Luxury watch brand, the House of Breguet, has named Gregory Kissling as its new CEO, taking effect immediately. He will report to Breguet president, Marc Hayek.
Kissling replaces Lionel a Marca, who has held the CEO position since 2021. Marca is reportedly moving to a new role with Swiss watch brand, Blancpain, and is also taking new role overseeing manufacturing for Swatch Group’s high-end division. The Swatch Group owns both Breguet and Blancpain.
Kissling, originally from Neuchâtel, Switzerland, has spent more than 20 years with the Swiss watch brand, Omega, owned by Swatch Group, where he has had increasingly responsible positions.
He is a microtechnology engineer with an MBA and a Master’s degree in Luxury Management. He began his career at Cartier as a movement designer, later taking on responsibility for all calibers. In 2004, he joined Omega as a product manager, became head of Product Management in 2008, and joined the brand’s management team in 2014. By 2022, he was appointed vice president of Omega, overseeing product development, Swatch Group said in a statement. Among his most notable achievements are the launches of the Seamaster James Bond “No Time To Die” and the 60th anniversary edition, the revival of Caliber 321, and the introduction of the popular Speedmaster Snoopy and Chrono Chime watches. He has also contributed to several cross-functional projects, notably with Swatch, and has been involved in the development of Swatch Group’s precious metal alloys.
Kissling is recognized for his technical expertise and deep understanding of the luxury watch market, Swatch Group said in the brief statement.
Breguet was founded in 1775 by another Neuchâtel native, Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747 -1823), one of the world’s most influential watchmakers and inventors. He is best-known as the inventor of the tourbillon, which nullified the effects of gravity on a movement, thus improving the watch’s precision.
He is also known for several other groundbreaking inventions, including several advanced escapements, such as the first automatic movement. It took him nearly 20 years to create the Breguet No. 160, more commonly known as the “Marie Antoinette.” It had every known watch function and complication at the time and had case made of gold, platinum, rubies and sapphires. It is considered by some to be one of the most important and valuable timepieces ever made, as well as one of the most expensive timepieces in history.
He also is credited with the creation of the first wristwatch, which predated the common use of the wristwatch by a century. It was made for Caroline Bonaparte, Queen of Naples in 1810. The Breguet popular Reine de Naples women’s timepiece is based on this watch.
Although Breguet is probably best known for his luxury pocket watches and carriage clocks, he also made several important scientific clocks.
The Breguet watch company remained in the Breguet family until the 1880s, when it was taken over by the Brown family of England, which owned the company until 1970. During the quartz watch crisis ownership of Breguet was passed on to several firms until it was acquired by investment holdings company, Invescorp, in 1987. The company was then sold to the Swatch Group in 1999.
This article was originally published on forbes.com.
