He loves beauty in all its forms, especially if enclosed within a precious dial. We are talking about Georges Kern, CEO of the Swiss watch company Breitling replica watches wholesale since 2017. With the intuition of the businessman who does not miss an opportunity, he has been leading the strategy of the historic brand part of the Richemont group for five years. After strengthening the casual, inclusive and sustainable image of the brand, today Kern aims to tell its story and heritage.
What makes a watch an icon?
There are many timepieces that have not become best sellers and just as many famous models that have never been perceived as icons. Few watchmaking brands in the world can boast both aspects. Breitling is one of them. 1:1 UK fake Breitling Navitimer watches, which celebrates its first 70 years this year, is an icon that has had a huge response and is in the top six of the lines globally. One of the three determining factors of its popularity is functionality. Willy Breitling, in 1952, created this wrist chronograph with a circular ruler, indispensable for pilots to perform flight calculations. This peculiarity made it, two years later, the official timepiece of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. The second element is the recognizable design, while the third is the history that is intertwined with the world of civil aviation. It is undoubtedly the combination of these three characteristics that made Swiss made Breitling Navitimer replica watches an exemplary model, and that prompted us to present the Navitimer 2022. The design has become more contemporary, without however neglecting the most representative elements such as the slide rule, the indexes bâton, the three chronograph counters and the notched bezel.
How does the relaunch of important models fit into the development strategy?
Our presence on the Asian market is only 6% linked to China, a fact that at the moment keeps us away from degrowth as we operate in Japan, Korea and South Asia. We are growing a lot in Europe and the United States, thanks to the work of the last 5 years, with the revision of the brand image, the launch of products and the opening of new boutiques. The next few years will mark a phase of storytelling, of its manufacturing, of its heritage.
Hence the idea of relaunching the perfect copy Breitling Cosmonaute watches and proposing a limited edition inspired by the original model worn by Carpenter?
Exactly. The Cosmonaute has an incredible history. The 24-hour dial was created to allow astronaut Scott Carpenter to distinguish day and night in the darkness of space. In 1962 it was in fact the first Swiss wristwatch in space, within the Mercury-Atlas7 mission. The 60th anniversary of the mission’s departure has allowed us to present a limited edition of 362 units, a tribute to the legendary model.
The best Breitling Cosmonaute replica watches marks the 24 hours on its dial to mark the time of the whole day. How do you manage to balance his time?
Over the years you become more disciplined and above all you no longer do the things that other people do better than you. You learn to delegate and I have a great team. In addition, you give more value to the hygiène de vie, the quality of private life. Discipline is everything: focus on what your added value for the company is. If I go on vacation, by bike, I dedicate myself to cinema and political commitments in Switzerland, I detach from everything. Because I open my mind and focus on important business details.
Austerity and discipline also served her when she became the youngest CEO of Richemont at the age of 36. How did you handle the pressure?
There is one thing I always say when I give my speeches at university. Career is made up of three elements: mind, hard work and luck. You must be lucky in life and I have always been in the right place at the right time, but the thing that has made the difference is that I have always jumped on the train, I have not let it pass. I studied Business at Sankt Gallen in Switzerland, where I was not a brilliant student, but today only 2/3 people who studied with me have had better careers than mine. So what matters is having a good intellectual foundation, but it takes character to succeed. You have to understand what your talent is, but even more what you are not inclined to do. The competitive spirit does the rest, and if you don’t have it you can even forget about climbing positions. Having the right attitude is important because people need leaders to follow.
What characteristics must a leader have?
In my role, people follow me because I am successful. In France they say le benefice du doute: if someone disagrees with me, they still tend to trust my opinion based on the results of recent years. When you are at the beginning, however, to be credible you have only your arguments available. You have to set goals and reach them, improving performance, because they will believe you only when you are a winner. The real question is why Franco Cologni chose me when I was so young. He probably saw something in me, he trusted and he was my mentor.
Speaking of goals, the cheap 2022 fake Breitling Navitimer Cosmonaute watches went into space 60 years ago. Where do you hope will some other space project arrive in the next?
These feats, like that of Bertrand Piccard who went around the world in a balloon together with Orbiter 3, help us tell the story of the brand. Today, however, we want to focus on the consumer experience. Especially on what they expect from the world of analogue watchmaking in a digital age. Of course, technology is essential for managing and simplifying life, but there is a need for balance, emotion. It is not a question of reading the time on an electronic dial, but wearing a piece of art and telling its story.
Among the new projects, the opening of a boutique in Milan. What will there be in the Italian flagship store?
It will be only the first of 3-4 boutiques that we will open in the Montenapoleone area. After some research we realized that the consumer wants more and more immersive experiences. This is why we will offer an experience to tell the story of the brand and also attract the youngest to the AAA online Breitling super clone watches house in Milan. I think we will open in August, but the Milanese will be on vacation, so the invitation is in September.