Davide Cerrato has form. Having helped to create Tudor’s smash hit Heritage Black Bay in 2012, he went on to revitalise Montblanc’s offering as managing director of its watch division from 2015 until late 2020 – none of which prepared him for a move to British brand Bremont last year.

There, he found himself chief executive of a company that had haemorrhaged cash while pursuing the goal of its charismatic founding brothers, Nick and Giles English, to bring large-scale watch manufacturing back to the United Kingdom. By the time Cerrato arrived, the brothers’ stake in the firm had dwindled to almost nothing while billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman and private equity firm Hellcat Acquisitions had invested £48.8 million ($95.5 million) between them. They were looking for a return.