Power
DAVID BIJLSMA: "THERE IS NO BETTER INVESTMENT THAN A ROLEX"
David Bijlsma was still at school when he started working at GASSAN, unpacking boxes in the warehouse. Today he sits on the company's board as CCO.
David Bijlsma was still at school when he worked at GASSAN. In the warehouse, unpacking boxes. Today he sits on the company's board as Chief Commercial Officer. His career can be read on his wrist: from Casio to Rolex.
Text: Bart-Jan Brouwer | Online editor: Natasha Hendriks
Image: John van Helvert
When your mother married another man in 1982, could you have imagined that you would one day be on the board with him?
"Not directly. I wasn't very interested right away either. As a child of parents with their own company, you naturally experience a lot at the dinner table in the evening. And I have always had a fascination with watches. In 1983, Casio introduced a watch with a calculator. I found that fascinating. I did one job after another to buy that watch, which cost 99 guilders at the time. That Casio was my first watch. This sparked my love for watches. Shortly afterwards, the Swatch watch came onto the market for the first time. That was launched in America. I asked my uncle Guy, who already lived in New York at the time, to purchase such a Swatch for me.”
What makes a watch special to you: the technology, the design, the story?
“I have always found marketing particularly interesting and that also plays a major role in watches. Every watch brand has a certain way of thinking, people always immediately have an idea about it. I find that fascinating. Only later, during my internships, did I realize how much technology goes into it. That is unprecedented. High-end watches are all made and polished by human hands. That is craftsmanship of the highest level.”
What was your path to the position of Chief Commercial Officer within GASSAN?
“I learned to grind, worked as a goldsmith, went through all the departments within the head office... I know the company inside and out. I started doing purchasing at Schiphol and became a member of the management there. And in recent years I have been able to manage the entire company together with my father and sister. I still benefit every day from having experienced all those disciplines.”
That team expands naturally: both of your children are already working within the company.
“My daughter Giselle has her own jewelry line, By Gigi. That came entirely from her. She felt that there was not much in the way of jewelry for sixteen or seventeen year old girls. Either it was fake or it was expensive. This is how she came up with the idea of making affordable jewelry, but made of real gold and with real diamonds. A hole in the market. In the summer of 2018 she started making designs. She then further coordinated this with her aunt. The result was released on Valentine's Day 2019. She is very successful with it. In the meantime she has come out with a number of new collections, so that's one ongoing project. "
And together with your son you started your own watch line.
“Guy gets that passion for watches from me, I think. His first watch was a Flik Flak, Swatch's children's line. I think I bought him when he was two. That's what happens with a watch-crazy father, haha. When he was seven, we developed the first collection: affordable mechanical watches, quite classic. "Shouldn't we also develop a nice sports watch that you can take to the beach?" Guy asked. Then we started making that. My son has a tremendous eye for detail. Either he doesn't like the stitching on the strap or he wants a different hand or a different color of the dial. And he is always right. Very nice! We have been doing this for ten years now. The watches are in the showcases at GASSAN.”
Your wife Gytha also works at GASSAN.
“She is responsible for the entire service center. That has started to play an increasingly important role. We had a service center at Schiphol, on Dam Square and in the head office. Only they could not communicate with each other computer-wise. If someone handed in their watch at our branch on Dam Square and wanted to pick it up a week later at our head office: that was difficult. So we decided to centralize the entire service center. Gytha did that. And she still leads that.”
What are family dinners about?
“It's always about the case. Outsiders may think we are a strange family, because we not only work together 365 days a year, but also spend holidays together. It is then that private matters are discussed. We are very close as a family, we all live close to each other and my children enjoy looking after Debora's children.”
What have you learned from Benno over the years?
“The extreme openness. We are a fairly open book, both internally and towards people from outside, suppliers and customers. Very direct. And I also learned from him in the field of leadership. I sometimes jokingly say that I learned the most from him during bad times. The diamond heist in 2001, the SARS outbreak in 2003, the credit crisis in 2009... Then he stands up, he is the great motivator, he stands on top of the barricades: put our shoulders to the wheel and we will all go for it."
You have many football players as customers. Is that because of your enthusiasm for the game or because of the enthusiasm of football players for nice watches?
"Both. I played football at AFC until I was sixteen, always in selection teams. Then I broke my leg and it was kind of over, partly because I liked going out perhaps even more than playing football. And I wasn't a real talent either. But because of that I knew a lot of boys who later started playing professional football. They automatically came to me when they wanted to buy a watch. That spread like wildfire. And of course we are just football crazy. Under normal circumstances you will encounter us in several football stadiums every week. Dad goes there, I go there.”
75 years of Gassan. What does that do to you?
“I think it is a very special milestone. Last year we worked hard on a special jewelry collection. And we have single-handedly developed a watch with a special movement, the Valjoux 7750 caliber, which is only used by major brands such as TAG Heuer, Breitling and Tudor. The very first GASSAN logo is on it, as a kind of tribute to Samuel Gassan. A fantastic watch for a fantastic price: 1.945 euros, the year GASSAN was founded.”
How far do you look ahead?
“I think looking ahead five years is long enough. Let's get out of this situation first and then continue building the GASSAN brand. This will automatically mean that we try to expand the number of branches. Now, a family business is fundamentally different from a large corporate. All we really need to do is ensure that the company remains ultra-healthy for the next generation. And personally, I would love to experience the 100th anniversary.”
Click here for the interview with President-Director GASSAN Benno Leeser.
