



the game closely and told myself that I will one day beat [the champion].” That day arrived two years later and he beat this opponent, but what caught young Bennahmias’ eye was the Rolex Oyster timepiece his rival wore on his wrist. “He told me he wanted to get rid of it, but I wanted it. So, I bought the watch off him. And that was my very first watch,” he says. As the years went by, that love shifted to Audemars Piguet, especially since Bennahmias joined the company in 1994 and was made CEO in 2012. The watch that still holds a special place in his heart is the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar. He explains, “I’ve always loved Perpetual Calendars. I mean, think about it: It was created by people without any computers. All they did was look at the sky, the moon, the sun... and put everything into a tiny mechanism. I bought it in 1995 and it is numbered one. I still have it.” Sweet taste of victory
never bought a Audemars Piguet timepiece before. The average age is between 25 and 35, so it’s a young crowd.” He adds that sales are likely to double, and he will wait and see where the collection is headed in the next three to five years. He says the new collection for the Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet will “surprise people”. “Eventually, the bad reviews will go away. It’s like boxing. Before the fight, people will insult each other, but by the end of the fight, they stand as one.” A few weeks after this interview was conducted, we cannot help but wonder whether Bennahmias is perhaps having the last laugh. In early November, Audemars Piguet was awarded the “Aiguille d’Or” Grand Prix for its Royal Oak Selfwinding Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin at the 19th edition of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie in Geneva. The timepiece won for, among others, its record-breaking proportions measuring just 41mm by 6.3mm, with a perpetual calendar movement of 2.89mm thickness. The manufacture received two additional prizes at GPHG: the Iconic Watch Prize for its Royal Oak “Jumbo” Extra-Thin; and the Men’s Complication Watch Prize for the Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet Minute Repeater Supersonnerie. The latter combines the minute repeater supersonnerie technology launched in 2016 with the unconventional aesthetics of the collection. This contemporary wristwatch has the sonic power of a pocket watch. Its exceptional acoustic performance, sound quality and harmonic tones are granted by patented gongs, case construction and striking regulator. The gongs are not attached to the mainplate but to a new device acting as a soundboard, which improves sound transmission. The redesigned striking regulator eliminates unwanted noise, thanks to its more flexible anchor system. The 18-carat white-gold case is a complex multi-faceted architecture composed of a round bezel and caseback, an octagonal middle case and stylised lugs. The upper lugs have been welded to the extra-thin bezel, while the lower part leans delicately against the caseback in perfect alignment. Satin-brushed, bevelled and polished, the bezel, lugs and case present high-complexity finishing techniques usually found on calibres. The case is complemented by a smoked blue enamel dial set off by white gold hands, applied indexes and numerals, as well as an Audemars Piguet signature in enamel. Social media and e-commerce
Comments in the internet can be both a boon and a bane, as Bennahmias knows well. On the day of the interview with Options, Instagram was all abuzz with singer Justin Bieber’s post showing off a 1977 Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 5402BA, which he bought to celebrate his marriage to Hailey Baldwin.
Audemars Piguet will not be present at Watches and Wonders (formerly known as Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie) next year. Bennahmias does not see the need to be a part of a watch fair, as retail operations account for more than half of the business. Describing the tedious process of introducing watches at fairs and getting them to market, he says retailers who attend the fair usually do not get the allotment of watches that they ask for. This is because watchmakers, including Audemar Piguet, need to ensure that their products are distributed fairly among markets. “[Retailers] are going to say, ‘This is what I’m going to get.’ So, they may get, say, 90 watches, 170 watches or 250 watches, but that’s it.” In addition, the selection by retailers has to be done in a very limited time, within the duration of the fair. Bennahmias says Audemars Piguet can instead meet
with retailers outside the fair and they can take their time to go through the novelties. The biggest challenge for retailers is that 35 watch companies are introducing novelties at the same time. At SIHH, there is a slew of information for retailers to digest within a short time. Then, following that is the Baselworld Watch and Jewellery Show, which
means they have to go through a “second wave” of novelty watches. He adds that, sometimes, the watches introduced in Geneva at the start of the year are not available until October, when watchmakers have to reopen the doors of communication with retailers. Bennahmias says, “I firmly believe that time to market is of the essence. Now, when we launch something, it means we have the watches in stock. So, when we talk about it, it goes viral on the internet and we deliver. We cannot expect people to wait three or four months. You cannot tease people: You say this is new, that is new, but have nothing to show. It doesn’t work this way. We made the choice to say this is not our business model anymore.” Asked about that one minute in his life that was a turning point, he says that, of the many, the one that stands out was the moment that brought him to Audemars Piguet 25 years ago. He relates how he was in the French Caribbean island of St Barthélemy with his ex-wife and, at the spur of the moment, she
decided to get a new strap for her Breitling watch. They argued about who should go into the store to change the strap. She ended up doing it and, in the process, met a friend who worked at Audemars Piguet. As it turned out, he offered Bennahmias a job at Audemars Piguet. If Bennahmias had been the one to enter the store, he would have just changed the strap and left without knowing that the person at the store knew his ex-wife. After 25 years, he is still very much enamoured of the brand and highly optimistic about not just the company but also the watchmaking industry. “I want to look at the glass half full and not half empty, as there is so much more to do. Every country we go to, we meet new clients. We see a lot of young people coming to the brands now, not only to Audemars Piguet but to other brands too.” To stay ahead, he says, Audemars Piguet needs to be creative, different and special, putting clients’ needs first. He ends on a realistic note, “Are we always perfect? No. We make mistakes and we learn every day to do better.”