot of energy into.

And how do you see your future?

I see my future as being completely intertwined with the development of Christiaan van der Klaauw. I believe I’ll be working on this brand for a very long time, which has been my intention from the beginning. I just want to make extraordinary products with a great team. And thus give this beautiful Dutch heritage brand a bright future. We’ve been around for 50 years now and, together, we have to make sure it will exist for at least another 100 years. I see Christiaan van der Klaauw as an important continuation of the Dutch tradition of high-quality, innovative product development, mostly in design. As a luxury product, we certainly have something to add on that level.

Personally, I also see a lot of room for development in the brand’s strategy. We already have a good foundation, but I know I can still learn a lot in that sense. My drive and ambition to become better in those areas now is no less than the drive I had when I left for Switzerland as a young graduate. I’m very much looking forward to going full steam ahead in the coming years – to helping the whole world become familiar with and appreciate the Dutch astronomical watch brand Christiaan van der Klaauw.