Take time to watch Skagen Designs grow

When Charlotte and Henrik Jorst (pronounced yourst)

came to northern Nevada in 1993, they possessed little

more than a dream to build one of the best fashion

watch companies in the world.

They also brought with them their Skagen (skah-gun)

brand of watches the vehicle they hoped would take

them there.

The couple moved to the United States from

Denmark in 1989, landing in New York, where Henrik

served as the brand manager for Carlsberg, the Danish

beer company, and Charlotte worked as a part-time

model.

After their work visas ran out, the Jorsts met a fellow

Dane at a Basel trade show a famous watch convention

who owned watch factories in Denmark and

Hong Kong.

Working with him, the Jorsts began designing

watches with corporate logos.

People liked the couple's watches so much that they

decided to start their own watch company, Skagen

Designs, Ltd., out of their basement in their tiny New

York apartment. (Skagen is the name of a tiny fishing

village that rests on the northernmost tip of the Jutland

Peninsula in the couple's native Denmark.)

Their situation already difficult because of the

uncertainties of the Gulf War and the couple's lack of

cash became even more so with the arrival of their

first child. Charlotte recalls that they commonly dined

on bread and catsup, while their baby daughter slept in a

dresser drawer that was turned into a crib because the

house was cluttered with watches.

But in 1992, with a $10,000 loan secured by

Charlotte's mother, they were able to produce their first

200 designs of Skagen watches, which they shipped to

small high-end specialty stores. That year Skagen

Designs, Ltd. sold $800,000 worth of merchandise out

of the couple's apartment.

Enticed by Nevada's business-friendly tax system, the

Jorsts brought their watches to Incline Village in 1993.

There the Jorsts continued to sell their watches through

3,000 small retailers.

By 1995, the Bloomingdale's department store chain

began carrying the Skagen line, and the Jorsts found

themselves moving $5 million of product out of their

house.

"There were boxes everywhere," Charlotte remembers.

"Boxes in the bathroom. Boxes in front of the

mirror. It was horrible."

After a few more years of bouncing around looking

for places to run its different departments, Skagen

moved down the hill to Reno where the company operates

out of a 36,000-square-foot facility at the

Southwest Commerce Center business park. The facility

houses its entire business operation, including storage

and freight, as well as a repair center for the lifetime

warranty that comes with all Skagen watches.

Manufacturing continues to be handled in Asia

through the friend they met at the outset of the business.

The Jorsts create a design and e-mail it to the factory.

The factory makes a proof for the couple's

approval. Once the proof is considered perfect, the production

run begins.

The list of 3,000 retailers, however, now includes big

names.

"Once the major department stores saw our distribution

they couldn't ignore us," Henrik said. "We didn't

contact Macy's or Bloomingdale's; they came to us."

In 1998, Inc. 500 labeled Skagen Designs, Inc., then

Jorst International Dizains, one of America's 250

fastest-growing private companies, and in 2000 the

company was selected by MassMutual Financial Group

and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as one of five companies

to receive the national Blue Chip Enterprise

Award, which recognizes entrepreneurs nationwide for

"succeeding in the face of serious challenges and adversity."

They also opened up a second distribution center in

Denmark where Skagen remains the favorite watch

brand among Danish consumers. More than 100 merchandisers

worldwide sell Skagen products in over 25

countries. Its watches have also appeared in Seventeen

and InStyle magazines, and the company has made

watches for Candies, the teen fashion company, and

MTV.

"Skagen watches have a newness to them. A unique,

classy style," said Sean Harmon, a watch specialist at

Macy's in Meadowood Mall. "They are the only ones to

use 100 percent titanium and one of the few to offer

mesh watch bands that make the watch feel as if it's

hardly there."

This year, Skagen is expected to distribute about $30

million worth of product. Its watches can now be found

in major department stores, and is expected to add new

products such as home and office accessories, sunglasses,

jewelry and they continue to make products with corporate

logos.

"We have had to move around a lot," Charlotte

added. "And we are looking to move again next spring

because we have outgrown this place."

The Jorsts credit what Charlotte calls the "Danish

spirit" that is evident in all of Skagen's products for its

success. "It's doing more with less and keeping it simple,"

she said.

"We try to keep it as simple and beautiful as possible,"

Henrik added. "That's what we try to do with all

of our work. Keep it plain, like an art piece."

And the Jorsts have certainly done a lot with less,

seeing their dream in a tiny New York apartment

mature into a multi-million dollar reality.

"I think it's a trait in us," Charlotte said. "Most people

wait for someone to do something, but we move."