HODINKEE Podcasts

This week on The Business of Watches, we go behind the scenes with the man who compiles and crunches the numbers for the Morgan Stanley Swiss Watcher report, the most influential and widely read annual financial league table on the industry. Oliver Müller has been around the sector for some three decades, beginning his career at Omega before executive roles at a series of brands, including Laurent Ferrier, where he served as Chief Executive Officer. He's now a consultant to the industry and has helped shape brand strategy and positioning for the likes of Akrivia and Rexhep Rexhepi, among others. 

Müller's most high-profile gig these days is compiling the estimates of Swiss brand revenue and volumes for the Morgan Stanley report. It's the top league table for the sector, and he tells us how he calculates and decides on the estimates that get published. Not everyone is a fan. Swatch Group has long criticized the report, now in its 9th edition, and Müller tells us why he believes Swatch and its leadership don't always appreciate the numbers.

But first, Hodinkee founder Ben Clymer drops in for his Business of Watches debut. Ben tells us about his recent trip to Geneva and what he's hearing from some of the big brand executives. He also gives us his take on some of the data deep inside the Morgan Stanley report. 

Show Notes 

1:30 Ben Clymer (Hodinkee)  
2:11 Watches of Switzerland Group 
4:10 Gold price 4:42 USDxCHF 
6:40 Audemars Piguet CEO Ilaria Resta Drives Double-Digit Sales Increase For Brand's 150th Anniversary Year 
10:20 Cartier Santos de Cartier in Titanium (And Steel) — The Watches You Want From Cartier, Whether You Know It Or Not (Hodinkee) 12:55 Cartier's NSO – Or "New Special Order" –  Watch Program Is Over, At Least As We Know It (Hodinkee) 
15:00 LuxeConsult (Oliver Müller) 
15:15 Morgan Stanley 
18:15 Richard Mille 
18:34 Bucherer 
24:13 When Banks Try To Unlock The Watchmaking Secret (Le Temps) (In French) 
32:47 F.P. Journe

What's in a name? More specifically, what is a name worth? Gerald Genta, likely the most famous watch designer in history and responsible for conjuring iconic models from the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, the Patek Philippe Nautilus, the IWC Ingenieur, and the Universal Geneve Polerouter, among others, sold his eponymous watch brand and name to what is now Bulgari and LVMH in the early 2000s. Then he started another brand - using his middle name instead of his family name - and that became Gerald Charles. It was sold to the Ziviani family in Italy in 2003, as Genta remained employed at the company as chief designer until his death in 2011. 

The brand continued producing mostly one-off, bespoke pieces on a small scale for wealthy clients until 2019, when Federico Ziviani, then in his early 20s, took over as Chief Executive Officer and pushed the Gerald Charles brand to a new phase. That would see it draw on designs from Genta's era with the company, most specifically the 'Maestro' case, and sell watches to consumers, first online and then through retailers. 

Production has climbed from about 200 watches a year to more than 1,500, and prices have climbed as well, to an average of about CHF 27,000, Ziviani tells us in an interview recorded at the company's operations in Geneva, where it has an atelier and a small museum that traces the history of the brand and its production. Ziviani is enthusiastic and passionate about the family-owned company that is now sold in about 100 retail stores globally. And he makes the case for why he thinks Gerald Charles watches deserve their hefty price tag. 

But first, we jump into some of the recent business headlines in the watch world. Rolex has consolidated its position as the dominant Swiss brand for watches priced above CHF 3,000 francs with more than 60% market share by sales, according to Swiss bank Vontobel. The bank also ranks the top brands by estimated sales, and we consider the list. And the Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres, or COSC, is launching a new higher-tier standard to test the accuracy and precision of Swiss watches. We discuss what that might mean for the Swiss industry, brands, and customers. 

Show Notes 

1:40 Rolex Trimmed Production In 2025 According To Swiss Bank Vontobel 

7:06 Gold price (Yahoo) 

7:30 Switzerland's COSC Unveils 'Excellence Chronometer' Level Of Certification 

14:20 Gerald Charles 

15:00 Gerald Genta (Wikipedia)  

15:49 Gerald Genta Gefica Safari (Europa Star) 

17:11 Audemars Piguet Italia (Bloomberg) 

18:20 Giampaolo Ziviani and Gerald Genta (Instagram) 

26:20 Gerald Charles website 

27:30 Ticino, Switzerland (Wikipedia) 

38:30 Gerald Charles Ambassadors 

42:15 Swiss Made or Swiss Charade? (ScrewDownCrown) 

45:00 Gerald Genta (LVMH) 

46:30 Gerald Charles History

48:00 USD x Swiss Franc (Yahoo)

This week on The Business of Watches, we head to La Chaux-de-Fonds and sit down with a CEO that running a very different business than most watch brands. Mitchell Wein is the scion of a family that's been in the watch business for more than a century, and the Marathon brand launched back in 1939, supplying timing instruments for the Allied Forces in World War II. 

Selling watches, stopwatches, and clocks to governments and military organizations is still the bulk of Marathon's business these days. Wein says 80% of the watches they sell, by volume, are for these kinds of clients. For a company based in Toronto that makes its watches in Switzerland, that comes with a special list of challenges, particularly in the current geopolitical landscape, where conflicts are heightening, and more trade barriers are being erected. Marathon notably supplied the U.S. military with field watches during the Gulf War way back in the early 1990s, and even today, Wein says the company always has to be ready for a potential war and a potential big order from a military looking to outfit its soldiers with a watch able to withstand the rigors of modern armed conflict. 

But first, we're joined by another Canadian from the wide world of watches. Hodinkee Editor-in-Chief, James Stacey, drops in to talk about a recent trip to Japan and the launch of the Louis Vuitton X De Bethune LVDB-03 Louis Varius Project, a very exclusive travel watch that, if you're in the right price bracket, comes with a Sympathique clock that serves as a docking station to wind and set the watch. 

Show Notes: 

2:04 Introducing The Louis Vuitton X De Bethune LVDB-03 Louis Varius Project (Hodinkee) 

5:16 Denis Flageollet 

6:40 F.P. Journe Reveals Why He Paid More Than $6 Million For A Breguet Clock He Designed 

9:30 Hands-On: The DB25 Starry Varius (Hodinkee) 

11:01 Exclusive: Hermes heir takes aim at LVMH's Arnault in missing shares civil lawsuit, court document shows (Reuters) 

13:02 Travels With A Marathon Watch In Search Of Adventure (Cole Pennington, Hodinkee) 

13:40 The Marathon Navigator – Now With A Steel Case! (Hodinkee) 

14:30 Marathon X Jeep 

18:00 Marathon Our Story (Marathon) 

26:00 Comparison of Marathon Navigator Steel vs. Plastic (You're Terrific YouTube) 

30:02 Doxa 

34:15 Marathon Limited Edition ADANAC Stainless Steel Navigator Pilot's Automatic 

40:05 Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Following a Nuclear Detonation (U.S. Dept. Health and Human Services) 

42:16 IntroducingThe Marathon Navigator 'Blue Yonder' Limited Edition (Hodinkee) 

48:11 NATO Stock Numbers (Wikipedia) 

1:02:30 Robertson Screw (Wikipedia) 

1:10:12 Marathon Clocks (Amazon) 

On this week's episode of The Business of Watches, a brand that's very much in the news. We're in Meyrin, just outside of Geneva, to talk to the head of Baume & Mercier, the near-200 year old brand that's just been sold by Richemont to Italy's Damiani Group. Michael Guenoun speaks passionately and with conviction about the pressures the brand faces due to the strong Swiss franc, rising costs, and its commitment to remaining in the approachable-priced segment of the watch market. 

Guenoun highlights the brand's rich history, its model lines, and its strategy for retail, distribution, and pricing. Recorded before the sale of Baume & Mercier was announced officially, we asked him if the brand was up for sale, and his answer is worth tuning in for. The conversation gives the listener a sense of where Guenoun and his team expect the brand to be and achieve under new leadership for a deal that's still short on details, but is expected to close this summer and take Baume & Mercier under a new corporate umbrella with a company that is based in Italy rather than in Switzerland like Richemont.

But first, we're joined by a very special guest for his take on the latest business headlines in the watch world. Adrian Barker is the man behind Bark & Jack - the popular and influential YouTube channel and accessories shop selling straps, coffee mugs, and other products.  It's a big moment for Adrian as he's just about to launch his first watch collaboration - a dive watch with U.K. brand Christopher Ward. 

Adrian gives us the lowdown on what he learned from the collaboration process with the watchmaker and what he's doing with the design to make this very much an expression of his own personal taste and philosophy on what makes a proper watch. We also talk about Patek Philippe's recent decision to roll back prices in the U.S. in response to lower tariff rates, while implementing another price increase in other markets. 

Show Notes 0:57 Adrian Barker and Bark & Jack 

1:34 Visit Glasgow 2:23 Christopher Ward 

3:11 ETA SA 

5:00 The story of Christopher Ward and CEO Mike France 

9:20 Who Makes Christopher Ward Watches (Bark & Jack) 

12:08 Bark & Jack products 14:05 Patek Philippe 

17:37 Richemont Sells Baume & Mercier 

20:04 Damiani Group 

22:55 Michael Guenoun (World Tempus) 

23:30 History of Baume & Mercier 

25:25 Riviera collection (Monochrome) 

26:51 Clifton Baumatic 

28:00 Baumatic movement (Caliber Corner) 

38:30 TimeVallee 

45:30 As China Retreats And The U.S. Wobbles, Is India The Next Great Hope For The Luxury Watch Market? 

49:20 Richemont maisons 

53:55 Who wants to buy Baume & Mercier and why?

55:04 Watches and Wonders 2026 

On this week's episode of The Business of Watches, we head to Nidau, Switzerland, where we sit down with Ben Küffer, the young Chief Executive Officer of family-owned watch brand Norqain. It's a frank discussion of the challenges of starting a brand and creating a signature watch–the Norqain Wild One–at a time when the industry is crowded with competitors, and it's tough to stand out. We focus on Norqain's unique strategy of recruiting former and current professional athletes as not only brand representatives, but also investors and executives. The big news is Norqain's deal to be the official luxury timepiece of the National Hockey League, an agreement guided by former NHLer and Norqain co-founder Mark Streit with some help from superstar and company investor Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins. 

We also discuss the surprise success of Norqain's 'Enjoy Life' Freedom 60 chronograph that struck a chord with consumers with its ice cream-themed colors and endorsement by Mark Wahlberg to become the brand's top-selling watch. Despite that success, and perhaps in a bid to play the scarcity card, Norqain now says it plans to discontinue the model, at least for now. 

But first, we're joined by TanTan Wang, who is back from Colorado, and some quality time with Oris's new Big Crown Pointer Date 'Bullseye.' We also talk about the recent headlines in the watch world, including the proposed sale of Richemont's Baume & Mercier to Italy's Damiani Group, as well as Omega's very commercial 300M diver, which it is launching for the Milano Cortina Winter Games. 

Show Notes 

1:57 Oris Big Crown Pointer Date Bullseye 

3:15 TanTan's essay and the fight against watch snobbery 

3:47 Richemont Sells Baume & Mercier 

5:43 Omega Releases A White Ceramic Seamaster 300M For Milano Cortina 2026 

9:40 Norqain 10:22 Mark Streit 

11:10 Norqain Scores Multi-Year Sponsorship Deal With NHL Aimed At Vaulting Swiss Brands To The Big Leagues 

12:03 Sidney Crosby Partners With Watch Company Founded By Former NHLers (ESPN) 

18:00 Talking Watches With Jean-Claude Biver 

19:55 Norqain Wild One 

20:25 BIWI SA 

26:00 Hands-On with the Norqain Wild One (Fratello) 

30:40 Hands-On With the Norqain Freedom 60 40mm Enjoy Life (Fratello) 

35:55 Norqain Independence Skeleton Chrono 42mm 

37:31 Swiss watch export statistics 

39:44 Swiss watch industry employment 

45:00 Stan Wawrinka 

51:30 Norqain world and values 

On this week's episode of The Business of Watches, we wrangled some time with someone who was born into the world of the Swiss watch industry but who has taken an outsider's path to business success. Manuel Emch is the managing director of Louis Erard and also one-third of the radical upstart micro-brand Kollokium. We sat down last year, and Emch outlined his circuitous route and unique approach to building and selling watch brands. 

But first, Hodinkee Magazine's editorial director Malaika Crawford drops in to give her take on Louis Vuitton's latest novelties and La Fabrique du Temps with a behind-the-scenes look at the atelier and its skilled artisans and craftspersons. Plus–what is Rolex telling us with its latest group of Hollywood testimonees? 

Show Notes 

1:35 LVMH Watch Week 2026 

2:15 La Fabrique du Temps

8:30 New Rolex Testimonees in 2025 

11:00 Louis Erard 

11:20 Kollokium 

12:00 Grenchen, Switzerland

13:26 HEC Lausanne

16:00 Nick Hayek Sr. 

18:19 Jaquet Droz (Hodinkee) 

22:50 Jaquet Droz website 

27:30 Romain Jerome  

36:20 Louis Erard (Hodinkee) 

45:20 Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein 

54:00 MB&F 

58:10 Swatch AI Dada 

59:45 Kollokium (Hodinkee) 

1:02:00 Kollokium short film 

1:07:10 Tupperware 

1:13:07 Louis Erard Regulator

On this week's The Business of Watches, we head to Villeret, Switzerland, and the storied Swiss watchmaker Minerva. The brand, founded in 1858, is truly the jewel within Montblanc's watchmaking division, which itself is part of Swiss luxury conglomerate Richemont. Laurent Lecamp is the man leading Montblanc and Minerva's watchmaking operations, and he sat down with us for a detailed discussion on Minerva and what he's doing to satisfy the clients that he calls "fans" and not customers. Montblanc and Minerva won't be participating in Watches and Wonders this year, and Lecamp outlines the different paths that the brands are taking within the Richemont group. He also talks about his penchant for running extreme marathons, sometimes wearing a Minerva or Montblanc timepiece. 

But first, a new format to start the show. We're joined by Hodinkee senior business editor, Mark Kauzlarich, to chew over some of the business headlines making news in the watch world. We talk about potential executive changes in the top job at TAG Heuer and also discuss what we think the business strategy might be behind Omega's new Speedmaster that boasts a ceramic bezel, lacquered dial, and a new price tag. 

Show Notes 0:30 Montblanc / Minerva 0:45 Audemars Piguet And Ten More Brands To Join Watches And Wonders For 2026 1:00 Minerva Is The Watchmaking Jewel Within Montblanc And Showcases Its Talents With A New Art Piece (Hodinkee) 2:00 Business Montres 

3:50 TAG Heuer 

5:20 LVMH Watches and Jewelry 

7:10 Jean-Christophe Babin (Instagram) 

8:50 The Omega Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch Black & White (Hodinkee) 

12:00 Hands-On The Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean For 2025 (Hodinkee)

15:30 Villeret, Switzerland 

16:36 Laurent Lecamp (Instagram) 

17:40 GIA (Gemology Institute of America) 

19:50 Cyrus Watches

23:00 Example of Minerva bezel 

26:00 Montblanc's New Minerva Monopusher Chronograph (Hodinkee) 

28:20 Montblanc Club M58 (Watchonista) 

43:12 Montblanc Star Legacy Suspended Exo Tourbillon Château de Versailles (YouTube)

48:10 Richemont 

51:00 Montblanc Ice Marathon (Revolution) 

On this week's episode of The Business of Watches, we sit down with the principals of Horologer Ming and there is plenty to talk about. Founder and creative head Ming Thein explains his unique design and engineering process, while Chief Executive Officer Praneeth Rajsingh discusses financial challenges and financing solutions the small company has utilized to keep the business humming. We dive deep into the manufacturing process of the titanium, 3D-printed Polymesh bracelet that has the watch world buzzing, get an audio-only sneak peek at an upcoming release, and also hear about plans for a value-priced subsidiary brand they have in the works.

We hope you enjoy the conversation. There is a lot to unpack! Be sure to leave any thoughts or questions in the comments section, and we'll do our best to respond.

Want to subscribe so you never miss an episode? This new show is being published to the original Hodinkee Podcasts feed, so you can subscribe wherever you find your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or TuneIn.

Show Notes

4:50 Dubai Watch Week

6:47 Ming and the Alternative Horological Alliance

10:30 Computer Aided Design

12:20 Ming Polymesh 

33:20 Apple Watch

39:00 Accredited Investor 

42:20 Project finance 

49:25 Swiss watch CEOs talk about component suppliers

54:00 Ming 17.01 (Hodinkee)

On this week's episode of  The Business of Watches, we sit down with Ilaria Resta, the Chief Executive Officer of Audemars Piguet.  Among the strategically important years in the brand's 150-year history, 2025 may rank among the most significant. Not only did it mark a century-and-a-half anniversary, it demanded a strong and determined leader to navigate through a mille feuille of challenges. Amid U.S. tariffs, record prices for gold, an extremely strong Swiss franc, and an overall downturn in market demand, Resta and her team from Le Brassus grew sales by double-digits, up 12%, as of the end of October compared to the year before, according to the brand. That's more than CHF 2.3 billion in sales, according to analyst estimates. 

That's no small achievement considering the extraordinary headwinds facing the industry. Overall, Swiss watch exports are set to decline for the second year in a row in 2025. Under Resta's leadership, AP is bucking the trend and then some. In this episode, we talk about the notable product releases from AP this year, including its innovative perpetual calendar and the highly wearable, groundbreaking RD#5; how she intends to manage production; the evolution of the brand; and possible changes to model lines. A long-time senior executive in the consumer goods industry, Resta discusses what makes the watch industry unique and what it needs to do to appeal to the next generation of clients.

Show Notes

3:50 Audemars Piguet at Dubai Watch Week

5:27 AP Perpetual Calendars in 38mm 

7:50 Book round-up featuring Audemars Piguet The Watch 

9:10 Swiss Watch Exports

11:52 Royal Oak Offshore 

15:30 Audemars Piguet says CEO Staying (BoF) 

17:33 AP Certified Pre-Owned 

19:30 Dubai Watch Week CEO Roundtable 22:25 A Plea For Proportionality (Hodinkee) 

On this week's episode of The Business of Watches, a frank discussion with one of the most powerful women in the world of horology. Hind Seddiqi is the Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Watch Week, an event that's grown and matured to become one of the few truly top-tier events on the watch sector calendar. As CEO of the biennial gathering, Seddiqi oversees the team that decides which brands get to exhibit their wares, which executives and collectors get to speak on the industry panels, and exactly how the massive show is staged, presented, and organized. 

This year's Dubai Watch Week was the most successful edition yet and marked a new era of international profile for an idea launched a decade ago by the United Arab Emirates retailer Ahmed Seddiqi as a way to showcase watchmaking and inform locals about the industry. Housed in a new, larger, and purpose-built venue near the Burj Khalifa, Dubai Watch Week 2025 welcomed a record 49,000 visitors this year, a 113% increase from the previous edition. The event, marking the 75th anniversary of the Seddiqi family retail empire, saw a wave of collector groups fly in from around the world to attend a show that offers up close and personal access to many of the biggest names in watchmaking, from Max Büsser to Roger Smith, to Rexhep Rexhepi, and the CEO of A. Lange & Söhne, Wilhelm Schmid. 

Hind Seddiqi says one of her biggest challenges now is preserving the casual, spontaneous, and intimate feel of Dubai Watch Week as demand for a place at the table continues to rise. She talks about Dubai, its torrid growth (and punishing traffic) and the city's increasingly important role in the international economy and how she plans to manage the demands and expectations of a massively popular event. 

Want to subscribe so you never miss an episode? This new show is being published to the original Hodinkee Podcasts feed, so you can subscribe wherever you find your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or TuneIn.

Show Notes: 

3:08 Dubai Watch Week

4:32 Ahmed Seddiqi 

5:03 A Rare Look Inside The Incredible Collection Of Mohammed Seddiqi At Dubai Watch Week

9:09 Dubai Watch Week Masterclasses

10:31 Audemars Piguet "House of Wonders" at Dubai Watch Week 

12:15 Dubai population growth (Gulf News) 

16:05 Francis Ford Coppola's Personal 'FFC' Sells for $10.755 million, The Most Expensive F.P. Journe Ever Sold

17:30 Dubai Mall 

20:50 Rolex CEO Says Brand Won't Significantly Expand Own Retail And Will Continue To Work With Authorized Dealers

23:15 Top Swiss Watch CEOs Talk Leadership And Strategy Amid Industry Challenges At Dubai Watch Week

26:30 Tudor Launches New Ranger In 36MM At Dubai Watch Week