Interview with Giorgia Mondani, daughter of Guido Mondani:

Hello Giorgia, a pleasure to see you, and I am happy to interview you with some interesting questions that are on my heart.

(Giorgia and myself)

1 – Giorgia, can you tell us a bit about what made you decide to join your father’s business?

At the time, 4 years ago, I was working for Antiquorum Geneva since one year and a half but too many things happened in that company and the best decision for me was leaving the company.

I loved the watch field and I liked my father’s book.. it was the most reasonable choice. Following my dad’s work is a huge satisfaction for me.

2 – How old is your father’s publishing firm?  Did your father start it?  Was Mondani Editore always writing books about watches?

My father started around 40 years ago publishing books about our city. Books about Genova’s culture, language and cuisine. Then, 1989 my mother gave him as a gift his first Rolex: he fell in love.

He noticed that at the time there was no information about Rolex and started to make these big books.. He joined passion and work and created a completely new way to collect Rolex.

3 – In your family, is everybody watchcrazy? 

We all love watches.. My mother, my boyfriend and me, we all love Rolex. In particular, my mother loves diamonds, like every woman and my boyfriend is crazy for Daytona ! But the biggest Rolex fan in my family is my dad 🙂

4 – And, are you all fans of vintage Rolex?

I like vintage Rolexes and I recognize their true value. I also like modern Rolexes because it is safer to wear.

5 – Which watchcompany is your favorite?  And, what do you prefer, vintage or modern watches?  What is your favorite function on a watch?

This is a very easy question for me 🙂 I am the daughter of Mr. Guido Mondani.. Guess which brand is my favorite? 🙂

Vintage watches are much more fascinating.. they have a place in history and we can see how they change value year after year.. But for practical and logistic reasons I prefer modern watches because I can easily wear them. I don’t like complicated watches but I appreciate Rolex watches’ characteristics: Strong Oyster case, water proof and the possibility to have a sport and elegant watch at the same time.

I prefer men’s watches.. cannot wear small women Rolex 🙂

6 – Where do you see your publishing firm in 10 years?  What plans do you have?

I see our editions all around the world..

Until some years ago my dad’s company worked 90% in Italy; now we work 90% abroad and we still have a lot of margin to increase our business in Asia, USA and Middle East.

Thanks to a new collaboration, we are now trying to improve our sales in Singapore, Hong Kong and China and this year we attended two shows in USA: American love our books, in particular the big size ones. 

It is really pleasant to see that people know our name and brand everywhere in the world and our goal is being in every single country with a massive presence in the main watch and Rolex dealers and libraries.

We will certainly follow the technology evolution and make new app for Apple and Android and will also keep making extremely high quality big books  – in particular limited edition which will be rare and prestigious collectable pieces themselves – about Rolex and Patek Philippe. We will also commercialize editions about Panerai and Omega, but only if they have a very high quality.

Our project for 2013 – This is the very first time we talk about this project in public – is a very prestigious limited edition titled Steel Rolex, where we will have a lot of new content, new high quality images and all the information the collector of today and tomorrow really needs. Many watch experts will collaborate with us in order to offer an even more reliable contempt. 

There will be a lot of surprises in this book .. you will see ;P

7 – Would you write a book on Tudor? 

90% we will commercialize a book on Tudor next year.. We will keep you posted !

8 – If you could only wear one watch, which model would it be?

Green Rolex Submariner ref. 116610, the first one I bought with my fiancé.

9 – How will your father’s publishing firm continue after your father hands over the company to you?

I am making a good and rich experience and I am trying to learn everything I can in order to be able to maintain the same quality of products and information..

By the way, my father is one of those men who will never stop working 🙂 

10 – Would you consider writing books about other watchmanufactures, such as Breguet, Rado, Jaeger LeCoultre, Audemars Piguet, Hublot, and others that may not so be so wellknown?

It would be very interesting to make a book about other brands, all together or some dedicated ones. At the moment we are very focused on Rolex, Patek, Panerai and Omega but in the future you never know..

Rolex Daytona Story and Rolex Submariner Story are the best ones.. They represent the very best Rolex guides ever, based on our customers feedbacks. he studied for years to make these 2 books.. The Daytona and Submariner / Sea-Dweller markets are very complex today and it is difficult to recognize which details are really important for collecting, seeing all the differences between small details of the dials, bezels, etc. 

Collecting Rolex is every day more difficult and it is the same in preparing the books.. Collectors want to know every single detail and difference of the watch and we must be very scrupulous before publishing information.

13 – Can you tell us a bit about your latest book, the book “Total Rolex”?

Total Rolex is a book which show the complete production of Rolex; all references are published and for each one we specify the reference, the updated price, the period of production and the material. Even if it is not detailed, we can say that it is the most complete work on Rolex.

This book includes the Sky-Dweller and all the models produced in 2012. Texts are in 5 languages (English, German, Italian, French and Spanish) and it is the perfect book for those who want to get closer to the Rolex Market.

14 – Are you thinking about new distribution channels for your books?  Could you imagine to have a brick and mortar store with your books and maybe watches?

As I mentioned before, we plan to be in many watch boutiques and store all over the world. We are very strong in Italy, France, Germany, Sweden, Spain and Holland and we want to improve the Asian and American market. We also want to improve our sales on line through our web site, our ebay store and amazon.

Internet allows you to get everywhere you want, but once we reach new clients, we still love to have a personal relation with them.

15 – When you look at Rolex timepieces, where do you see prices of vintage Rolex going versus modern Rolex prices? 

I think that many of the Rolex watches produced in the last years will become important and expensive vintage pieces and I also believe that some Rolex typologies are sure investments, such as Daytona and Submariner. I bet James Bond Sub and Daytona Paul Newman will achieve higher and  higher values.

I love being directly in contact with my clients. I take care of the entire foreign clientele and I spoke (on the phone) with almost every single one.

I also love traveling and this job allows me to visit amazing places. This year I went to New York, Las Vegas, Madrid, Monaco and Hong Kong. 

17 – Your father is considered to be one of the greatest experts on vintage Rolex, how do you work with him, is this sometimes a burden for you, a challenge, how do you view this?

My father is a great worker and a genius.. Sometimes it is not easy because he wants me to do too many things but most of the time it is amazing because I can learn from the best ! 

We have a good relationship and thanks to the union between “old” and “young” Mondani brain we are improving our services, quality and presence.

Regarding his fame, it is just a huge pleasure for me to see how he is respected from people all over the world.

I want to thank you for being such a professional and serious partner. You are an active part of our growing process and the reason why we can work together is that we share the same passion and honesty is an important value.