It was an education that would serve him well in his later years. In the meantime, Raffy’s passion for timepieces took a backseat as he completed his studies and took over the family’s pharmaceutical business. At 38, Raffy decided to drop everything and become a stay-home dad to his two daughters (a third child, a son, was born in 2004). The devoted father explains, “I told myself that I was going to stop everything and retire. My dream was to educate my children and be with them every step of the way. I wanted to watch them grow up.” Raffy, now 54, says his family did not believe him, as they knew he would be bored without a job. They were right. Investors came knocking on his door and he received and rejected numerous investment offers until 2007. “When I retired, some of my banker friends told me that they knew how much I appreciated true watchmaking and they presented me with various brands that needed an investor. The only one that spoke to me was Bovet.”
SINGAPORE (Sept 17): Instead of kicking a football around or rough-housing with his cousins as a teenager, Pascal Raffy spent every Sunday with his grandfather learning about timepieces in the French Ardennes region. Raffy says that from the age of 13 years old, he was privileged to learn all about “true watchmaking through very beautiful brands and the uniqueness of pocket timepieces of the 19th century”.
His grandfather, who was an avid collector of timepieces, would introduce a new aspect of a timepiece every time they met. Learning about a watch’s movement intrigued the young Raffy. He explains, “You learn about the case, the dial, the hands and the details of the finishing. It’s a full education.”
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