I spoke to the wonderfully charming Charles Tremblay, CEO of Charles Simon, and the conversation was incredible. We spoke about his background teaching at NASA (sorry what!?), pursuing a career in engineering and starting Charles Simon. We cover high-quality luggage, the challenges of brand recognition and the function-first design approach. We even chat about Formula 1 and the engineering extremes necessary to be successful. I loved speaking with Charles, and if you like geeking out on engineering details, you will too!
A Conversation with Charles Tremblay
Charles Simon is not a traditional luxury brand. Founded by engineers, the company has built its reputation on precision, material innovation, and uncompromising design. In this conversation, CEO and co-founder Charles Tremblay discusses Formula One ambitions, aerospace experience, the pivot from luggage to luxury watch accessories, and why true quality is often hidden beneath the surface.
From Aerospace to Luxury Design
Early Engineering Influences
Charles Tremblay's background is deeply technical. Before launching Charles Simon, he spent over a decade in engineering and consulting, while his co-founder Simon worked in aerospace building communication satellites.
"We didn't start with the intention of creating luxury. We wanted to create the best possible product. Luxury became the result."
While still early in his career, Tremblay found himself teaching CAD (computer-assisted design) to engineers working near Cape Canaveral. One of his students had worked on the lunar rover program — a reminder of how engineering ambition spans generations.
Although Tremblay once aimed for a career in Formula One, visa barriers and fierce competition shifted his trajectory toward entrepreneurship.
The Birth of Charles Simon
Starting with High-End Luggage
The original concept behind Charles Simon was not watch storage — it was carry-on luggage.
The idea emerged in 2013 while Tremblay was travelling constantly across Europe as a consultant. Frustrated by the limitations of existing luggage, he envisioned something better: lighter, stronger, engineered without compromise.
The company formally launched in late 2014, with product development beginning in 2015.
From the outset, the philosophy was clear:
- Optimise everything you don't see
- Use the best materials where you do
- Engineer first, design second
Carbon internal structures allowed the use of premium materials like leather, aluminium and titanium without sacrificing weight.
The Pivot to Luxury Watch Accessories
How COVID Reshaped the Business
Charles Simon launched its luggage line in 2019 — only months before global travel stopped.
When the pandemic halted retail and mobility, demand collapsed.
Then a client asked whether one of their briefcases could hold watches.
That moment marked the beginning of Charles Simon's pivot into luxury watch accessories and high-end watch storage solutions.
"When you put a McKenzie case in someone's hands, you don't need to explain the price. You feel it."
Early sales were modest — just a handful of cases in the first year — but the shift aligned with a growing global appetite for premium watch boxes and bespoke watch storage. This is a textbook example of a Veblen good — where the perceived value only increases with price.
Engineering as a Competitive Advantage
Unlike many heritage luxury brands, Charles Simon approaches product development with systems and precision.
- All products are designed in CAD — including leather components
- ERP and CRM systems track inventory and bespoke production
- Approximately 45% of orders are customised
- Around 30–35% organic growth year-over-year
The team itself reflects this DNA: roughly half have engineering backgrounds.
This approach allows the brand to compete not through marketing spectacle, but through material performance and construction integrity.
Materials: Historic Canadian Wood & Carbon Structure
One of the brand's most distinctive material choices is its use of reclaimed historic Canadian wood.
The timber was originally cut 100 to 150 years ago and later recovered from lakes and rivers. It is then sliced and dried for approximately three years before use.
No trees are cut in the process.
The result is wood that is denser, more stable, and visually unique — aligning with the brand's philosophy of purposeful luxury. It shares something with the finest ateliers in Switzerland: an obsession with materials that rewards the person who looks closely.
A Formula One Mindset
Despite building a growing luxury watch accessory brand, Tremblay still references Formula One as the ultimate benchmark for innovation.
"In aerospace, you might wait six months to change a drill coating. In Formula One, development happens week to week."
It is that pace — that obsession with marginal gains and iterative improvement — that informs Charles Simon's engineering-led approach. It is the same mindset found in the great manufactures of the Vallée de Joux, where no detail is considered too small.
For now, however, the focus remains firmly on building the brand over the next decade.