Philip A. Baechtold

Philip was born in the United Kingdom and grew up in Switzerland where he graduated from Wirtschaftsgymnasium Freudenberg, Zürich. One of his early hobbies was geology, hence there was a correlation when in 1977 he joined multinational jewelry and gemstone trader Golay Buchel SA in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Japan was the country Golay Buchel sent Philip to in 1978 to be trained by Andy Muller in Kobe. Within the same year, Philip was given the opportunity to move to Tokyo to run the company’s Kanto sales office. There he came in contact with Evert Hofacker of CADEAUX JEWELRY, gem-carver Bruno Moser, close friend Eugene Coray , Yasukazu Suwa of Suwa & Son, eminent gem-trader, and the late Tadao Kato of JAPAN TIME ART, at the time agent for CORUM watches in Japan.

These contacts, together with the experience Philip gained in Japan, set the direction for of his future business activities. Philip stayed in Japan for 5 years.

In 1983, Philip moved to Thailand to set up a gem trading office for Golay Buchel. Little did he know that this would be his long-term country of abode. For 10 years he pursued the gem trade from Bangkok’s Mahesak gem quarter.

At the suggestion of Kurt Stoll, his boss at Swiss head-offices, Philip in 1987 began to venture into marketing luxury products, adding CHRISTIAN DIOR, HERMES and CORUM watches, BALLY shoes and a joint-venture with PARFUEMERIE DOUGLAS to a progressively successful portfolio.

Philip married Soipetch in 1986. Daughter Natalila was born in 1991, son Tevin in 1993. (Natalila is today studying Envirnomental Science at Mahidol University in Bangkok and Tevin is doing an apprenticeship as a goldsmith in Germany).

In 1993, Soipetch and Philip set up their company, BAECHTOLD LIMITED, to trade in watches and jewelry. From the outset they focused on direct sales to select customers through events and department stores. From 1994 to 1996 they pioneered high-end watch events in department stores, promoting their shows with extraordiary themes and outstanding CORUM watches, which met great interest among watch buyers. In working with department stores, one of Philip’s mentors was his late friend, Kurt Keller, founder of watch and jewelry retailer CHRIST of Germany.

Since 2000, Philip and Soipetch are closely associated with CADEAUX JEWELRY, a brand that has allowed them to reengage in the business they started out from: gemstones and jewelry.

Philip’s academic pursuits include a Diploma in Marketing from the Institute of Marketing in Britain (1987), and a life-long interest in the study of languages, to date 8. In 2004 Philip took a break from business and went back to university. He enrolled in a Master Degree program in Thai Studies at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, and under Associate Professor Dr. Kullada Kesboonchoo Mead graduated in 2005 with a thesis on the weighty political changes that unfolded in Thailand between 1938 and 1944 (ISBN 974-17-4475-7).

To serve the community, Philip focuses on Rotary. He is a Past President (Rotary Year 1998/98) and an active member of the Rotary Club of Bangkok South. In his spare time, he is also a passionate motorcyclist and has toured many countries like Thailand, Burma, Laos, bits of China, and all the main islands of Japan.

Philip feels special gratitude towards his family, friends and business partners. He is grateful for the opportunities Thailand has afforded him, and he is obliged to his country of origin for the good education on the one hand, and the great products on the other, that Switzerland has offered and that allowed him to build a life, a career, a family and a business.