Chief executive bows out with emotional tribute to his team and successor.
Audemars Piguet’s outgoing CEO François-Henry Bennahmias is pictured fighting back tears as he leaves his headquarters in Las Brassus in a must-read inside account of his final day at the company by Le Temps.
Business correspondent Valère Gogniat was given exclusive access to the leader’s last day in office and witnessed the outpouring of emotion — bordering on grief — as he thanked them for their service during his decade in charge.
Photographer Fred Merz captured candid portraits including what could become the iconic image of the once-described enfant terrible of the Swiss watch industry as he sits alone in the back of a car moments after his exit.
Since 2012, Audemars Piguet has seen turnover more than treble from CHF 670 million to CHF 2.3 billion in 2023.
During that time, the number of watches produced has risen far more modestly from 32,000 to 51,000.
The greatest impact on AP’s sales has come from significantly increasing the average revenue it accrues from each watch through a combination of high margins by selling more directly to consumers, and increasing the average prices of its products.
Mr Bennahmias said in 2019 he would be moving entirely away from working with multibrand partners and would either sell directly to consumers through its own stores — now including AP Houses — or branded franchised stores.
Either way, AP gets complete oversight of the customer transactions; amassing vast amounts of data on its client base.
The worldwide network of Audemars Piguet points of sale has been cut from 373 in 2015 to just 97 as Mr Bennahmias handed over the reigns.
More watches at higher price points being sold through fewer doors has led to a huge increase in revenue accruing to AP per point of sale.
In 2012, the company was making an average of CHF 2.4 million per year per point of sale.
Last year this had risen to CHF 23.7 million, according to data shared by Audemars Piguet with Le Temps.
One mission yet to be fully accomplished by Audemars Piguet in the Bennahmias era is to seize control of the secondary market for its watches with a full blown certified pre-owned programme.
Soaring second hand prices have been a strong contributor to rising demand, particularly for the Royal Oak.
All luxury watches trading at above their recommended retail prices have driven sales of new watches because speculators and even your average punter appreciates their potential to store or rise in value.
Demand for AP’s most popular Royal Oak Jumbo Ultra Thin has cooled since the first quarter of 2022 on the secondary market.
According to the Bloomberg Subdial Index, the watch — discontinued in 2021 and replaced with the 16202 — is the worst-performing reference among the 50 most traded watches its tracks, with its price down 24.2% in the past 12 months.
Since its peak, the price has fallen from a peak of £105,000 to under £50,000 today.
Falling secondary market prices appear to be linked to softening demand for new watches, WatchPro has been told by retailers, with waiting lists coming down from years to just weeks.
This hardly constitutes a hospital pass to incoming CEO Ilaria Resta, but is a trend to watch this year as AP competes in a broadly cooling market.
Mr Bennahmias suggests his successor should relish the challenge. “I’m kind of happy that the business is gonna get tougher because when it gets tougher, people get smarter. When everything is fine, it’s easy, but when you have to grind, it’s a different story and you think of things differently,” he advises in an interview with Business of Fashion.
As the reign of Mr Bennahmias ends at Audemars Piguet, power is handed over to Ms Resta, who delivered a new year message via Instagram.
