Five months into the role, the Swiss watchmaker’s new chief executive explains why price has to be earned, why partnerships are won in the execution and why he sees no reason for pessimism
Leaders
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LEADERS6 min read
Bulgari’s Jonathan Brinbaum on Bringing Value and Volume Back Together in Swiss Watchmaking
At Geneva Watch Days, Bulgari’s watch managing director weighs a shrinking unit count against resilient export value, and sets out how creativity, women buyers and a disciplined reading of the secondary market could restore the balance.
LEADERS12 min read
“AI Has No Taste”: Antonio Carriero on GEO, Desirability and the Machine-Mediated Watch Market
At a Geneva Watch Days panel on generative engine optimisation and desirability, DLG’s Senior Advisor Antonio Carriero argued that artificial intelligence cannot originate desire, only mediate it. He explains why GEO should be treated as hygiene rather than strategy, and why the brands that win by 2030 will be both machine-legible and unmistakably human.
LEADERS7 min read
The 1916 Company’s John Shmerler on why the secondary watch market’s growth spurt is just getting started
John Shmerler, chief executive of The 1916 Company, argues that Rolex’s Certified Pre-Owned programme has reset consumer trust in resale watches, and that the industry’s true blind spot remains what happens after the sale, not before it.
LEADERS7 min read
Cyrille Vigneron: The Luxury Industry Is Waiting for a Recovery That Isn’t Coming
Cartier’s former chief executive, now chairman of culture and philanthropy, on why the past six years bear no resemblance to the sector’s previous downturns, and why some brands are mistaking a lasting cultural shift for a cycle waiting to turn.
LEADERS6 min read
Luxury’s Old Playbook Is Running Out of Road, Warns IMD’s Stéphane Girod
Three decades of expansion were built on a tripling of the global economy. IMD’s Stéphane Girod argues that engine will not return at the same pace, and that brands mistaking the slowdown for a cycle are misreading their situation
LEADERS6 min read
Davide Cerrato on Bremont’s Turnaround: Fewer Watches, Firmer Prices, a Trip to the Moon
Three years after taking the helm of the British watchmaker, Bremont’s chief executive tells why cutting the collection, holding the price ladder and a lunar rover collaboration are the pillars of its recovery.
LEADERS6 min read
The Architect of Private Luxury: Guido Terreni on Parmigiani’s Relaunch and the Future of Independent Watchmaking
As Swiss watchmaking consolidates around a shrinking group of dominant names, the chief executive of Parmigiani Fleurier makes the case for a different kind of desirability — one built not on visibility, but on discernment.
