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Kim Soo-jin

The latest instalment in our On Work / On Play series with luxury CEOs. This month: Thierry Esslinger, CEO of Breguet
Job experience
September 2017-present: CEO of Breguet
1995-2017: Member of the Management Executive Board at Hayek Engineering in Zurich
1988-1995: Management Team member, Metallgesellschaft AG
ON PLAY
Q. If a fire broke out in your home, what are the three things you would save?
A. I don’t know what exactly, but [perhaps] my work, [important] documents and something I love. I don’t know, symbolic objects. It might be a watch, for example.
Q. If you were trapped on a deserted island for a month, name three celebrities would you want to be with.
A. I’m not sure I would like to have celebrities with me. I would prefer to be in a simple environment to enjoy my time. Not necessarily alone, but I don’t need a celebrity.
Q. What is your guilty pleasure?
A. I love brain games. It’s one of the aspects of my personality. I love to eat, too, to go to good restaurants and travel with my family.
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ON WORK
Q. Do you have any plans to expand in Asia? Which cities or countries are important to your strategy?
A. We would like to expand our presence in Asia. It’s a goal for us and we are on this path. Hong Kong is an important market for us and we think it’s [essential] to be present here to develop the brand in a sound way. Hong Kong is one of the most important markets for the Swiss watchmaking industry.
The strategy is to expand brand presence with more boutiques and to enhance and improve our commercial network. Those are [just a few] examples, but it’s [the direction] we are heading toward. To do [them right, we need to] hear our clients, but [also listen to] our retailers and their advice. It’s important to [have an open mind].
Q. Computer-aided Design (CAD) is becoming a staple in many brands’ design process. What about at Breguet?
A. Yes, we work a lot with CAD, [to design in] three dimensions. We need modern tools to make watches today, without losing too much time on the conception. After doing the conception, we work with our hands – we have very skilled craftsmen who are able to make nice timepieces. You always have this mix of tradition, history and modern tools to make the [product] work.
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Q. You started your role as CEO in September 2017 and it’s been a little more than a year now. What are some things you have learned during this period?
A. It was important for me to have a 360-degree view of the situation to understand how best to guide the brand. And [I’ve learned] to understand the watchmaking industry [on a deeper level], which is not so easy if you are [from the] outside.
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Q. Do you think watch fairs are still relevant today?
A. I think watch fairs are important for meeting people, clients and journalists. It’s essential for the watchmaking industry to maintain a current level of knowledge and information – not only unilateral information, but also bilateral information – and to entertain, to sustain the process of sales and marketing. It’s important to be at the disposal of this network, and for that, you need meetings or trade fairs. It would be better if you could continuously have such contact [throughout the year], but it’s difficult because you have to do so many things, so it’s better to choose special moments to conduct these activities.
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Watchmaker's boss chats about his guilty pleasures and his plans to expand in Asia


Timepieces

Thierry Esslinger on the secrets behind Breguet and his love for food and brain games

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Watchmaker's boss chats about his guilty pleasures and his plans to expand in Asia

Watchmaker's boss chats about his guilty pleasures and his plans to expand in Asia