“Matas Jakutis and Danielius Jakutis are the brothers behind the Filippo Loreti brand of affordable luxury watches.“
The first time I noticed Matas Jakutis as one of the top 10 promising founders to watch in the Baltics, he together with his brother Danielius raised €926,960 from 6,090 backers becoming the most funded timepiece project in crowdfunding history.
Matas Jakutis and Danielius Jakutis are the brothers behind the Filippo Loreti brand of affordable luxury watches. With the help of modern technology and the power of the Internet, Jakutis brothers are redefining the industry.
They started the company in 2014 after trying to find affordable high-end watches for themselves and being shocked after realizing that even entry level ones cost over $1,000.
“Our goal is to bring affordable high-quality timepieces to people who are tired of the big brands and various middlemen inflating the prices,” explains Matas.
So how did two guys in their early 20s who had no previous watch-making experiences manage to take the watch industry by storm?
Work like hell
When you hear “early 20s,” work ethic is not necessarily the first thing that comes to mind, but don’t be fooled by the youth of Jakutis brothers – they are single-mindedly focused on their business and work extremely hard to turn Filippo Loreti into a brand that is recognised and respected worldwide.
“Work like hell. I mean, you just have to put in 80 to 100-hour weeks, every week. This improves the odds of success.
If other people are putting in 40-hour workweeks and you are putting in 100-hour workweeks, then even if you are doing the same thing, you know that you will achieve in four months what it takes them a year to achieve.” – Elon Musk
Matas and Danielius took this piece of advice to heart and that is the approach they are taking with Filippo Loreti.
Matas says that communicating directly with your customers, listening to them, and then giving them what they want is the key.
“We are young, so we can dedicate a lot of time to research, development, and quality control of our products, and we are willing to put everything else in our lives (socializing, relationships, etc.) on hold for the time being,” explains Matas.
Low price, high quality
The main thing that distinguishes Filippo Loreti from other watch brands is the design, quality, and price ratio.
“When you are buying a watch at the jewellery store, they are usually priced at around 10 times of what they cost to make, for example, a watch that costs $100 to make would usually be priced at $1000+.
The main thing that distinguishes Filippo Loreti from other watch brands is the design, quality, and price ratio.
This idea has resonated with the watch aficionados worldwide. The brothers raised €926,960 during their Kickstarter campaign for their first collection, making it the most funded timepiece project in crowdfunding history… Up until they broke their own record, that is.
When we realised this, we saw an opportunity, and by fully controlling our supply chain, using practical materials to achieve the luxurious looks, and selling directly to our customers, we were able to produce watches that cost less than $250, but are of the quality that you’d normally have to pay $1000+ for,” said Matas.
Filippo Loreti raised a staggering €4,809,548 on Kickstarter for their second collection which is now in the final production stage.
The customer always comes first
Matas says that communicating directly with your customers, listening to them, and then giving them what they want is the key.
“This is why we launch each new collection through Kickstarter. That way, we get invaluable feedback from our customers, which helps us to create products that they love. And then our customers can order the new releases at an early bird price.”
This direct communication with the people who buy their watches also provides Filippo Loreti with a solid understanding of the unfulfilled needs of the watch buyers, which allows Jakutis brothers to make the right business decisions.
For example, there’s a lot of buzz around smartwatches now, but when Matas and Danielius asked their customers about it, it turned out that they weren’t interested in smartwatches at all.
“Our customers say that nothing will substitute a luxury watch, handcrafted by a master watchmaker, that will serve you for decades. We do agree with such views. In the end, a quality watch is the main piece of jewelry a gentleman should wear.”
Why do most new watch brands fail?
Matas believes that the secret to success in the watch industry is playing the long game.
“Most new watch brands fail because they are willing to compromise the quality of the relationships with their clients for short-term profit.
At Filippo Loreti we take a different approach. We truly believe in our products. We know that nobody offers such high quality, limited edition timepieces for the prices that we do. Our offer is the best in the market right now and we intend to keep it that way. Our focus is on building relationships with our customers, instead of trying to make as much money as possible here and now.”
What’s next for Filippo Loreti?
“Our team is focused on the production of our new collection at the moment.
We have partnered with some of the best watch manufacturers and component suppliers in the world, that have been producing luxury watches for Swiss-Made brands for decades now, and that has really moved our product quality to the next level.
We have many clients waiting for watches, it’s very exciting to finally deliver the product to our early supporters that we know they’ll absolutely love.”
