We are sitting outside, in front of the large waiting room of a town hall in Paris, promoting our stone for a major project in the city of Paris. There are various other candidates in front of us - we are last in some ways.
There is a long table surrounded by chairs with gentlemen in suits and ties who appear ready for the candidates from Switzerland. We place a rug on the table and place a heavy block of stone on top. This is the stone, a piece of the Swiss mountains, that we would like the people of Paris to walk upon. Our presentation is clumsy, and so is our French As already mentioned, we are the last ones. It is time to find out whether we’ll be out on our ear in 5 minutes or be able to make the most of this opportunity As if the French could sense our journey to Paris with this boulder had not been easy, they grant a longer audience to both us and the stone, noting that our French is not actually that bad and the stone could be promising.
We won the contract and in doing so – 30 years ago – paved our first step into the French market Our explicit aim was to export Vals Stone into the French capital. In doing so, other markets trust us as well.
Since then, we have cultivated our somewhat unconventional ways, sought out risk and delved into the world of architecture and design. The beauty of our stone, with all its facets, fired our imagination. We positioned it with great enthusiasm and devotion where it is best able to release its powerful effect: in the world metropolis of London, New York and Tokyo.
Exciting projects have also been realised in Switzerland. Vals Stone is a big hit as it is indigenous, unique and delightful. Demand is rising at the same rate as the investment.
The Americans are coming. We take them directly to the Swiss mountains. The Zerfreilahorn is a mountain experience and climbing tour. The ignition of the blast the next day leaves no room for doubt: That is the stone for America.
In the 80s, some of Vals’ residents got involved in building a spa. They devised the most intrepid conditions The work is said to have been comparable to that for a church or cathedral as once built by our ancestors A year-long development process begins. The struggle to create something special, acknowledging that everything plays a role, nothing can be left to chance, cut short, simplified, omitted or skimped on is a long learning process. The architect must be allowed to dream and realise the extreme, difficult and impossible. Peter Zumthor then actually built the spa. Both travelled the world: The spa and the architect together with the stone.
Switzerland chooses the stone for the Bundesplatz. Cube-shaped buildings made from broken-up Vals masonry shape the rocksresort in Laax - a pioneering project for winter sports. We are currently realising a project in New York City for J.P. Morgan Chase with the architect firm BCJ. Peter Bohlin worked with Steve Jobs in the past developing the Apple Stores. He recently chose to use Vals Stone for Mrs Jobs’ mountain chalet in Idaho.
Back in Paris, 30 years later, on the trail of our stone. The stone became a brand!
So now we find it in the grand houses of Audemars Piquet and Chanel, Zegna and Chopard, Graff and Hermès, along the Champs Elysées……
And whenever we are in our Swiss metropolis of Zurich, we walk over the Sechseläutenplatz and are pleased that the people of Zurich chose our stone as their centrepiece at Bellevue.