Collectors Are Helping Me To Avoid Mistakes

During Dubai Watch Week, I sat down with Georges Kern to discuss his House of Brands group, which consists of Gallet, Breitling, and Universal Genève. His work on adding Gallet and Universal Genève to his portfolio has not gone under the radar. In recent times, we noticed a lot of speculation, rumors, previews, and advisory-board sessions. In 2026, with great anticipation, we will see Gallet and Universal Genève return to life and join Breitling in the House of Brands group.

The House of Brands — Gallet, Breitling, Universal Genève

How is it to work on the revival of these brands in an economic climate that is far from ideal? We live in challenging times, but Georges Kern seems imperturbable in his mission to build this new house with three exciting brands. Before this interview with Kern, I wondered if he’s really that calm, as the cards for 2026 don’t look particularly good in general.

We meet in the Breitling “house” in Dubai, with the Dubai Mall and its impressive fountains in the background. Upon entering, the Breitling hostess asks me if I have a few minutes to spare, as Kern is going from one appointment to another. The coffee at the Breitling bar is among the best at the Dubai Watch Week exhibition, and it makes the wait enjoyable, not least of all because the air conditioning inside cools me down to more European temperatures again.

And then it’s time. I hear my name called, and in front of me is Kern. Dressed sharply, even in this heat, he is obviously in full-concentration mode. Even though this is just one of many interviews for him, he takes the time to answer all my questions, and I quickly realize that his calmness is not an act. Kern is as determined as those who perform at the highest level in sports. Not only do they not think about losing, but they also have no doubts or hesitation. We sit down in a meeting room in this typical Breitling boutique setting, and I fire away with my questions.

Robert-Jan Broer: So, it’s almost the end of the year. How do you look back at 2025, and what were the most difficult challenges? It was not an easy year for the watch industry, was it?

Georges Kern: No. I mean, we’ve been in a somewhat gloomy environment since basically two or three years after COVID. There’s been inflation, rising interest rates, et cetera, and consumption suddenly went down. Look at the stock market, no wars ending, the incredible weakness of the EU economy, especially Germany, and political instability. All this is having an impact on consumers’ minds, and then came the tariffs of 39% — well, now they’re down to 15%. I’ve been in the industry for 30 years, and it has never been as bad as it is today.

The crises in the past were much shorter, you know, and this one is really particular. As a cyclist, I can tell you that you win the race in the mountains. You don’t win the race when you ride flat or downhill, but when you’re going up, you leave your competition behind.

We are very active in terms of innovation. We’re now developing 100% in-house, for example, and we’ve signed huge deals, such as the one with the NFL, which is a gigantic deal in our most important market. Thankfully, the tariffs are at least comparable to those in Europe. And we are deep in preparation for next year, not only for Breitling but also for Universal Genève and Gallet, of course.

RJB: Could you provide a brief update on Universal Genève and Gallet, their current status, upcoming developments, and what people can expect?

GK: This is the first time we’re discussing the House of Brands here in Dubai. We have all our collections and are showing them to retailers and the press. We need to have negotiated spaces and boutiques. I mean, it takes a year. Universal Genève will be launched at the beginning of April, and Gallet will be launched at the Geneva Watch Days at the end of August.

RJ: Why not at the same time? Is that a matter of allocating capacity?

GK: No, it’s because I want to give space. I have three launches to coordinate — Breitling, Universal Genève, and Gallet. So we need to find ways to provide space where possible. But in 30 years in the industry, I’ve never seen such a positive reaction to a brand like Universal Genève. I mean, and I just met with collectors’ clubs, and they said, “Where can I order this? Where can I order that?” I mean, I could sell my yearly production here.

It’s crazy. And it’s 30 years of mistakes, and now making sure to avoid them with Universal Genève. It’s that plus my advisory board, as I have 40 people, including collectors, helping me. It’s phenomenal now, and it will continue to be.

And I must say, Gallet is totally different. There’s no correlation between price and success. I can give you names of many accessible-luxury brands that are successful and many high-production brands that are not. The only correlation is doing the right thing and being successful at any price point.

Also, the fact that we have the distribution for Breitling and are saying it’s a sister brand, manufactured by Breitling, which is also mentioned on the case back, changes the game. I would have never done it and launched at that price point alone.

Since we have the distribution with 300 boutiques, this will be the most competitive distribution of an accessible-luxury brand in the world. If you take all the watch brands you know, they don’t have this network, right? Also, we structured the collection in a very simple, retailer- and consumer-oriented way.

We have the same price for each reference per collection, and we will have only a few references per collection. You’ll get more diversity through the different straps, which are all interchangeable because the attachments are all the same.

RJB: I have been wondering why these Gallet watches are not chronometer certified? After all, that’s such a strong selling point for Breitling.

GK: Yeah, that’s because it’s another CHF 170 multiplied by six.

RJB: What’s the multiplication by six?

GK: It’s a margin. It’s from production to the end consumer. So you have manufacturing margins, retailer margins, and so on. We will have automatic watches at CHF 2,500–2,600, and they’re of incredible quality. And if you add 170, you’re over 3,000 with all the margins. But we might one day.

At Breitling, it’s different because we have a much higher price point. And having them chronometer certified makes sense.

RJB: You recently said that you will not work for a group ever again. But now you have the House of Brands. Isn’t that a group? How do you make sure you don’t run into the same pitfalls you would with a group?

GK: I’m the boss. That helps because I can make decisions. No, seriously, the groups I don’t want to work for have dozens of brands and high amounts of turnover. What we want is a meaningful, curated set of brands under House of Brands as a new offering not only for retailers but also for consumers.

Gallet is a new offering, and Universal is a very new offering at that price point. And Breitling is in the biggest market, let’s say between 5000 and 25,000 francs, and is doing very well.

Now that we are more mature, we’re going to the next step, the iconization of these three product lines. It’s fun to launch brands and do it right, offering something new to the market. And this is what we’re doing, but we don’t have the aim of becoming, you know, a “group,” so to speak.

RJB: You once told me you’re aiming for CHF 2 billion in turnover with these three brands. What would the breakdown look like?

GK: In turnover, Universal Genève has the same potential as Breitling. With Gallet, it is much less because we don’t want the big distribution anyway. We don’t want hundreds of points of sale. The aim was also to cover the price points we’ve left out over the last seven years since becoming a manufacturer and no longer offering Sellita movements.

So, here we have something to plug in as a sister brand. For me, at Breitling, it’s just like adding a line. The effort required is the same, so it’s quite straightforward. If it weren’t, I wouldn’t have done it. Can you imagine having to create all the infrastructure to do this?

RJB: I know that a lot of people have been looking forward to Gallet’s return, especially collectors of vintage watches. How do you manage the high expectations of these collectors?

GK: It’s a challenge because the level of expectation is through the roof. In my entire career, I’d never been in a situation where I experienced the level of expectation I have now. Most of these people are telling me, “Don’t screw it up.” But this is why I have an advisory board of 40 people, including collectors who are helping me to avoid mistakes. And a colleague of yours said this is probably the most important relaunch of the century. Okay, I hope it’s not, but… [laughs]

But of all the dormant brands, Universal Genève is the most incredible one in terms of history, stories, and products. These are icons that people are collecting, from the “Nina” to the Compax, Tri-Compax, you name it.

I wouldn’t say that I’m under pressure, but I don’t want to mess around with that brand. I’m going to do stuff that nobody at that price point is going to do.

We want to be the super cool brand up there. I don’t want Universal Genève to be like Rolls-Royce — classic and beautiful but very traditional and conservative. I also don’t want it to be like Lamborghini — you know, the showoff… We want to do something else.

It’s just a high expectation, not a specific one. We can do what we want, while others cannot. Sometimes, brands — and this also applies to Breitling — are in a prison, you know? They do big, loud pilot’s watches, for instance, and they need to get out of this. Thankfully, we don’t have that legacy. That means we can surprise the market, and in 2026, the market will be extremely surprised! We’ll do things that no major brands at that price point would. And we don’t have to worry about self-castration, you know, which many brands do.