Changing Of Hands

When CVC Capital Partners bought over Breitling, its first move was to enlist the help of one of the better-known CEOs within the horology industry – Georges Kern – a step that seems to have paid off.

- Daniel Goh

C-Suite executives giving up one prestigious position to helm another is nothing new within the corporate landscape. However, when Georges Kern gave up his position as the Head of Watchmaking, Marketing and Digital at Richemont to become the new CEO of Breitling, it garnered the attention of many within the watch industry. To make things even more interesting, Kern exited Richemont merely months after being offered the promotion and his resignation was announced as ‘effective immediately’.

We don’t know the specifics of what he was offered but it is fairly obvious that CVC Capital Partners, the private equity firm that bought Breitling, made him an offer he just couldn’t refuse.

At the time of writing, it has been about a year and a half since Kern joined Breitling as its new CEO and, since then, he has been working with afterburners engaged (forgive the aviation pun). In a short span of time, he has almost completely redefined the Breitling experience, expanding the brand’s customer base and building a brand image that speaks to the modern consumer. I’m paraphrasing a bit but, according to Kern, the goal is to remove the fuddy-duddy aspect of luxury and instead position Breitling as a rather ‘cool’ brand.

EXPAND & CONTRACT