Breitling boss Georges Kern’s big bet on the future

The watch industry veteran on the luxury slowdown, approachable luxury and doing more of the same.

Breitling chief executive Georges Kern.

Georges Kern, chief executive of Swiss watchmaker Breitling, didn’t especially mean to start a new watch fair.

Established with brands such as Roman jeweller Bvlgari and independents like Girard-Perregaux, the early days of Geneva Watch Days were rather more organic.

“Jean-Cristophe Babin from Bvlgari called me. He said, ‘Listen, why don’t we do something?’ We improvised just to show presence and to invite a couple of media and retailers. It was very small. We [had] 17 brands. Today we have 52,” he tells The Australian over a video call.

What he likes about the event, which staged its fifth edition in August and included independents like H. Moser & Cie and Alpina alongside a few Swatch Group brands including Blancpain and Breguet, is that it’s open to interpretation. Also that it gives the smaller brands visibility.

“All of the participating brands can design their activities individually. The program is flexible … so it means that we can adapt it to almost any platform.”

The long-time watch industry executive – who joined Breitling seven years ago following a career that has included 15 years at IWC Schaffhausen and head of watchmaking, marketing and digital at Richemont – likes supporting the watch industry in this way too.

“So far, it has met our objectives very well. And in a way you can say it’s our contribution to the industry.”

Kern has experienced the industry’s many peaks and troughs. He is sanguine on the recent slowdown in the luxury industry, in the watch world some of this has been attributed to slower exports and uncertainty in China.

For one, he believes in luxury.

Post the extraordinary highs of the luxury sector (and especially watches) during covid and the post covid “revenge spending” phenomenon, he says of course the industry has normalised.

“Due to the social economic environment, wars, inflation, high price of energy … which would also normalise again, and I’m confident. I’ve been in this industry 30 years, so I’ve seen it many times,” he says.

Breiting chief executive Georges Kern with fashion designer Victoria Beckham.

“The point is what is a long-term trend? Do you believe in luxury? Yes or no? That’s the point. As an investor, as a worker in that industry, that’s the point. And I believe that luxury will remain forever, the key element of consumption [is] because we’re humans, we are not robots … So therefore, these products, which are image products, which are status symbols, will remain, because humans like that.

“Imagine how boring life would be if we weren’t irrational”.

Kern has transformed Breitling in his seven-year tenure as chief executive and shareholder from an overwhelmingly masculine brand that relied on its aviation history. The brand is particularly well-known for its aptitude for altitude including the “navigation computer” circular slide rule on its famed Navitimer watch (launched in 1952 and until 1954 only sold to pilots and aviation industry insiders). He streamlined the product and distribution and opened more boutiques.

But Kern believed it could be more.

While the brand, like most in the watch world, doesn’t publish its figures, Morgan Stanley estimates the company has more than doubled its turnover since Kern took the mantle – reaching 976 million Swiss Francs ($1.7bn) last year. It now slots in at number nine on Morgan Stanley’s annual watch ranking by sales report.

Kern sees the brand now as cool and “approachable”.

By approachable, it must be noted, he doesn’t mean on price. Breitling’s average price for a watch is $US7200 ($10,709). He means it in a philosophical way. The brand sponsors surfing, not F1 or golf. Its boutiques have a pared-back, exposed beam and brick feel to them rather than a rarefied hush. Sustainability, with watch boxes made from recycled fabrics and some straps made from discarded ocean waste is a value too.

In this period of slower growth many luxury brands have focused on its top tier clients – the kind undeterred by interest rate rises or the cost of living- some with price increases to match.

Other than limited-edition “talking pieces” Kern believes the integrity of elevating a brand – and its prices- can only go so far.

“I don’t believe that you can stretch a brand to the bottom or to the top indefinitely. The brand has a certain, I would say credibility and a certain price point. A brand is what it is. It has a certain pricing power. You can optimise what we did. We increased our average price from let’s say $US5000 … to $US7000.”

Breitling limited-edition Premier Datora, launched as part of the 140th anniversary celebrations.

Instead, Breitling – which is backed by private equity and one of the few major watch brands not part of a group – last year announced the purchase of the legacy brand Universal Geneve, which it will relaunch in the coming years. Prices for these timepieces, he says, will start from around €15,000 ($24,738).

“That makes sense, because the brand has a different essence, has a different DNA.”

Breitling, founded in 1884, Kerns believes, is in a “sweet price point in the market.”

“There’s no bigger market than the price point where we are in terms of growth potential.”

Changing the image of the brand extends to building its female clientele. Women now make up 15 per cent of its customers, up from 5 per cent. Kern believes it can grow further, aiming for 20 to 25 per cent.

Earlier this year the brand launched one of the buzziest collaborations in the watch world – a capsule collection of watches with fashion designer (and the artist formerly known as Posh Spice in the Spice Girls) Victoria Beckham. Beckham’s star – chic, archly funny – has risen considerably this year thanks to the Netflix documentary released earlier with year traversing her life with husband David Beckham earlier this year, a cover with Vogue Australia and the announcement of a new documentary to chart her fashion and beauty business.

“I think we have [a] kind of common understanding on design, on aesthetics. It fits very well. I think we can be with the female market more fashionable than what we are with male,” says Kerns of the partnership.

“[Beckham] was very much involved. We launched for the first time [using] yellow gold in the Chronomat line. The dial colours of the watches are inspired by Victoria Beckham’s own spring/summer 2024 palette. It was incredible. She’s an incredibly professional partner... we meet, we decide, we discuss. It’s done.”

In any case, it’s a big year for Breitling, which this year celebrates its 140th anniversary with a globetrotting vintage watch exhibition that will reach Sydney this month and Melbourne in October. There’s a slick Rizzoli coffee table book and three limited-edition references of its icon models.

Retail expansion is a focus. The brand has opened several new stores around the world, including in the past year new boutiques in Melbourne, Adelaide and Queensland, with more to come. Australia, says Kerns, is an important market for the brand.

“We are over proportionally strong in Australia, because our style fits the mentality. We are an outdoor sports chic brand, I would say. Which fits the mentality of the Australian customer,” says Kerns.

Marking this moment felt important for Kern, seeing it as a testament to where the brand has been, and a sign of the future.

“When we took over the brand, we decided we needed to work on relevance. The brand was not relevant anymore. It was too big, too loud, too macho. So we worked on relevance. Now with the success we have, we need to work on esteem and tell people … how phenomenal this brand is and how incredible the history is.

Storytelling here is essential. It is something Kern extends to his hobbies and passions also, including producing the 2019 French comedy My Dog Stupid, based on the novel by John Fante.

“Storytelling remains storytelling. In writing, we tell stories. In a movie, you tell stories. At the end of the day, it’s the same thing,” he says.

Time Capsule: The Breitling Heritage Exhibition is on display at the Sydney Breitling boutique from September 25 to October 6, and in Melbourne from October 9 to 21.