Breitling, Universal Genève, Gallet: House of Brands Unveils New Leadership Team

The newly established House of Brands unites the Breitling, Universal Genève, and Gallet brands under a single strategic umbrella. Whilst Universal Genève has recently completed its relaunch with new models, Gallet’s return is also scheduled for later this year.

Jean-Marc Pontroué becomes new CEO of Breitling

With the newly formed leadership team, which will take up its post in this line-up in May, the company considers itself ideally prepared.

Jean-Marc Pontroué is set to take over the role of CEO at Breitling, succeeding Georges Kern, who has led the brand’s fortunes since 2017. Pontroué is an experienced watch industry executive and served as CEO of Panerai from 2018 to 2025, among other positions.

Georges Kern becomes CEO of House of Brands

Georges Kern is taking over sole leadership of the House of Brands as CEO and will focus on the overarching brand strategy going forward. Regarding his successor, he says:

“With an extensive career in the luxury watch industry at Montblanc, alongside his roles as CEO of Roger Dubuis (since 2011) and Panerai (since 2018), he brings a wealth of experience in retail, wholesale, and marketing.”

Universal Genève and Gallet with dedicated managing directors

In parallel, the two revived brands are being established as independent entities. Grégory Bruttin, who has served as Managing Director since August 2024, will continue to oversee the development of Universal Genève. Whilst Gallet previously lacked an official lead, Erwan Rossignol has now been appointed as its Managing Director. Together with his team, he is tasked with preparing the relaunch of Gallet for late August 2026. He joins directly from Breitling, where he most recently served as Global Director of Wholesale.

Restructuring of the American market

Breitling is also restructuring its regional personnel. Antoine Loron succeeds Thierry Prissert as President of Breitling USA and Canada, joining both Breitling’s Executive Committee and the Product Committee. His appointment follows his tenure in sales at Breitling. Thierry Prissert will continue to support Breitling’s brand development and the launch of Universal Genève and Gallet in the American market, and will take on the role of Chairman of the Board for House of Brands USA. In Latin America, Renato Meier succeeds Loron as Managing Director of Breitling LATAM. Meier previously served as Marketing Director for the USA and Canada region.

House of Brands – three brands, three positioning strategies

Hier ist die Übersetzung ins britische Englisch: Strategically, Georges Kern is pursuing a clear differentiation and expansion of Breitling’s expertise and capacities into new segments through his ‘House of Brands’ approach.

Gallet, for instance, is intended to occupy the segment of heritage-inspired tool watches at a price point below Breitling. ‘We want to revive Gallet as a strong watch brand while simultaneously honouring the legacy of adventure and innovation in the field of chronographs,’ Georges Kern explained on the occasion of the acquisition in March 2025.

Furthermore, in March 2025, he explained to the Swiss business newspaper Handelszeitung that the new brand would leverage existing Breitling structures: ‘the same supply chain, the same manufacturing, the same management, and the same distribution network.’ As a result, the watches are expected to cost ‘just under 3,000 to approximately 5,000 Swiss francs.’ To date, no new Gallet models have been released, though they have been announced for later this year.

Universal Genève, by contrast, has just completed its relaunch with numerous new models and is clearly positioned at a price point above Breitling. In an interview with Monochrome at the end of 2024, Kern stated: ‘With Universal Genève, you get phenomenal storytelling and a distinctive positioning in the high-end segment that stands out significantly from the rest of the market (…). We want to operate in the high-end sector, yet still be commercially successful.’

breitling.com