Swiss luxury watchmaker and aviation chronograph specialist Breitling has appointed Georges Kern as its new CEO. 

Kern was most recently Head of Watchmaking, Marketing and Digital at Richemont and in particular supervised the specialist watchmaking maisons. 

Prior to that, he was CEO of IWC from 2002 to 2016, repositioning the brand to become one of the most successful and respected Swiss watch maisons. 

Kern started his career in the consumer goods industry at Kraft General Foods to move into the watch industry working for TAG Heuer from 1992-2000.

As CEO and in this context shareholder of Breitling, Kern‘s mission will be to foster the global development of one of the world’s most established watch manufacturers, and focus on further developing Breitling’s digital and retail footprint, especially with a view of accelerating growth in the important Asian markets.

Théodore Schneider, who sold his majority stake in Breitling to CVC Capital Partners and moved to chairmanship of the independent watch brand, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Georges Kern to Breitling. His extensive experience and knowledge of the luxury watch industry and his creativity will further accelerate Breitling's growth momentum.”

Jean-Paul Girardin will remain with Breitling as vice president.