“We’re in the midst of a transition. And we want people to see that.”

Philipp Steeg, the General Manager of the Wempe showroom on the Jungfernstieg in Hamburg, is proud of the new premises on the Neuer Wall — especially because they are only a temporary solution. In this article he explains how the past and the future are being united through design and reveals initial details about the future flagship store.

The future begins in the shop window. The latest watch models are displayed on 30 round discs. When passersby touch one of the two contact surfaces on the window, the displays rotate — and reveal the pieces of jewelry that are attached to the other side. “In the old showroom we had 15 meters of window fa?ade, and here we have only a bit more than two meters,” says Philipp Steeg. “So we had to be creative.” The discs are attached to vertical rods which make them look like the pendulums of antique grandfather clocks.

This blending of the past and the future is a deliberate policy at Wempe’s temporary home on the Neuer Wall. “We are in the midst of a transition, and we want people to see that,” says Steeg, who is now 33 and has been the General Manager of the showroom since 2018. During these past five years, he has worked hard to make this moment possible. He opens the door with a flourish.

Long-established Hamburg residents are probably familiar with the interior. This commercial building, which was constructed in 1845, was the home of the time-honored men’s outfitter Ladage & Oelke for more than 170 years. The cantilever staircase with its brass railing, the artfully decorated steel supports in the rooms, and the salon above the Alster Arcades — everything is still there. “We tried to preserve as much of the basic structure as possible, while simultaneously embodying modernity,” says Steeg. Large-format paintings by contemporary Hamburg artists hang on the walls, and watches and pieces of jewelry sparkle in historical display cases brought in from the showrooms in London and New York. Stucco moldings end abruptly on unplastered concrete ceilings; Art Nouveau meets Industrial Chic. Stylistic clashes and transitions are everywhere.

At first glance, the showroom looks smaller than its previous home on the Jungfernstieg, but this is a false impression. “The number of square meters has stayed roughly the same,” says Steeg as he guides his visitor up the historic staircase. “It’s just that the rooms have many more nooks and crannies. That enabled us to create lots of niches where the customers can withdraw and receive advice without being disturbed.” The product range is even larger than before. For example, three additional watch brands are now represented: Bulgari, Chanel, and Norqain. In the future, events including a Christmas market will take place in the interior courtyard. Steeg is especially proud of the lounge with its view of the City Hall. “This is the ultimate Hamburg experience,” he says.

Steeg is so enthusiastic that one might think he wants to stay in the new showroom permanently, but that would be to underestimate his ambition. “We have to make sure we want to leave this place in a year and a half,” he says. “It’s a great challenge that we’ve set for ourselves.”

He aims to master this challenge with a superlative new business. The future Wempe showroom on the Jungfernstieg is expected to set new benchmarks both inside the company and beyond. With more than 800 square meters of sales area, it will be almost double its previous size. This will be possible because Germany’s biggest jeweler will be the building’s sole occupant and will no longer have to share space with other tenants. “There will be significantly more service areas, an integrated Rolex boutique, and a glassed-in goldsmith’s workshop where people can watch us working,” says Steeg. The watch selection will be expanded further to include more than 30 brands, and the jewelry section will be “spectacular,” he adds. When he’s asked for details, for now Steeg just smiles in reply.

Together with the building’s owner, Signa, Wempe is investing a sum in the double-digit millions in the new flagship store, which will be completed in the first half of 2025. Steeg reports that people weren’t downcast during the move out of the former showroom. “On the contrary, people couldn’t wait to get started,” he says. Although the hands of the big Wempe clock on the Jungfernstieg aren’t moving at the moment, time is not standing still. The nearby sounds of hammering and drilling are a sure sign of that. As Phillip Steeg puts it, “We haven’t finished yet. We’ve only just begun.”