Post the official Universal Genève launch in Geneva, the House of Brands has made key appointments to its executive leadership team.
With the recent official launch of Universal Genève two weeks ago in Geneva, Breitling and the House of Brands, have announced a major executive reshuffle, marking the next stage of its expanding “House of Brands” strategy. The move sees long-serving Breitling chief executive Georges Kern step into the newly created role of CEO of House of Brands, while industry veteran Jean-Marc Pontroué will take over as CEO of Breitling from May 1.
The restructuring formalises Breitling’s transition from a single-brand business into a broader watchmaking group that now includes Breitling, Universal Genève and Gallet. First revealed in late 2025, with major presentations on the new business structure at Dubai Watch Week, the House of Brands concept is designed to unite the three names under one strategic umbrella while preserving each brand’s distinct identity and market position.
Jean-Marc Pontroué comes with significant luxury watch industry credentials, having previously led Panerai, Roger Dubuis and held senior roles at Montblanc. His appointment signals Breitling’s intent to maintain momentum after several years of growth under Kern, who has overseen the brand’s modern repositioning since 2017.
Beyond Breitling itself, leadership appointments have also been made across the wider portfolio. Grégory Bruttin will continue to oversee Universal Genève – an appointment made upon the re-launch announcement of the brand, while Erwan Rossignol has been named managing director of Gallet ahead of its planned relaunch later this year.
In North America, Antoine Loron becomes President of Breitling USA & Canada, succeeding Thierry Prissert, who moves into the role of Chairman of the Board for House of Brands USA, supporting the rollout of the group’s broader portfolio in one of the industry’s key markets. As a result of these moves, Renato Meier, currently Marketing Director of Breitling USA and Canada, succeeds Antoine Loron as Managing Director of Breitling LATAM.
Our Take
The changes underline how serious Breitling is about becoming more than a single-brand success story. With Universal Genève already relaunched and Gallet due to return, the company is building a multi-tiered watch group with reach across different price points and customer segments. For Kern, the challenge now shifts from running one successful brand to steering an entire portfolio into its next phase of growth, which, based on his success with Breitling, we feel he will be able to do.
Having been at the Universal Genève launch two weeks ago, the brand feels in capable hands with Grégory Bruttin at the helm, as the newly re-launched brand does feel well thought out, and the range of the collections seems to tick a lot of boxes for collectors, which is not a surprise, as the brand worked in close collaboration with a group of collectors and industry experts.
Jean-Marc Pontroué is an interesting choice for Breitling, as he was met with some criticism at Panerai over his 7-year tenure. However, he has considerable luxury experience, starting his career in 2000 at Givenchy, and having had CEO roles at Roger Dubuis and Mont Blanc, and spearheading some great initiatives at Panerai, namely the Experience Program as well as the Laboratorio di Idee program, which saw Panerai pushing its creative and technical limits beyond its tool watch roots.
At the end of the day, Georges Kern is still steering all the ships, and given the turnaround at Breitling, the strategic and thought-through re-launch of Universal Genéve and Gellet to come, the House of Brands feels like it is starting to build a diverse watch group, one that could potentially pick up other brands in the future to build a larger and more wide-reaching brand portfolio.