In the latest in his series of interviews with key female figures in the long male-dominated watch industry, Kristian Haagen talks to the woman steering famed watch retailer Nymans Ur 1851
When Charlotta Eriksson took over as CEO at family-owned watch retailer Nymans Ur 1851 in 2014, she naturally bought herself a timepiece to celebrate. "A Rolex Day-Date in yellow gold with a green leather strap," she says. "It's still one of my favourites. This model is sometimes referred to as the leaders' watch because significant leaders have worn it throughout time."
It was a fitting way to mark an extraordinary rise - a rise that didn't stop there. At 32, Eriksson became one of the youngest CEOs in the industry when she took the helm of the once-struggling Stockholm-based brand. Today, the business - which specialises in selling and servicing the biggest names in watches - has an annual turnover of more than 50 million Euros and owns the largest, and most modern workshop in Scandinavia. As a result, Eriksson has been recognised as one of the most powerful people in Swedish fashion.
Charlotta Eriksson, CEO of Nymans Ur 1851. Photo: Supplied
Eriksson admits that the offer of the CEO position came "much earlier than I would have ever anticipated" but notes that an Executive MBA she'd undertaken at Stockholm School of Economics had given her "very intense preparation for the challenges I would encounter ahead."
She had also previously witnessed the transformation of Nymans Ur 1851 from "a bleeding company on the brink of bankruptcy to a very profitable and high performing company" during an earlier stint with the retailer as shop manager at a time when the business was being sold. After what she terms "an exciting two years" in that role, she joined another famed Swedish jewellery store - Krons - where she transitioned to a sales position, but it's clear that her time on the shop floor has stayed with her. "I truly love retail," she says with sincerity. "The simplicity of buying and then selling goods is just so easy to get a grip of - and yet very complicated too. Especially within the high-end watches, it’s just another game compared to traditional retail and it seems many cannot understand this."
Once a repair has been carried out at Nyman Ur 1851's Authorized Watch Service Centre, the brand performs a pressure test to confirm that the watch is water resistant to the manufacturers specification. . Photo: Nymans Ur 1851
Photo: Nymans Ur 1851
So would she go back to being in a store if she wasn't in the C-suite? "For me, a specific position is not the most important, but a position where my ideas are listened to and where I can drive change would be my criteria," she says of the what-if. "This is commonly never linked to a position itself but more the culture of the company or the individuals you work for. I, for example, always felt that my voice was heard at Nymans Ur 1851. A good idea or a suggestion for improvement was always welcomed."
Having her voice heard is something that Eriksson is especially conscious of in what is a traditionally male-dominated industry. "Personally, I never minded working with males," she says of the gender imbalance in the sector. "However, I do feel it is a loss for the industry not to have been able to attract or appoint more female leaders. Diversity is a good thing. And even though the industry is picking up, it’s way too slow. It should not be forgotten that the potential end consumers are 50 per cent females. Track records also show that businesses with higher gender diversity in leading positions perform better."
While it's clear that businesses and brands need to do far more, Eriksson offers some guidance for those on the other side of the equation: "Advice often comes best when it’s direct and personal, but if I’m to give general advice to aspiring women it would simply be not to let anyone put you down. We’re in an industry filled with power struggles and sometimes power will be used to put someone else down. If you let this get to you, you might as well quit from the beginning. But if you believe in yourself it will only make you stronger."
Nymans Ur 1851 owns the largest, and most modern workshop in Scandinavia.
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Eriksson's own career certainly continues to go from strength-to-strength, and her impact is increasingly felt beyond just the watch industry in Scandinavia, as shown by her placing in the top 40 of Kings magazine's '100 most powerful people in Swedish fashion' in 2018. "It is always a positive thing to be highlighted or recognised for what you do," she says. "It doesn’t change how I work or how I consider myself, however, I do embrace the fact that the fashion industry in Sweden is including watches and jewellery into their definition, and I very much agree with that. In so many other parts of the world, fashion is still only defined as clothing or 'other' accessories. But I think it’s only fair to include watches and high-end jewellery into that category as well."