Exclusive: Audemars Piguet’s Maverick CEO Gets the Last Word

Few figures in Swiss watchmaking have been as disruptive or as divisive over the previous decade as François-Henry Bennahmias. Within the 11 years since he was appointed chief government of the family-owned Swiss watch firm Audemars Piguet, an obsession with hip-hop and road tradition, the launch of a brand new line known as Code 11.59 and his leather-based bomber jackets have gained him legion admirers — and as many detractors.

Subsequent week, the 59-year-old Frenchman will stroll out of the corporate’s headquarters within the sleepy village of Le Brassus for the final time, leaving a gaping gap not simply in an organization whose revenues have greater than tripled throughout his tenure, however in an business that’s brief on high-flying mavericks. Few chief executives within the conservative watch world have reshaped the manufacturers they run like Bennahmias. Have any made luxurious watches as fascinating? Since his departure was introduced in 2022 observers have been left questioning not simply what is going to turn into of AP, however of the broader business, in addition to what considered one of watchmaking’s best showmen will do subsequent.

Sitting in a gathering room within the firm’s New York workplaces, 29 storeys up, Bennahmias admits he’s working on fumes. In earlier weeks, he’s been in Dubai and Geneva representing Audemars Piguet at large-scale occasions, and he’s simply come from the launch of the model’s newest high-octane, high-profile collaboration — with rapper Travis Scott’s brand Cactus Jack — on the model’s 57th road boutique. The next week, he’ll be in Miami for Artwork Basel. And as I entered the workplace, I caught a glimpse of him in a glass-walled assembly room in deep dialog with actor Kevin Hart. (Extra on that in a second.)

Bennahmias begins on barely guarded kind for a identified performer whose expletive-laden speeches and unpredictable on-stage stunts have turn into acquainted. Eventually month’s Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, he shocked the viewers when he planted a kiss on the lips of unsuspecting French actor Edouard Baer, who was internet hosting the occasion.

However with niceties out of the best way, he rapidly shifts up a gear. What makes now the proper time to maneuver on? He says he wished to go away final yr, having executed 10 years on the helm and guided the corporate by the fiftieth anniversary of Royal Oak, AP’s flagship mannequin, however that the board persuaded him to remain on one other yr.

“There are such a lot of different issues I need to do with my life earlier than I die, and I need to be my very own boss,” he shoots. “I’m not working for anybody ever once more.”

Seismic Affect

His relationship with the Audemars Piguet board is believed to have been fractious at instances as he stretched the corporate into new territories, main where other Swiss brands might not dare to follow.

“They gave me the chance to attain what we’ve achieved collectively,” he says of his employers a contact evasively. “Had been they at all times relaxed with all my visions? No. Are they completely satisfied about what occurred for the final 11 years? Positive. So it’s a steadiness.”

What has occurred since he was appointed interim chief government in 2012 is that AP has reported record-beating revenues 10 years out of the previous 11 years (through the preliminary coronavirus outbreak in 2020, a 4 p.c slip bucked the business’s model’s 21.4 p.c norm), leapfrogging the model forward of rivals and, climbing the Swiss league tables. This yr, Bennahmias forecasts revenues of two.3 billion Swiss francs ($2.6 billion), a consequence which ought to cement its place within the high 4 Swiss watch firms behind Omega, Cartier and perennial chart-topper Rolex.

With success has come criticism: Whereas his acolytes specific unstinting loyalty, portray him as a visionary chief, these much less enthused have accused him of undoing the traditions of the model and currying favour from characters with questionable reputations. Scott, the most recent instance, narrowly averted felony fees after 10 folks died at his Astroworld Pageant in 2021, together with a nine-year-old little one. The star’s public response to the tragedy was broadly condemned.

Despite this, or maybe due to it, Bennahmias’ affect on the watch business has been seismic. Who else, many have requested, would have partnered a watch firm based in 1875 and revered by collectors for its arcane high-end problems with Marvel? Or Jay-Z? Or LeBron James? However his tenure noticed watchmaking conquer a youthful, world, extra numerous viewers as “in some unspecified time in the future, road and luxurious merged,” Bennahmias stated.

Begin-Up Ambitions

Hypothesis about the place one of many business’s most charismatic figures will go subsequent has been rife. Bennahmias has been tight-lipped, as has his interior circle. However because the day of his departure nears, the masks is falling.

“I’ll by no means work for anybody else,” he says. “And I don’t see myself managing any companies the place the workers gained’t be shareholders. I need each worker working for me to be a shareholder within the enterprise.”

What meaning precisely, is a element past what he’s ready to say. He lets on that he’s proven a deck to Kevin Hart and Tom Brady, each of whom had been in New York for the Travis Scott launch. Apparently, they had been taken by no matter it was they noticed.

“Clearly, I’m going to remain within the area I do know the most effective,” Bennahmias continues. “Luxurious. Manufacturers with a excessive perceived worth.” However he gained’t be drawn on whether or not meaning beginning his personal model or shopping for out an current idea.

Thirty years in the past, a profession in watches seemed unlikely for a person who’d come shut to creating a dwelling as knowledgeable golfer. In 1994, Bennahmias was working in vogue and on manufacturers equivalent to Giorgio Armani, Les Copains and Vilebrequin, when he was supplied a job working for Audemars Piguet’s French workplace. In a 2019 interview, he admitted that on the time he’d by no means even heard of the Swiss watchmaker. He rose by the corporate ranks rapidly, first working the Singapore workplace earlier than, in 1999, he was appointed President and CEO of AP’s North American division, the function that will finally propel him into the highest seat of considered one of Switzerland’s few remaining family-run watch firms, first as interim after which completely in 2013.

Tradition Dealer

It was whereas in America that the Bennahmias’ mannequin of pairing unique wristwatches with the world’s most glamorous and influential folks in popular culture started in earnest. In 1999, he positioned a Royal Oak Offshore on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s wrist within the movie “Finish of Days,” after which a yr later satisfied a number of the largest names of the Nineties to participate within the Time to Give charity public sale for the corporate’s one hundred and twenty fifth anniversary. Amongst others, Schwarzenegger was joined at Christie’s New York by Muhammad Ali, Whoopi Goldberg, Sharon Stone, Billy Crystal and Mariah Carey, seamlessly allying the model to superstar tradition. “That,” says Bennahmias, “was the actual turning level.”

By the point he travelled to AP’s residence within the Swiss village of Le Brassus in 2004 carrying photos of a pin-stripe-suited — as then — Sean “P.Diddy” Combs launching a perfume with William Lauder, and a equally dressed-up Jay-Z laughing with Prince Charles, Bennahmias was not solely satisfied the model wanted to dive into common tradition, notably Black American tradition, but additionally that he might persuade his bosses to again him.

Whether or not the AP board knew he was on to one thing, or just bought swept up by the irrepressible vitality of their enthusiastic protégé is unclear. Both method, they adopted Bennahmias’ plans, and in 2005 the Royal Oak Offshore Jay-Z tenth Anniversary Restricted Version was launched, alongside an iPod pre-loaded with the artist’s again catalogue.

“It was not a tricky negotiation,” Bennahmias recollects. “However they [the board] solely wished to do 100 items for the US, after we might have executed 500. They wished to see what was going to occur.”

On the time, Bennahmias remembers AP’s annual revenues amounted to between 200 and 300 million Swiss francs. Did he consider a groundbreaking collaboration with a Black hip-hop artist would flip up the amount on AP gross sales? “We by no means did it to drive far more income,” he claims. “We by no means thought of it that method.”

Why do it then? “The aim was to lift the attention of the model,” he says. “I knew that doing one thing with Jay would open doorways to many different issues. And guess what? Athletes, different entertainers, musicians and comedians piggybacked on it. He opened the gates to a brand new world.”

Within the years since, AP has both collaborated with or allotted watches to numerous high-profile stars. A collaboration with LeBron James in 2013 got here simply as Bennahmias’ affect over the corporate as chief government was starting to indicate. Hart, Brady, Usher, Beyoncé, Stormzy, Ed Sheeran and Serena Williams — for a few years the best-paid feminine athlete on this planet — had been among the many many titans who grew to become aligned to AP, generally as paid ambassadors, different instances as prospects solely too completely satisfied to be seen sporting the model.

And naturally, the technique – paired with extra conventional tie-ups in golf and the humanities – did drive revenues. By 2012, AP’s annual gross sales had been reported to have reached 612 million Swiss francs, simply over half these of Patek Philippe. In 2022, Morgan Stanley’s annual watch report estimated AP’s gross sales had greater than tripled in 10 years to greater than 2 billion Swiss francs, surpassing Patek’s 1.8 billion enterprise. No different high Swiss watchmaker has identified such development over the identical interval. “There may be at all times room to be progressive,” says Bennahmias. “Be inventive, be daring – and it does work.”

Be inventive, be daring – and it does work.

—  François-Henry Bennahmias

His tone modifications when requested concerning the present state of the watch market. He describes it as “untapped” and cites figures displaying the business’s whole retail gross sales (circa $50 billion) nonetheless solely quantity to at least one third of these of Mercedes Benz.

“When you concentrate on it, there’s nonetheless a lot to attain,” he says. What’s holding the business again? “We’re nonetheless too shy,” he says. “Too danger averse. Too typical.”

Regardless of its results, there’s little signal of different manufacturers overcoming their innate conservatism. Hublot, IWC and Zenith are amongst a small cohort with comparable methods, however in the principle, orthodox product and advertising methods nonetheless dominate. In the meantime, whether or not there’s a connection or not, world client urge for food for Swiss watches has dimmed, with export volumes down round 40 p.c because the mid-2010s. Export values are stalling, this yr, too, as a post-coronavirus growth cools down, in line with the Federation of the Swiss Watch Business.

Some chief executives have responded to the downward development with a shrug. Does Bennahmias assume this can be a downside? “Sure,” he says. “An enormous one.” If there’s a optimistic, he says, it’s within the troubled waters which may lie forward. “I’m type of completely satisfied that the enterprise is gonna get more durable,” he says. “As a result of when it will get more durable, folks get smarter. When all the things is ok, it’s straightforward, however when you must grind, it’s a distinct story and also you consider issues in another way.”

These issues, he goes on, have to incorporate distribution and the enterprise of truly promoting watches. In his thoughts, AP’s direct-to-consumer boutique technique, together with the confidential “AP Home” idea deployed in lots of areas, has had way more affect on the corporate’s development than its high-profile partnerships and even the enchantment of the watches themselves.

“On the time, you may purchase a single monitor on iTunes for 99 cents,” he says, recalling the panorama of 2012. “And for that, you’d give Apple your handle, cellphone quantity and bank card data. Simply to purchase one tune. I assumed we had been out of our thoughts promoting watches for a whole lot of 1000’s of Swiss francs and never realizing who our purchasers had been. The large factor I did was to shrink the variety of folks between the watchmaker’s bench and the shopper.”

That tactic meant decreasing the variety of factors of sale – and the scale of the gathering. He slashed references from round 900 to 200, a determine he says has since climbed again as much as 300 in latest collections due to including extra high-end, low-volume and even one-off items.

If he makes these selections sound easy, he says they weren’t. “There isn’t any rule that since you do that it’s successful,” he says. “You by no means know what might occur. You’re at all times in danger.”

The Way forward for Code: 11.59

Certainly, there have been ups and downs for watchmaking’s disruptor-in-chief. In 2019, AP launched Code 11.59, broadly seen as an answer to the issue of being a “one-watch model”, a criticism levelled at it due to the spectacular success of the Royal Oak, AP’s zeitgeisty Seventies sports activities watch and an business icon.

However on the again of what many noticed as a self-congratulatory launch, Code 11.59 was panned by critics and ridiculed on social media – and Bennahmias with it. The episode hit Bennahmias arduous. How does he mirror on it? “Let’s put it this fashion,” he says. “I actually do consider we’ve constructed one thing that’s going to final, now.” However did he at all times really feel that method? “Not after the launch, however I by no means doubted that we’d make it work. I at all times stated it was a five-year launch. We gained’t know if it’s profitable for 5 years.”

And 4 years on, is it? “We at the moment are making the largest amount for any assortment exterior the Royal Oak and it’s near 13 p.c of the enterprise, which is substantial,” he says. “And I do know we’ve got some unbelievable improvements within the pipe, too.”

Final month, Bennahmias was visibly emotional when he stepped on stage on the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, the business’s most prestigious awards ceremony, to gather the Aiguille d’Or, the highest prize on the evening, for the Code 11.59 Universelle RD#4, a $1.9 million model of the watch with 23 problems.

“It felt actually, actually good,” he admits. “Don’t overlook I’m a competitor. Folks assume that as a result of it’s profitable, it’s at all times a giant smile and happiness and all the things. However it’s not, and I perceive why extra, now: some folks attain these ranges they usually cope with psychological well being points or huge downs or depressions. And so after they win, it’s robust.”

Succession

If he’d had his method and left a yr in the past, the prize would have been collected by his successor. On January 1, the previous Procter and Gamble government Ilaria Resta will take over as AP’s new chief government. She joined the corporate in August and has been shadowing Bennahmias, studying the ropes as she takes on one of many largest jobs in watchmaking – and her first. “In the event that they [the board] had appointed somebody from contained in the business, I might have been gone in two seconds,” says Bennahmias, who describes Resta as his “youthful sister” and “a superb human being with nice human abilities.”

So, will he miss the job that has outlined his profession? At this level he pauses. “I go away with zero remorse – I can’t wait really to be executed,” he says. “We had an impressive experience. Even after we had been drained, there was at all times one thing good about it. What I miss already is what we put collectively as human beings. And I’m going to recreate that elsewhere for positive.”

From the surface, he’ll be remembered for linking the inflexible world of Swiss watchmaking to iconoclasts of latest Black American tradition and the unapologetic bombast with which he did so. The modifications he’s affected at AP and within the business are captured in his personal look: As he says, in 2005, he dressed “like a banker”, in three-piece fits and with rimless glasses. Now, his uniform is black denims, sneakers and tees daubed with streetwear logos and slogans. His affect over the corporate’s development gained’t rapidly be forgotten both.

However how would he prefer to be remembered? “A terrific chief,” he says. “I don’t care about revenues or profitability. They’re at all times a consequence of nice technique and nice management.”

Audemars Piguet will go on. Is it prepared for all times with out him? “There isn’t any reply to that,” he says. “I might say, I hope so. I might say, I feel so. I’m gonna say solely time will inform.”