Fran?ois-Henry Bennahmias Will Leave Audemars Piguet End of 2023
What was once just an unconfirmed?rumour is now official. Fran?ois-Henry?Bennahmias, the charismatic CEO of Audemars Piguet, will leave the brand at the end of 2023. The news was announced in an interview together with Jasmine Audemars, released in Le Temps?today.Fran?ois-Henry?Bennahmias joined Audemars Piguet some 30 years ago and has been at the helm of the brand for the past 10 years. He will leave the company in excellent shape with revenues of about 1.6 billion francs and a production of some 45,000 watches in 2021. The interview released in Le Temps reports that the transition process has been under discussion since 2017 and that back then, Fran?ois-Henry Bennahmias had informed the Audemars Piguet Board of his desire to retire after the 50-year anniversary of the Royal Oak in 2022. A date is now set. He will continue to exercise his functions as CEO, ensuring a smooth transition until the end of 2023.The Audemars Piguet Board has therefore decided to launch a search process for

In-Depth: The History of the Zenith El Primero, The Glorious High-Frequency Automatic Chronograph
In our series on historically significant calibres, the best way to honour the El Primero calibre is by highlighting its qualities, functional characteristics, and pivotal role in shaping the watchmaking industry. While the tale of its salvation in 1976, along with that of Zenith as a company, by a courageous man defying the ill will of American owners is fascinating, the El Primero’s legendary status is primarily due to the use of advanced technology available at the time of its creation, excellent engineering and movement design, and a modern, industrial approach to production.?Still, had it not been for Charles Vermot, a Zenith workshop manager, who disobeyed orders to sell the metal presses and tools for manufacturing the El Primero as scrap and instead hid the necessary drawings and tools, watchmaking history would be missing some thrilling episodes. We will return to Vermot’s story shortly, but first, let us revisit how the El Primero came to be.Episode I – The

Hublot Spirit Of Big Bang Meca-10 // Introducing, Specs & Price
Hublot is certainly most known for its luxury sports watches with shaped cases, fusion of material and integrated straps. There is, however, another collection at Hublot that we somehow tend to overlook, a collection of shaped watches, with a barrel-like case, the Spirit Of Big Bang. Part of the 2020 novelties presented in Dubai, Hublot introduced its 10-day power reserve movement in this collection with the Spirit Of Big Bang Meca-10.This combination is a first for Hublot. Indeed, for the first time the Spirit Of Big Bang,?a collection that is gaining importance at Hublot, is receiving the popular Meca-10 manufacture calibre. Why only now…? Well, since the Spirit Of Big Bang has a shaped case, encasing the Meca-10 movement required some important adaptations on the movement to make it shaped just like the case of this watch. Behind this watch lies the wish of Hublot to have harmony between cases and movements, meaning that the mechanics should follo

Case study about the Chronometer - the Zenith Calibre 135 - Monochrome Watches
In a previous article, we explained you a bit more about what is a chronometer, why they were so important and why the chronometry contests had been so crucial for the evolution of the industry, for the innovation. A chronometer (in the noble way, meaning a watch created with?one single goal, being as precise as possible) is certainly one of the most complicated type of movement to create for a watchmaker, certainly more complicated than a tourbillon or a perpetual calendar – and precision is difficult path to achieve. In order to illustrate our words, and after the first explaining article, here is a case study, applied on the Zenith Calibre 135.The Zenith Calibre 135Ephrem Jobin was the brains and hands behind the Zenith Calibre 135. Introduced in 1948 at the height of a battle to achieve increased precision fought among several watch manufacturers in the Observatory competitions, Caliber 135 included several innovative technical features that enabled it to win numerous prestig

Introduding: The Race-Ready Ulysse Nardin Diver Net Vendee Globe
Ulysse Nardin has legitimate, historical maritime credentials, supplying more than 50 navies and merchant marine companies with precision marine deck chronometers in the 1870s. Proud of its seafaring past, Ulysse Nardin is back in the official timekeeping helm of the legendary Vendee Globe single-handed, non-stop, non-assisted round-the-world sailing race. To celebrate its second partnership with the race, Ulysse Nardin releases the most sustainable version of its Diver Net.Often referred to as the ‘Everest of the Seas’, the Vendee Globe is renowned as the most gruelling solo, around-the-world race and is contested every four years. On Sunday, the 10th of November, forty skippers will brave the high seas in 18-metre-long IMOCA monohulls as they set off from Les Sables-d'Olonne in Vendee to sail 45,000 km around the globe, negotiating the legendary capes of Good Hope, Leeuwin and Cape Horn. In addition to the thrills and spills of the race, the skippers will be first-hand wi