We sit down at Breitling Tower in Hong Kong to talk about the bigger picture — what it actually means to build a House of Brands, where the watch industry stands after two years of turbulence, and a Watches and Wonders announcement that nobody saw coming.
If you watched the Universal Genève deep dive, this is the other half of the conversation. Same trip, same day — but zooming out to the industry, the strategy, and what comes next for the whole House.
This isn’t a brand presentation. It’s a real conversation.
What Georges Kern said
Written from the verified transcript and checked against it. Every figure links to the moment it was said.
Georges Kern, CEO of House of Brands, discussed the positioning of the group's three watch brands. He said Gallet will be priced between $2,500 and $5,000, Breitling between $5,000 and $30,000, and Universal Genève starting at roughly $15,000 with no upper limit. Gallet, positioned as a sister brand to Breitling, will use Sellita movements and be endorsed by Breitling, with new products unveiled at Geneva Watch Days on September 3. Universal Genève will be more independent. Kern described the current market as the most challenging in 30 years, citing post-COVID revenge buying, interest rate hikes, the Ukraine war, tariffs, and economic problems in Germany. He noted Breitling's compound growth of 7-8% over 10 years and said orders for Universal and Gallet are strong, with all 2,200 initial Universal pieces sold through road shows. He confirmed House of Brands will join Watches and Wonders next year, and hinted at potential expansion beyond three brands.
Key takeaways
Gallet will be priced between $2,500 and $5,000, Breitling between $5,000 and $30,000, and Universal Genève starting at roughly $15,000 with no upper limit.
All 2,200 initial pieces of Universal Genève were sold through road shows.
Breitling has achieved compound growth of 7-8% over the past 10 years.
House of Brands will join Watches and Wonders next year, with Breitling, Gallet, and Universal Genève all exhibiting.
Kern said House of Brands will likely expand beyond three brands, as 'there are many more rooms in the house.'
Uh George, welcome to Hong Kong and first of all, congratulations on your new role as the CEO of House of Brands. So now not looking at just Breitling, but also three brands, with Breitling, UG, Universal, JFv, and Gallet. I have a quick question for you. The three brands, how do they occupy clients? Do they overlap or do they have their own space?
In terms of price points, Gallet will be between two and a half and $5,000 US. Breitling is $5,000 to $30,000 depending on complications. And then Universal is starting at roughly $15,000, basically endless to the top. So three price segments. Gallet is positioned as a sister brand of Breitling. We will present all the new products during Geneva Watch Days on the 3rd of September. It's an outdoor brand but not a copy of its history. It has iconic products like the Co-Pilot, which was famous in the US. In the secondary market, it's more expensive than Universal Genève. With Breitling becoming 100% in-house movement manufacturer, we cannot offer the same price points as we did in the past, so with Gallet we use Sellita movements. The product is endorsed by Breitling, it's written on it: manufactured by Breitling. It will be distributed through our boutiques and network. Universal will be much more totally independent.
I don't think we have ever been in such a situation in 30 years. After COVID we had revenge buying, then interest rate increases and the industry went down. The Ukraine war, tariffs, economic problems in Germany, the Iran conflict. The environment is very complicated. Still, Breitling has had compound growth of 7 to 8 percent over 10 years. With Gallet we enter a new price segment, with Universal the most resilient segment. Both are doing well. I'm confident with this house of brands: like a plane with five engines, even if one fails, you have four. We balance regions, products, price points. Orders for Universal and Gallet are incredible. We start with 2,200 pieces of Universal Genève and sold everything through road shows. These clients have all other brands and are looking for something new.
We see a lot of discussion about sustainability in watchmaking. How do you feel about the term sustainability and how is House of Brands or Breitling implementing it?
We do the maximum in our sphere of influence. At Breitling we reduced plastic use in manufacturing by 70% and work with surfers to fight plastic in the ocean. We use lab-grown diamonds, which have equal or better quality than natural diamonds, and consumers are fine with that on a watch. We are not an activist brand; we want to sell watches. But we have a role to play in society. We build an appealing, beautiful brand with a great lifestyle.
6 more exchanges in this transcript
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Kern, G. (2026, July 7). Most brand conversations stay on the surface. This one didn’t. Georges Kern interview [Interview transcript]. Carson Chan - WatchProfessor. CEOInterviews.AI. https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1070525/
MLA
Georges Kern. "Most brand conversations stay on the surface. This one didn’t. Georges Kern interview." Carson Chan - WatchProfessor, 7 Jul. 2026. Transcript, CEOInterviews.AI, https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1070525/.
BibTeX
@misc{kern2026_1070525,
author = {Georges Kern},
title = {Most brand conversations stay on the surface. This one didn’t. Georges Kern interview},
howpublished = {Interview transcript, Carson Chan - WatchProfessor. CEOInterviews.AI},
year = {2026},
month = {jul},
url = {https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1070525/},
note = {Speaker-attributed transcript with timestamps}
}
