History

Recounting the childhood Giselle Rufer recounts her childhood: her father's untimely death when she was seven years old, reared by a widowed mother who personified strength and courage in the face of adversity, and the first time, at six years old, that she was alienated from her brother's cub scout meeting because of her gender.

Giselle Rufer at home in Macolin, Switzerland

"Donna Quixote"

These formative events seem to collide in a portentous mosaic that propelled Giselle Rufer on a path of independence and self-described rebellion from the conventional roles of women. In her mission statement, Rufer reveals, "even today at 54, when I see injustice of any sort, my blood boils as it did when I was that little girl being turned away by the scout leader." Giselle Rufer goes on to say, "Even in those days there was frustration at not being allowed to do what I wanted to, simply because I was a girl. I felt completely helpless. Even my parents could do nothing to change the situation. As a result, I looked for "sisters" with the same passion in life. I began to follow the lives of women, first in my family, and then in our small town, always listening to their experiences with interest and often admiration. I had an overriding need to express my energy and my creativity. Even in school, I needed to defend the status and justice women. One of my teachers used to call me "Don Quixote" because I was always defending one cause or another. True to my ideals, I corrected her by saying I was indeed Donna Quixote."

	The sense of art is in Giselle Rufers family is not only visible in the design of watches.			Rachel Rufer, Giselle Rufers daugther, dances at the Les Grands Ballets Canadiens.

Giselle Rufers time at the Swatch Group

It is just this passion and perseverance that led Giselle Rufer to her intended fate as an entrepreneur and supporter of women's potency and capacity. During her stint at the Swatch Group, promoting their children's line, Flik-Flak, Giselle Rufer conceived what is now the signature Delance design. Although women, according to Giselle Rufer, embraced the watch, the men in charge refused to produce it. Thus the paths bifurcated, prompting Giselle Rufer to choose between compromising her ideals and striking out on her own and producing the watch herself.

Launching Delance

In May of 1996, with little financial backing, but equipped with degrees in engineering and art education along with ten years of experience in the watch industry, Giselle Rufer launched Delance Inc. Gradually, Giselle Rufer has made a mark on the watch industry utilizing connections, friends, family and other aides-de-camp to expand her vision from her home base in Macolin, Switzerland to the rest of the world. The exceptional proviso of Delance is that it is owned and operated solely by women, including the artisans, the watchmakers. For Giselle Rufer, there was no other way to execute her idea of creating a universal symbol of femininity than by contracting women.

Future Plans

Upon asking Giselle Rufer what her future plans are and if there are prospects to design men's watches, she promptly declares: one day I may make men's watches to express their feminine side." In addition, when asked what is the difference between a fine women's watch and a top-quality men's watch, Giselle Rufer responded, "We (women) lead the time in a very different way than men. We are used to doing ten things at the same time, we don't need to cut the time in five-hundredths of second. We enjoy time and we need time; for us it is the minute and the hour. As a mechanical object, men's watches are better 'timemakers,' for me it is a symbol of the value of time."

By Natalie Campisi