Studio Divine

Studio Divine was my first job in Switzerland, and a crash course in more than just design.

The studio worked primarily in the watchmaking industry, where design decisions are made at a microscopic scale, expectations are uncompromising, and brand heritage carries real weight.

I managed client projects end-to-end, from the initial sales pitch through development and into mass production, while running dedicated accounts across Europe, the US, and Asia. Alongside that, I contributed to business and brand development for the agency and partly managed a design team in Switzerland and Hong Kong.

Professionally, agency life felt familiar. Fast pace, high standards, demanding clients.

Culturally, it was something else.

I was the only person in the office who didn’t speak French. I never learned it, certainly not well enough to speak. Not for lack of trying, but because adapting to a new country, culture, and work environment at the same time was already demanding enough. It was uncomfortable, but it forced me to become very good at listening, reading context, and communicating without linguistic safety nets.

I also got a front-row seat to Swiss watchmaking culture at Baselworld, including projects like signature watch collections for Neymar and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Yes, I met him. Yes, it was surreal.

More importantly, this role taught me respect for precision, patience in long development cycles, and the importance of design decisions that have no room for sloppiness. When you’re working at that scale, every detail matters and there’s nowhere to hide.

It was a demanding first step in Switzerland, but a formative one.