BREITLING REPLICA WATCHES: UNIVERSAL AMBITION – Breitling is now about to win “its” piece of the Asian pie

Replica watches: Georges Kern pronounced his verdict on Breitling, acquired by the CVC Partners fund and placed in his firm hand last year. The consequences were drastic and visible at the last Baselworld: a restructured and expanded brand offering and a new logo with references to air, sea and land; a distribution chain that has come back under control and an all-out digital offensive. A strategy that has the merit of being clear, at a time when the brand was suffering the effects of a series of inconsistencies. Breitling is now about to win “its” piece of the Asian pie.

This is a brand of (almost) unrivaled reputation, very strong in the US and Europe, but seemed to have fallen asleep somewhat. So when someone as uncompromising and polarizing as Georges Kern takes Breitling’s fate into his own hands, the wake-up call is all the stronger.

At the last Baselworld fair, the storytelling was well received, focused on a flawless presentation of the three worlds of the brand in the Kern era and a reiterated phrase: “We are not inventing anything, we are simply continuing with what we already have”. existed.” The proof, since 1950 boasting of the three worlds of Breitling: land, sea and air.

Reopening the drawers

“When Georges Kern laid his eyes on the brand’s catalogue, one thing immediately struck him: the collections were very similar to each other, with gender confusion among the models,” they tell us.

Difficult to contradict him on that, when at Breitling the power of the brand seemed to have taken precedence over that of the collections, resulting in an impression of treading water, immobility (which, by the way, also has its merits when many brands they seem, instead, to be navigating by eye and zigzagging strategically). In short, the company was in idle mode. Perfect Fake Watches UK Shop

And largely caught up in aviation gear. Making some highly symbolic decisions, such as ending the association with the Super Constellations and forming the Patrouille Suisse, keeping only his own team of famous aerobatic jets, the new man at the helm made clear from the start his universal ambitions for Breitling, also making emphasis on motorsports and sailing to bring the brand up to par with other watchmaking heavyweights occupying that arena. Once again, the idea is to take the brand out of its comfort zone, where it had become a bit complacent.

Expanding the field of action

Of course, it runs the risk of giving the impression of “clipping the wings” of Breitling (literally and metaphorically, as the wings are no longer part of the brand’s logo). In fact, efforts have been made to clarify the fact that the brand is not abandoning aviation but rather broadening its horizons.

If we take a step back to see the bigger picture, taking into account the global strategy of a brand that now tries to fight on several fronts, the choice is understandable. Breitling wants to appeal not only to Western men in their fifties interested in aeronautics, but also to an Asian audience with more classic tastes and who represent half of all luxury purchases worldwide, and a female audience that still loves it. eludes.

Indeed, Georges Kern has his sights set on the Chinese market, especially with the new Navitimer 8 line. He is certainly counting on replicating his recipe for success at IWC, where he raised sales from several tens of millions of francs to several hundred million francs in 15 years. replica watches

Because, make no mistake: Georges Kern actually has his sights set on the Chinese market, especially with the new Navitimer 8 line. He is certainly counting on replicating his recipe for success at IWC, where he raised sales of several dozen million francs to several hundred million francs in 15 years.

That means a very strong marketing presence (already visible with the formation of the Breitling Squads, trio ambassadors from very different backgrounds), a broader and more universal offer and a direct and strict control of its physical and digital distribution channels.

Three key lines

And what about these emblematic models? Now they will be structured around three worlds, the Air (Navitimer), the Sea (Superocean) and the Earth (Transocean), plus two transversal families, Chronomat and Professional. Please note that Navitimer 8 released this year does not replace the original Navitimer, which has become… Navitimer 1. Best Quality Luxury Replica Watches

The emphasis lies squarely on what makes up Breitling’s DNA: the mechanical chronograph. With few exceptions, the brand will no longer produce quartz models. This clarifying exercise, a combination of a return to the roots of the brand and an expansion of its scope, will not be followed by a price hike; the goal is to stay in the mid-price range of CHF 3,600 to 7,500, affordable luxury in sporty-chic models.

The powerful shadow of CVC Partners
While Breitling has been largely absent from the e-commerce scene until now, another enthusiastic, also “universal” ambition on the part of Georges Kern is to rapidly open up digital sales channels to enable consumers, whether Asian or not, to , buy a Breitling watch at any time. Behind this universally ambitious plan are the stringent demands of the brand’s new owner, London-based private equity fund CVC Partners. The fund acquired 80% of Breitling from the Schneider family, which had owned the brand since 1979, for an estimated CHF800 million in the spring of 2017. replica watches

Georges Kern himself bought shares in the company, no doubt a great entry for his new mission.

That date also marked the purchase of one of the last great independent Swiss watchmaking brands, owned by a family. In an interesting analysis, Alon Ben Joseph of Ace Jewelers in the Netherlands points out that private equity funds retain their investment in companies they have bought for an average of seven years, with expectations of an annual return on investment of around 20%. %. Consequently, according to his calculations, the new administration has a sales target of … 2.5 billion dollars by 2024. Which for Breitling replica means an average annual growth of around 30%.

Mission Impossible? Will Georges Kern succeed in fulfilling the role of leader sent by providence and enter the annals of watchmaking history?