Whether you’re the proud owner of a Jaeger-LeCoultre, fortunate enough to act as custodian to a vintage Cartier, or simply view your Rolex Submariner as an example of horological perfection, watches of this calibre represent a serious investment, both financially and (in many cases) emotionally. Revered as they are by so many, they deserve more than to be thrown on the kitchen bench or bedside table at the end of each day. Instead, ownership comes with a duty of care until it’s time to hand them down to the next generation.
When it comes to this kind of metaphorical torch passing, few embody it as fully as Simon Philip Wolf V. The fifth-generation head of WOLF—a brand that has mastered the art of watch and jewellery care over its immense 190-year history—Simon first joined his family’s business in 1985 and has gone on to build on the foundation first established by his great-great-grandfather in 1834.
Having spent his career carving a path that balances the pursuit of innovation with a healthy respect for heritage, Simon is now marking the extraordinary milestone that is 190 years of his family’s legacy via a very personal range of products that pay tribute to his forbears and showcase WOLF’s sustainable path forward. Before the range’s launch event at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art, he sat down with us to discuss all things watches, legacy, and just what it means to be a Wolf.
Words of Wisdom
Sitting at an upper-floor corner window overlooking the Harbour Bridge from the Four Seasons Hotel, Simon proves to be in fine form as he opens up about his journey to this point. When encountering someone who has moved in the luxurious circles of the watch industry for the best part of 40 years, there’s always the fear that they’ll be—for lack of a better term—entirely unbearable. Fortunately, Simon proves to be the embodiment of good company.
“My father has always said to me, ‘Don’t eff it up!’” he says with a wryly self-deprecating tone. “Being able to come to Australia and do an event like this in Sydney, I think, is proof that I haven’t. But I always worry that I might.”
The odds of the WOLF brand, erm, dropping the ball under his stewardship at this point seem pretty slim. Having taken the helm from his father around 20 years ago, the brand has only moved from strength to strength. Simon has always had a vision for WOLF, and a key moment that proved this early on in his career was when he championed the introduction of watch winders to the brand’s established range of jewellery boxes and watch storage accessories.
“I just happened to come across a watch winder, and I thought it was very low-tech,” he explains. “It didn’t really have any real functionality. While I knew what an automatic watch was, at that stage, I really didn’t understand how many people wore them and the nature and size of the business potential.”
The potential was unquestionably enormous, with WOLF going on to become the pre-eminent name in the watch winder category. As Simon has already alluded, the watch winder gave the brand an opportunity to expand its expertise into a new world of technological innovation.
“It only took three or four years before we were leapfrogging over what our competitors were doing. That was because we focused on what the product was supposed to do, and then we tried to reinvent what it could do: counting turns per day, directional control, and so on. We sold more of them every year, and I thought the sky’s the limit. We haven’t actually scratched the surface.”
More: 10 Best Watch Winders: Orbital to Modular
The Colour and the Shape
When presented with the sheer breadth of products on offer within the WOLF range, it’s impossible not to be struck by the level of craftsmanship. Using the most premium materials, WOLF harnesses the power of colour and texture to great effect. When asked where he gets his inspiration from, Simon’s answer comes as something of a surprise.
“My wife is not a big shopper, but I love going to women’s shoe departments,” he confides with a self-aware grin. “Women’s shoes today are so different from 20 years ago; the craftsmanship coming out of those houses is just insane. I have found inspiration many times from the stitching, the treatment, the embossing, or just the colour. I’ll spend longer hanging out in a women’s clothing store than my wife because I love the colour and the textures.”
Despite this admiration for aesthetics, there is a key way in which Simon is determined not to replicate the fashion industry: “I’m glad I don’t have to be in that world because a lot of it’s fast fashion. I don’t like that because I like to make products that last a lifetime. You know, if I buy a shirt, I will wear it until it’s threadbare.”
A Material World
This awareness extends to the materials WOLF deploys to craft its products. The brand is shifting away from animal leather in a dual effort to support animal welfare and improve sustainability. This is a key effort that’s personal for the WOLF CEO.
“It’s a big initiative for me. In the last three years, we’ve focused on bringing sustainable materials to our products. Now, about 70 per cent are non-leather based, so we don’t harm animals,” he says.
“We use apple leather, a byproduct from the coffee industry, and potato starch. Actually, Budweiser has a byproduct from hops that is now made into a leather material and we’ve crafted products out of that. We’re playing with lots of different materials, and that will keep us ahead of competitors in our world.”
Spending so much time crafting accessories that protect and support premium watches worldwide, it would be reasonable to expect WOLF’s leader to have an elitist approach when it comes to his wristwear. Not so. In fact, he entered his watch phase surprisingly late.
“It actually hit me about 10 years ago,” he explains. “Up to then, I had a few watches, but I wasn’t what I am today. I don’t have a holy grail watch I’m looking for, but I buy two or three watches per year. I very rarely sell a watch, because I don’t do it for that. As for what I’m after, technical attributes are important, but I mostly buy things I like the look of.
“I’ll buy a watch, and it might cost $150, like this one I found in a flea market,” he says, raising his wrist. “Or I might buy a Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris. But I’ll have bought both because of the way they looked.”
A Matter of Legacy
As the fifth-generation head of WOLF, Simon comes across as someone who’s acutely aware of his place in history. However, when asked what he hopes his legacy will be, his answer is refreshingly lacking in grandiosity, focusing instead on the human element and ensuring WOLF delivers.
“I hope it will be that I built a company that really great people love working with and others like doing business with,” he says. “That our product is always thoughtful and carefully considered so that it really does what it says on the tin and looks beautiful doing it. Yeah, that would be good.”
It’s hard to imagine anyone accusing WOLF products of not doing what it says on the tin, particularly the new range of 190th-anniversary collections that celebrate the brand’s long story. The range is divided into five collections: Silver, Ida, Ballet, Philipp, and Earth, each showcasing a particular stage of the WOLF story.
Here’s a quick rundown of the significance of each:
Silver Collection
Drawing inspiration from the silver boxes crafted by Philipp Wolf I in Hanau, Germany during the 1830s, the Silver Watch Jewellery and Legacy Box is silver-plated with an engine-turned exterior pattern. From its hidden piano-hinged lid to its blue ultrasuede lining treated with LusterLoc, it’s an extremely premium piece of work, boasting WOLF’s 190th anniversary crest logo, removable trays, watch cuffs, ring slots, and compartments.
Ida Collection
A celebration of Ida Wilhelmina Peterzon—who helmed WOLF from 1889 to 1891 when Philipp II could no longer work and travelled across Scandinavia with her trunk in tow—this trunk-style jewellery box features a recycled canvas exterior with top-grain leather trim, brass stud detailing, a custom lock, and 190th-anniversary logo plate. Inside is a LusterLoc-treated ultrasuede lining, multiple compartments, ring slots, covered trays, and three drawers with compartments.
Ballet Collection
The Ballet Collection consists of a musical jewellery box that pays tribute to the original box designed by Philipp Wolf III in the 1950s—a product that became nothing short of iconic. The interior features an embroidered Swan Lake theatre design, LusterLoc-lined compartments and a pair of Interchangeable ballet dancers with different skin tones. As with the original, these dancers perform to Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake when wound with the included silver ‘W’ key.
Philipp Collection
A stylish nod to the design flair of Philipp Wolf IV’s 1970s products, this men’s watch and jewellery box combines vintage aesthetics with modern materials. The exterior consists of rich brown leather, beige nubuck accents, and a gold-finished ‘DP’ logo, while inside, a variety of storage options, including a snap-close pocket and removable trays, await.
Earth Collection
Showcasing WOLF’s focus on sustainability under Simon’s leadership, this collection of products harnesses apple leather for its exteriors, recycled satin jacquard lining in WOLF’s signature pattern across three nature-inspired colours, and coordinating matte metallic hardware. This offering includes single, double, and triple winders, a watch stand box, a five-piece watch box, and triple and single watch rolls to round out the collection.
