Breitling CEO Georges Kern

HODINKEE Podcasts

HODINKEE

Radio, Society & Culture, Podcast, Watches, Rolex, Horology, Wrist Watch, John Mayer, Daytona, Omega, Leisure, Hodinkee, Talking Watches, Paul Newman, Ben Clymer, Hodinkee Radio, Arts

4.7 • 945 Ratings

🗓️ 14 February 2024

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

For the first time, the Breitling CEO discusses the Universal Genève Acquisition; then, we look back at his tenure at Breitling so far. This week, Breitling CEO Georges Kern joins Ben and Tony for a chat. Kern has been in the watch industry for over 30 years and has led several large Swiss brands. He joined Richemont in 2000 and played a key role in integrating A. Lange & Söhne, Jaeger-LeCoultre, and IWC after the trio of brands was acquired. He became the conglomerate's youngest CEO in 2002 when he took the helm at IWC. Our conversation starts with an in-depth discussion of Breitling's surprise acquisition of Universal Genève, including details on Kern's plans for the brand's relaunch. Then, we talk about his tenure at Breitling before zooming out on the changes he's seen over his more than 30 years in the watch industry.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode of Hodinke Radio is brought to you by Acetron and the new DNA Casino Collection.
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0:13.2	Stay tuned later in the show for more on the brand's new collection
0:16.0	or visit Accitron Watch.com for all the details.
0:18.8	Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of Hodinke Radio. I'm excited to be in the New York office today with two giants of the watch industry really sitting in one and a half. We'll say one and a half.
0:32.0	Sitting on the couch here to my right we've got the CEO of
0:35.9	Brightling and Universal Geneva I suppose as well. George Kern, thank you so much for
0:40.7	joining us today George. Thank you very much for the invitation.
0:44.0	We appreciate you taking the time.
0:45.0	I know you've got a busy schedule whenever you come to New York.
0:48.0	And I've also got to my right, Mr. Ben Clymer.
0:50.0	Hey guys, happy to be here.
0:52.0	Well, thank you so much for taking the time. I
0:53.7	think we're just going to get right into it, George, if that's okay. No problem.
0:56.4	I hinted at it already and you kind of set the watch world on fire towards the end of
1:00.6	2023 when you announced that Brightling had acquired Universal Genev,
1:05.4	there was so much excitement from the watch community from enthusiasts to see Universal Genev
1:10.3	back in Swiss hands.
1:11.3	Can you talk about how that felt? Yes, it was even for us a little bit of a surprise. I mean, we knew and it's why we tried to and we finally acquired the brand. We knew about the history, about the emotions around that brand,
1:27.3	and the potential obviously of reviving it. But then when the announcement was made, I was submerged and all of us with emails, messages,
1:39.7	it was absolutely unbelievable, the direction also of the
1:43.4	the financial price because you know it's an interesting company
	...

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