You’ve spent nearly three decades at Audemars Piguet. What has changed in horology over the years, and what do you think—and hope—will never change?
The passion, hopefully, will never change, and the pursuit of absolute craftsmanship and exclusivity will remain in Switzerland. That’s what I’m hoping will survive as a culture. You have to understand that when I first started working for Audemars Piguet, we were selling watches to retailers rather than clients, one watch at a time, and [as a salesman] often selling one watch in a week felt like Christmas. When I began [my journey as a salesman with AP], the company had 200 employees and was not even making US$100 million in sales, so, when you ask me what has changed? So much! 

It took years to eventually recognise that we had accomplished something. It took a long time to build this success, and we’ve had our moments: the charts for success went up and down, up and down. And, yes, it has been steadily improving over the last decade, but it [has also made me question whether I am more appreciative of] where we are today, or of the journey that led us here? And I’d say I’ve enjoyed the path [to success] far more than [the fact that we’re] where we are today.

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What is your secret to success?
There is no such thing as a secret or a recipe [to success]. But there is one thing [that every success story has] in common: you can never develop a successful company without bringing people together. You could be selling anything, but it is a group of people working together [that makes a difference]. And if that team includes amazing individuals with great talents, but they do not work well together, you will never be successful in the long run. That is the most important secret. Bring folks together all the time. 

And for that, you must be crystal clear about why you do what you do every day. Why do we have to go to work every day? What’s the goal? Then you work on the “how” and the “what”. I’m very fond of Simon Sinek’s “Start with why” video—that helped us a lot, I have to say. But if you bring people together on your hows and whys, then success won’t be too far [behind].

You’ve had such an illustrious career: you started as a professional athlete, then moved into luxury fashion before entering the watch industry. What was it about watches that kept you hooked for so many years?
Love? No, the love and the challenge—it either feels right or it doesn’t feel right. And that happened to me in many, many different ways; with different people, different companies—and it felt right [at Audemars Piguet] for 29 long years. I knew, however, that at some point, it would not feel right. And I didn’t want to push it to the time when people would say, “Sir, you’re too old; please, step down”. You must try to leave before that moment arrives; you leave when you’re at the top.

Does gender play a role in watch design? 
Until recently, we were all making the same mistake, which was to distinguish between men’s and women’s watches. And what we found in the last three to four years is that sometimes a woman buys a masculine-looking watch, and [vice versa]. So we started to understand that a watch is a watch. Now, obviously, to some extent depending on colours and sizes, the watch reference should be a bit more [tailored] to women or men. But who are we to say? So we are more fluid now. We deal with this topic every single day.

Why do we rarely see haute joaillerie watches from Audemars Piguet?
11 years ago, when I came on board as CEO, I decided to move away from the flowers and butterflies. I said we needed to evolve and do more rock and roll jewellery. And we did. We launched three outstanding pieces: the first was a Diamond Punk, then the Diamond Fury and then the Diamond Outrage. They were crazy pieces, to the point where even the jeweller working for Audemars Piguet said to me, “This is not AP”. Then when the watch was finally done, he came to me and said, “Boss, you are right. This is 150 per cent AP.” So we’ve done haute joaillerie watches, and we are working on more jewellery watches. So keep an eye out for them.

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What advice do you have for budding watch collectors?
Always start with love—never with money. When you buy [a watch], if you’re thinking about reselling it, it is not collecting, that’s called investing—like the stock exchange. And the second you invest [in a luxury watch], get ready to win or to lose. 

Of course, collecting is a completely different thing; it’s like collecting art. I can apply this to myself, because I’m not an art specialist, but I’ve bought a lot of art over the last 10 years. And I go for pieces that feel right for me. I know it in my gut, and I go with it.

What is your biggest regret and your proudest moment as CEO of Audemars Piguet?
I don’t have any major regrets, because you know that throughout the course of a career, especially one of 29 years, you’re bound to make mistakes—and not just one, but many. It’s how you cope with your mistakes [that matters]. Because, yes, you will climb a mountain if you want to, but if someone dies as a result of that, you will surely regret it. And if you climb that mountain in three weeks instead of 15 days, will you be sorry? No. So it’s all about going through these different kinds of momentum where [your journey] has to be amazing and not so great, but you get through it because you’re learning and getting better. And that’s called experience. If I had had a [major] regret, I would [have left]; I wouldn’t stay for 29 years. 

The most significant accomplishment has undoubtedly been bringing people together. When I visit each Audemars Piguet subsidiary and witness the relationship that we have with the employees—including a lot of newcomers, because we’ve hired a lot of people in the last three years—that’s the reward, that’s your achievement. It’s not the revenue, nor the profitability; it’s the people.

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