Thierry Gasquez is the founder of Passion Horlogère a French-language site.

1. Describe briefly your childhood.

I had a happy childhood. I lived in a popular district of a small town in Gard, in the South of France, surrounded by many friends and a very loving family. I was the last of 4 children, with a brother and two sisters much older than me. This probably explains why they were so considerate of me. Instead of rejecting me because I was too small to follow them, they brought me along with them and their stories of young people, a bit like a mascot. At the age of 6, I spent my time among a band of rebellious teenagers who had Punk, Funky, or Rasta looks. It was very colourful and very funny. In a basement of the building we lived in and which they had furnished with sofa, fridge, and all the necessary comfort for a group of young teenagers, I turned on their cigarettes, and I finished their dregs of beer bottles in a smoky atmosphere listening thoroughly to Renaud, Telephone, The Clash, or Bob Marley. I am therefore lucky to have lived through two adolescences in my life.

2. As a child did you have any driving ambition?

I don't remember having had any particular ambitions. I always lived day by day. I just remember that as a child I said that at 18 I would be married, that I would have a job and children. This number "18" was for me the symbol of the transition to adulthood. It's not only after I understood that at 18 you still aspire to are still a part child.

3. What is your first significant memory as a child?

I have so many memories of my childhood... if I had to choose one it would be my first rugby training. I was 5 years old and I accompanied my big brother to find the mother of one of his best friends who was an educator of toddlers, the category that we called "mini chicks". It was the category of children of 6 years old. So they were all a year older than me. It happened on a Wednesday at the beginning afternoon. This visit, which was supposed to be shortened, finally lasted. I had been captivated by "Gaël", a player who ran fast, tackled fearlessly, and made his teammates shine. Nicole and "Jean-Jean", the two educators, offered for me to join them and to try the oval ball. I remember the efforts and the address requested. I remember beads of sweat beading on Jean-Jean's forehead and reaching his bard's necklace. It was very hard, but we had the reward of the small game at the end of the session. I was too small to take a license for this end of the season, but I attended all the training that remained, accepted as a member of the team, even if I could not make the matches with them. And the following year I took my first rugby license, a sport that I practiced then for over 20 years. A magnificent discovery for me, and as the slogan at the time, "a school of life".

4. Have you ever had another profession?

I started working very early. They weren’t not real jobs but "summer jobs". That allowed me to make a little pocket money to buy what I wanted. I  started at the age of 14 taking care of neighbour’s animals and houses when they were going on vacation. And then I was doing odd jobs for the elderly by going to buy the newspapers, bread and other necessities. This allowed me to earn a bit of money that I would run to spend with my friends on some treats. At the age of 16 years old, living in a region of orchards, I started working in the summer picking fruit.

Then, once I got my baccalaureate, during my higher education, I worked as a school supervisor. In middle school, then in high school where I’ve kept great memories. This allowed me to regularly make replacements of absent teachers, and therefore to confirm this desire which was mine to embrace a teaching career in History / Geography. But life sometimes leads to other paths than the one imagined, I made a career in another administration, within the Ministry of Economy and Finance. many good years again, before having the chance to make a living from my passion for watchmaking. I had a chance to have always worked and always done exciting things and never had the need to do a job for "food" which I am aware of, and wish everyone!

5. What made you decide to go in the direction you are currently in?

I needed 3 essential ingredients:

- Passion - I never had a career plan in mind. I have always evolved on instinct, and I have always had a passion for what I do. Before, I learned to love what I did by practice. With watchmaking, it was different because I went from a hobby to a passion that later became a profession.

- Encounters – My job would never have been possible without the great encounters I have could do in my life. Initially, my friend Emmanuel introduced me to fine watchmaking. Then, my wife, my family and my friends encouraged me in this passion by offering me my very first beautiful watch for my 30th birthday. And afterwards, from this budding passion with the desire to share it, then many other people who encouraged me and sometimes supported me. This is the case for the very first, Hervé Laniez, Managing Director of Seiko France, and Jean-Claude Biver who needs no introduction. They were the first in the profession to bet on me.

- Luck – You always need it in any professional career. Luck, chance, part hazards turn things upside down. I think sailing under a lucky star and being inspired by happy coincidences lead me in good directions. As long as it lasts...

6. What’s the worst job you’ve had to do?

This is agricultural work: topping corn. In stifling heat, in the middle of summer, with the obligation to be very well covered over the whole body to not to be cut by the corn leaves, face hidden, head covered, wearing glasses, move along the rows of corn to top them. We have our arms constantly in the air to grab the tops of those long stems, and you walk in rows of 200 to 300 meters in length in mud that sticks to your boots and weighs you down several kilograms. It's really something very very painful and physically draining. This kind of summer job builds character and gives real reasons to seek success in studies, believe me! But I really don't regret having had this type of experience. We always grow from it!

7. What’s been the hardest moment in your life so far, and how did you overcome it?

The worst moments in life, in my opinion, are those that touch the flesh. The loss of a loved one, injuries and physical suffering for you or someone you love are all tests that must be undergone.  Alas, it is the lot of everyone and we must exceed that.  Without forgetting, but drawing from it the strength that you can result from it.

8. Who has had the strongest influence on you?

On a personal level, without hesitation, I would mention my best friend, Eric, who has always been very very close to me. We have been inseparable for 30 years and have contributed to respectively shaping us. He is the godfather of my daughter, I am the godfather of his. He knows everything about me and I about him. It is a fusional relationship where when one of us start a sentence, the other could finish it. We met at the very beginning of our adolescence, he came from Mexico and from a life of travels because of the profession of his parents, whereas I had never left France, and rarely from my region. We played rugby together and we had the same rejection of injustice. At the professional level, I have always had the chance to meet incredible people. James Chiffoleau, a professor from the University of Avignon gave me a taste for teaching. Ahmed Zitouni, professor at Science Po Aix-en-Provence encouraged me to work hard to succeed. Alexandre Romero, at MINEFI showed me the way of management. And finally, in the watchmaking world, I must say that I learned a lot by observing and rubbing shoulders with Jean-Claude Biver a few times. He is the man who taught me the most and supported me the most these last years. He is brilliant in his analysis and in his decision criteria. He has the ability to always be one step ahead because he isn’t scared. He never rests on his laurels and has the ability to speak to the great as well as to the anonymous. Always with one goal: to move forward, find the talent or the idea of tomorrow. He will always be for me "first, only, and different" as he likes to say.

9. What are you most proud of?

I am not particularly proud of one thing. I am very happy with many things in my life and that suits me well enough. But if I had to make a choice, it would be my children. Maybe they will one day make me a proud man.

10. What advice would you give to a 20 something someone thinking of taking a similar path as you?

Only start if you do not have the ambition to succeed at all cost or to change everything. It is always necessary to stay humble. By concentrating only on objectives, we forget the very engine of such an undertaking passion. It has to be instinctive. Passion is not a profession, passion is not a hobby. She is both at the same time. When one is passionate, one does not have to feel like working, but that is all we do!

11. Name three things on your bucket list.

In France it is said that to have a successful life one must have achieved three things: Have had at least one child, plant a tree, and write a book. I am fortunate to have achieved these three things. We can therefore conclude that I am a happy man and that potentially I could die tomorrow. Even if I don't wish to. There are so many beautiful things to experience, people to meet, and happiness to share…

12. Where do you think the watch industry is going to be in 10 years time?

I am very confident for this industry because we meet real talent here. Crisis is a godsend because it allows you to get back to work and sort out "the good grain of the tares". We have gone very far into the implausible and today we are witnessing a normalisation of the sector. We still need to recontextualize watchmaking. A watch today is without probably the most useless object there is. In my opinion, it only has a value linked to pleasure. And that's what makes it an essential object for a large number of people. I am of these people for whom pleasure and emotions are essential in life. So whatever the watch, its value, its complications, its functions and its aesthetics, it must provoke emotions in whoever possesses it or seeks to acquire it. That involves all forms of creativity at the level of the watchmaking product but also at the level of the experience that will accompany the encounter between the watch and its (future) owner. And in this, I am very confident because watchmakers have always demonstrated resources and the ability to adapt. I hope to be still there in 10 years to be able to testify to the readers of “Passion Horlogère”.

To find out more about Thierry Gasquez