Breguet CEO Gregory Kissling reveals the rationale behind Breguet Gold, the commemorative products and their well-planned launches
Watch brands are nothing if not exercises in continuous evolution. Brands we know well today have, all too often, taken unexpected turns as they navigate the irresistible currents of space and time. Some survive, albeit in new forms, while others are swept away. The same is often true of the leaders of such brands, especially the professional executives who are appointed to correct course, or stay the course, or simply deliver what the shareholders want.
Take the example of Breguet, which is owned and operated today by the Swatch Group, and celebrates the 250th anniversary of its formation by the legendary watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet.
The founder, farsighted though he was, probably never envisioned the prodigious longevity of his marque, nor its status as part of a Swiss watchmaking industrial group. Even in our relatively short time covering Breguet, we have seen the coming and going of a few bosses – notas many as some – and all under different circumstances.
It might feel impossible to imagine anyone but Abraham- Louis at the helm of Breguet and none other than the late Nicolas G. Hayek (1928-2010) often agreed; Hayek was not only the boss of the Group but also the driving force behind Breguet. He once waxed lyrical about channelling the spirit of Abraham-Louis into his vision for the brand, effectively asking, ‘What would Breguet do, if he were making watches now?’ Every CEO since Hayek passed has followed this example.
Just a few months before Breguet began its 250th year, Gregory Kissling was announced as the new CEO, and we thought it might be a sort of present for the brand. We are already familiar with Kissling from his previous role as Vice President of Product at Omega (also a Swatch Group sibling), where he had accumulated more than 20 years of experience in the watch industry. It is no understatement to say that Kissling was highly
recognisable in his VP role, often presenting new watches to various markets and coming up with highly engaging demonstrations for press and partners. The writers both witnessed how Kissling brought over his infectious enthusiasm for watchmaking when he was in town to officially open the new boutique at ION Orchard. The interview, by Ruckdee Chotjinda, was conducted at that time.
How did you transition from a product-centric role to one where you have to oversee all the aspects of the brand?
It’s definitely a big jump. Of course, there are absolutely new responsibilities with being the CEO of a brand such as Breguet, especially just right before the anniversary milestone. But having spent more than 25 years in product development, (I can say my product experience is) definitely a good thing because with Breguet, the product is at the centre of the company. I know the different phases of product development and how to communicate the product. I also how the retail distribution side works. You know, at Omega, I was not only on the product side <Kissling was also in overall management, thus having exposure to many aspects of the business – Ed>. So, for me, the move to become Breguet CEO was a big jump, but it was not too far!
What do you think is the greatest asset of Breguet that you can actually leverage in this current climate of the luxury world?
I see two big assets. One is our history; you cannot remove the history. What was made was made, and it’s a fact. Breguet was always considered the father of modern horology, and not only in terms of technical theatres, but also in terms of design. Breguet is probably the only one brand that is named by the other major competitors…when they talk about Breguet numerals, Breguet hands, and Breguet spirals. It’s respect, and it’s definitely (reverence). And it’s 250 years of existence without any interruption. Every year, Breguet developed, produced watches, so there’s no gap during these 250 years. This is a fantastic patrimony.
The second asset of Breguet is the manufacture itself. We have talented people in different watchmaking fields. It’s a truly verticalised manufacture, but at the same time, we are part of the Swatch Group. We have, for example, the ability to develop new lubrication for a specific escapement. We have a manufacturer that produces the sapphire crystals for us, and the ruby stones for us. Thus, we have flexibilities and abilities to develop new things.
Naturally, this enabled you to develop Breguet Gold that you presented this year.
The Breguet Gold is a good example because it’s not just choosing the colour. You need also to be sure that this gold can be machined, can be decorated, can be guilloched, and so on. So, it’s not just finding a new alloy. We also have to be sure that this alloy can be industrialised and crafted. We have the experts in metallurgy, and also the facilities within the group for this development.
Was Breguet Gold developed specifically for this 250th anniversary? Will it be used for regular products afterwards?
Of course, this Breguet Gold was introduced for the anniversary to make (an impact). And for sure, we will continue to produce new products with it. If you have a look at our current collection, the yellow gold has almost disappeared. So, we wanted really to come back with a (kind of) yellow gold, but this one is not too yellow and not too rose; it’s a bit in between. This gold is very pleasant. The inspiration was to replicate the gold that was used by Breguet himself. At the time, of course, the colour of gold was not standardised as it is today. But thanks to our patrimony (as mentioned), we have exactly 180 historical gold timepieces of Breguet. We made some measurements in terms of colour and to reach that very specific colour, we now use palladium together with silver and copper in the 25% that you have left to play with when it’s 18K gold <which must be 75% pure gold>. Palladium helps also to obtain great physical and chemical characteristics. It stabilises the colour over time, which is a very good advantage for the end consumer.
Is there something we can mention about the hardness of this proprietary gold?
Yes,toreachthehardnessyouwant,youhavetwooptions. Firstly, the composition helps. Second, you can add some special treatments. So, we did a thermal treatment in order to increase the hardness. The hardness of Breguet Gold is around 230 Vickers, whereas normal gold would be around 130 Vickers. It’s not scratch-resistant – that starts at 1,000 Vickers – but it’s better than standard gold.
You joined Breguet last year in September. There was a very short time to prepare the products for the 250th anniversary. How did you manage?
We started with the Classique Souscription 2025 watch. When I arrived, there was already a clear strategy… a global strategy and plan. And the first thing was, OK, I asked the product team, Can you show me what we have in the pipeline? And I saw that the movement for the Souscription was already (in the works) since many years, but the product itself was not completely finished.
We redesigned everything, from the dial, to the hand, the case, the gold and the crystal and the lugs and so on. So, yes, we pushed a lot. But because we are a strong and verticalised manufacture, we also have our case maker in-house, so it was feasible to develop, produce and distribute the product within this very short period of time.
What about the staggered releases in different cities of the world? Please tell us a bit more about the idea behind that.
At Breguet, we have different families and each family has its story. And Breguet was definitely one of the first brands to be global because Breguet had many clients across the globe: in the USA, Spain, Great Britain, Russia…everywhere. So, the idea was to do the world tour from Paris, and back to Paris.
We started in Paris, at Place Vendôme, because we have our flagship boutique there. Then, the second launch in Shanghai with the Tradition Seconde Rétrograde 7035. Shanghai was the perfect city to talk about tradition but also modernity. And for this product, we were inspired by the tact watch of Josephine, the wife of Napoleon. We took the inspiration from its guilloché cover with blue translucent enamel. This is also the first time that Arabic numbers go into the Tradition for gents. For us, it was important to talk about the Breguet numerals.
The New York launch was regarding the Type XX Chronographe 2075. Why New York?
Because we wanted to talk about the very important transatlantic chapter of aviation with the Breguet 19 aeroplane from the fifth generation of the family. Most recently, we launched the Classique Tourbillon Sidéral 7255 in Geneva on the Tourbillon Day (June 26) when Abraham-Louis received the patent from the interior minister. We decided to do the launch in Geneva because Geneva is in Switzerland and he invented the tourbillon in Switzerland.
Last question, just to wrap up. What is your strategy regarding retail? How do you want to proceed with your own boutiques and retailers?
Both, of course. We want to elevate the level in our different points of sales. So, we have a clear strategy to open more boutiques, more corporate boutiques. But at the same time, we want also to keep our very good retailers, and also sometimes to have the opportunity to make franchise boutiques with them. So it will be a mix between retailers, franchise boutiques and corporate boutiques.