CEO Talks

Audemars Piguet's company hybrid Porsche takes us from Geneva airport to our meeting with François-Henry Bennahmias in the Vallée de Joux. But not to a fancy restaurant – our lunch takes place at his office desk. Later, he will suddenly interrupt in the middle of the conversation because he has thought of a little game…

50 years ago, Zenith made watch history. On January 10th, 1969, it introduced the first chronograph with an automatic movement, in the form of the ‘El Primero’. It was a tough race between a few Swiss watch brands, and Zenith was only just ahead in the end. At that time, now-CEO of the traditional manufacture,…

A conversation with Maximilian Büsser is (at least in a metaphorical sense) like a rollercoaster. Our talk over lunch was a wild journey through the human soul, shaped by euphoria and joy, which suddenly headed free fall into deep compassion and sympathy. Maximilian Büsser, a once creative little boy, got lost to an industry in…

Wilhelm Schmid, CEO of A. Lange & Söhne, is a pleasantly grounded, sovereign and refreshingly optimistic person – making him a person who is symbolic of the proud Glashütte-based manufacture he represents. For Schmid, there has never been a better time for watch enthusiasts than today, thanks to our increasingly digitalised world. Still, the thoughtful…

For almost 20 years, Angelo Bonati guided and shaped the Florentine brand Panerai. Since just over a year, however, there is a new man at the helm: Jean-Marc Pontroué, who has been with the Richemont group for almost 20 years now, having previously held the title of CEO at Roger Dubuis. During a visit to…

Watch restoration is one of the main pillars of Parmigiani Fleurier. With the experience of numerous restorations and 300 years of watchmaking under its belt, CEO Davide Traxler and his team aim to design enduring watch collections that withstand time. Although a mechanical watch is something rather masculine for Traxler, ladies watches make nearly 50…

If Christoph Grainger-Herr had to stereotype the average IWC customer, he might catch himself picking his own name. Not out of sheer vanity, but because the young CEO embodies and leads the brand with so much genuine dedication, and has been doing so for just over two years. The trained architect has been with the brand for over…

Claude Greisler is a determined man with a clear attitude and vision. Not least because of these reasons he managed, together with his business partner Serge Michel to make the brand Armin Strom a manufacture in only three years. Nearly all movement parts are produced in-house in Biel. Greisler is not only CEO and watchmaker…

Montblanc CEO Nicolas Baretzki has grown up with watches, but still manages the business of one of the most traditional brands for writing instruments. He sees many similarities when it comes to the manufacturing of both product divisions, especially in terms of craftsmanship that is based on many years of experience as well for writing…

Just over one year ago Jérôme Biard took the lead of CORUM. He doesn’t want to be compared to his predecessors – Biard, already as a child a big fan of the brand, has his very own vision. To our lunch in Zurich the sympathetic CEO appeared in familiar casual manner and revealed, why a brand…

Since 2010 Sascha Moeri is CEO of Carl F. Bucherer and has managed to quadruple the watch production in only eight years. On the occasion of the opening of the new Manufacture we met the tireless CEO who never seems to sleep. However he has one dream at least, to further expand the productivity of…

For almost a year now Georges Kern is CEO of BREITLING and has turned the brand inside out. We met the realist and visionary at the restaurant Napa Grill in Zürich near the new BREITLING offices for an exclusive interview for Swisswatches and found out, why currently all brands return to their roots, why BREITLING despite…