Audemars Piguet sales hit €1.1 billion in 2018 from production of 40,000 watches the company’s CEO François-Henry Bennahmias revealed today.
Half of the watches were sold under an Audemars Piguet roof, he added in a presentation at SIHH in Geneva.
The longstanding move towards all sales being sold directly to consumers, entirely cutting out multi-brand retail partners will be complete within 3-5 years, Mr Bennahmias said to WatchPro.
That will not necessarily spell the end of relations with groups like Watches of Switzerland, Bucherer or Wempe, but these partners will have to open either franchised AP stores or joint ventures.
All will be required to share customer data about every sale, a practice that even today’s multi-brand retail partners are being pushed towards through an extended warranty scheme.
Multi-brand have also been marginalised when it comes to Audemars Piguet’s big product announcement at SIHH, the Code 11.59, which will only be offered to AP boutiques.
The watches will go on sale in February, but there are only 700 units across 13 references being released at launch.
It is expected there will be 2000 available world-wide by the end of 2019.
British customers will get a shot at buying one when the watchmaker opens an AP House in London in April.
