It’s all about the right timing for Breitling CEO Georges Kern, who will soon be clocking 30 years in the horological industry. While passing through Hong Kong, he gave Robb Report Hong Kong an exclusive one-on-one chat about leading Breitling as it celebrates its 140th anniversary.

Marking “140 Years of Firsts,” Breitling unveiled not one, but three limited editions of its flagship models—the Premier, the Navitimer, and the Chronomat. Launched in Hong Kong to great fanfare to an assembly of collectors, connoisseurs, and celebrities, guest of honour, singer, and actor Raymond Lam joined hands with Kern to unveil the three novelties in Hong Kong. 

But for watch enthusiasts, the cynosure of all eyes will perpetually be Kern, who, in his tenure as CEO, opened Breitling’s doors to China with a 2019 star-studded event in Beijing featuring brand ambassadors Brad Pitt, Daniel Wu, and legendary photographer Peter Lindbergh. Famed as an alpha-masculine brand for decades, Kern invited Charlize Theron to be the ambassador of a new collection and collaborated with Victoria Beckham on a special-edition Chronomat.

Kern spoke to us about the significance of Hong Kong as a watch market and what plans lay ahead. Spoiler alert: More of the same! As the adage goes, “If it ain’t broke…” 

“Everybody wants to know what’s next, what’s coming up. It’s always the same question I get from the journalists,” laughs Kern as we repeated the oft-posed query. “It’s legitimate. So, thank you for the question, but I will disappoint you because the response is more of the same. We have a strategy. We redefined our strategy seven years ago, we reviewed everything—the branding, the products, the positioning, the values of the brand in the context of neo-luxury. And it works. We are successful. So, what we need to do now is work on the awareness of the new Breitling, because 90 per cent of our customer base still believes [in] or knows the old Breitling.

“What we need to do is to talk about the new branding [and] what we have been doing over the last six or seven years—be excellent in what we are doing. We need to broaden the awareness in our core target group towards the new products. When people who don’t know the new Breitling see our products, 80 per cent of them say, ‘It’s fabulous, I want to buy one!’”

Let’s step back in time. We turn back the clock to a career-defining milestone when, at just 36, Kern was appointed CEO of a major watch brand, making headlines across horology trade-industry publications, and the sudden impact did not go unnoticed, “Of course there was pressure, but to be honest, it didn’t bother me. You don’t wake up in the morning saying to yourself, ‘Oh, my God, I’m 36. I’m the youngest CEO!’ or whatsoever,” reflects the man who has helmed global luxury watch brands ever since. “You wake up in the morning and you think about the problems you have to solve in your business. So, I never thought about it because […] when you are [in] it, you just want to do your job.”

Unsurprisingly, Kern has a collection of watches. Among a myriad of brands and vintages, a few in his private collection stand out for personal reasons. “I remember the first watch my father gave me, absolutely. I was raised, I would say, with beautiful things in my life, with jewellery, with art, with watches. When I was very young, I was gifted by my parents with beautiful watches. I cannot say if I have a favourite because I’ve been running so many companies. I’ve been involved in so many designs. I was lucky enough to influence many ideas so there are many watches I love, and I own! After 30 years of my career, they’re all my babies in a way!”

Today, he only wears Breitling. “It’s a brand which is very close to me and where probably I had the biggest impact. Obviously, it had the biggest impact in my whole career.”

His career has taken him all around the world as he’s clocked in hours studying global markets and how it affected his bottom line. “In [the] United States, there is a correlation between stock-market evolution and luxury industry sales. The economic environment, geopolitical environment, interest rates—all this can have an influence over consumer sentiment. I always tell journalists, for instance, the moment in time after Covid-19 and the revenge-buying years, there has been a little bit of slowdown, but the money is still there. Perhaps the mood is less positive than a year or two ago, but the money is still there, so the purchases will come. We just have to be patient, do our job, be excellent in servicing our clients, and ultimately for Breitling, we need to outperform the market and be better than the competition. Which we are.”

Any company that’s been around for nearly a century and a half has been through the ups and downs of a rich history, at times surviving challenges and vagaries, at others rising to meet the occasion. “The company has overcome huge problems; there were ups and downs at Breitling like in any company in the world. But the key point is, what happened over the last 140 years in terms of technical innovations, in terms of iconic design, in terms of people in fronting the brand, all of this makes the equity of a brand, makes it more valuable.

“Let’s not forget, Breitling is the inventor of the modern chronograph. Everything you see in the market out there as a chronograph has been invented by Breitling. You have phenomenal people influencing the brand like musician Miles Davis [a Breitling Navitimer fan] and astronaut Scott Carpenter [who] orbited the Earth three times while wearing the Navitimer Cosmonaute.”

Breitling caters to an almost entirely male demographic, and has done so for decades, as can be seen from the resounding majority of male brand ambassadors—until Charlize Theron stepped into the picture, wearing Breitling’s historical aviation piece, the Navitimer.

“We checked it with market research. It’s our feeling, be it our design style, the way we do advertising with our squads, the way we build our collection—all of that is something organic which is growing within the company, within our understanding of the brand. And we do the same thing with our ambassadors,” says Kern. “I believe that Charlize Theron is a great fit for the brand. I believe that [surfer] Kelly Slater is a great fit for the brand. I believe that [footballer] Erling Haaland or [basketball player] Giannis Antetokounmpo are a great fit for the brand. Why? Because they have the right personality; they represent the brand in the perfect way.”

For a watchmaker who has consistently been ahead of the curve, it is however surprising that Breitling wound up in China at a late hour. According to several reports, 30 per cent of all luxury Swiss watch sales come from the Chinese market. But the brand that’s been around for well over a century only opened its flagship store in Beijing in July 2018. 

“I mean, it’s true, the previous owners of Breitling never focused on China,” responds Kern. “Our main market is the US and Europe, where we are huge. We actually professionally started in China after Covid-19, with a new team, a new subsidiary. So, we basically started from scratch in China, just two or three years ago, to be totally honest.

“If I want to have the fair share of market, which I have in other markets, I should triple or quadruple the turnover, but I’m very confident. China is a huge luxury market; it’s 1.3 billion people, so we have phenomenal potential. We are successful everywhere in Asia, so we just need to implement it in the same way of working in China […] like in Southeast Asia or in Japan.”

While asking how does Kern operate a company that’s so visible in such diverse communities, he says he follows his gut. “Like most of the things in the luxury industry, it’s very much about intuition. When you run a company, you need to understand, you have to have a vision, you have to have a strategy. But then, you have to feel it in you that this could work.”

Perched on a high seat in Breitling’s flagship store in the heart of Central in Hong Kong, Kern gets a good look at the city in-between shots as people buzz by and head to work on a fine September morning. “I’ve been travelling to Hong Kong [for] 20 to 25 years. We’ve lived through everything—the boom years, the financial crisis, Lehman Brothers, Covid-19, it has been an incredible journey. It’s a vibrant city; there is a dynamism in it and I love to come here. 

“Hong Kong [has always been] a very influential market because it’s a very educated market. It’s a cultivated market. It has been evolving. It’s part of Greater China. You have new commerce, new areas like Hainan, for instance, coming into the game, so there’s more competition also for Hong Kong. Macau is also changing but it remains a vibrant and interesting market.”

For someone who has spent most of the previous evening at the launch of the latest Breitling collection at Soho House and autographing the soon-to-be-released Breitling: 140 Years in 140 Stories book, he’s surprisingly assured about the rigmarole of his busy diary. In recent years, Kern’s produced a film and has been involved in philanthropic aspects involving sports, climate change, and disadvantaged youth—the man has just as many facets as his acclaimed watches. 

“I met with so many collectors last night in Soho House,” he tells Robb Report Hong Kong. “There’s [a] huge collectors’ community here. People are very engaged, sending me comments. You know, my social media is my personal market research because people write to me and I really do listen to them and they have very interesting feedback.”

Although social media can be rife with faceless critics, the fandom doesn’t troll Kern, but provides ample, knowledgeable recourse. “I like to have these comments also from my collectors here in Hong Kong. So I love, love being here and having events and interacting with them.” 

As his efficient team reminds us that “his helicopter will be here in a few minutes to fly him to Macau,” it prompts the question of what’s happening in Macau? “Macau has changed so much; there are more shows, more resorts, more family-oriented places—a little bit like Las Vegas today. Macau is changing and it’s very interesting. Kind of like a Hollywood resort. I haven’t been in Macau for quite a while, so I can’t wait to see all the developments. I like these artificial cities like Dubai, Las Vegas, and Macau—my wife hates it, but I love it!”

Finally, the question we ask all our Leaders of Luxury: what does luxury mean to you?

“At the end of the day, it is [about] quality of life and happiness. I’ve been in the industry for 30 years. I never understand people who have a certain revenue, who have a certain wealth, but spend the money in a bad way. When you have money, do it in the right way. Buy a proper car, have a nice house, buy proper clothes, and buy a proper watch like Breitling—a stylish watch with taste. Be tasteful. I think luxury is quality of life. And please, enjoy life here and now. Don’t wait until tomorrow. Enjoy the moment.”

Images courtesy of Breitling. Original images by Chris Yau, shot exclusively for Robb Report Hong Kong.