This episode of The Business of Watches is brought to by Panorai.

2025 marks the year of the Lumenor, a celebration of bold Italian design, technical innovation,

and the legacy of Panorai's most iconic collection.

Welcome to the Business of Watches, where horology meets high finance and each tick tells a story of markets, margins, mishaps, and mechanical mastery.

I'm your host, Andy Hoffman, senior business editor at Haudinkie.

In this series, we dive deep into the global watch

industry, a place where centuries-old craftsmanship intersects with billion-dollar valuations,

executive brand strategy, and investor speculation. From Swiss valleys to Silicon Valley,

we trace the movements shaping this uniquely resilient sector.

Just how big is the business of timekeeping?

Well, some estimates place the entire watch industry from ultra-luxury mazons to smart watches and microbrands

and north of $100 billion globally.

But behind that figure is a complex web of legacy, innovation, and ever-shifting consumer tastes and demand.

This is the podcast for collectors, analysts, watch buyers, and sellers, and anyone who's

fascinated by the intersection of wristwear and wealth.

Because if time is money, then money is most certainly time.

So let's get down to business.

From relative obscurity just a couple of years ago,

Sylvain Bernerang's name is suddenly on the lips of the world's top collectors of independent watches from Singapore to London and Los Angeles.

Bernouren is a bit of a different breed.

He's French, not Swiss, and he's not a watchmaker by training. Rather, he's a designer, one with a clear, creative vision, plenty of ideas, and a burning need to express himself through timepieces.

He worked at BMW for years before indulging his passion for watch design and joining Richemont,

...