00:12Tiene más de 25 años de experiencia en la industria relojera y de artículos de lujo.
00:18A lo largo de su trayectoria ha ocupado posiciones de liderazgo en importantes firmas suizas como
00:23Tag Heuer, IWC Schaffhausen y Richemont, impulsando estrategias de crecimiento, innovación y
00:30posicionamiento internacional. El CEO de House of Brands, George Skern, en Milenio Negocios.
00:47Bienvenidos a Milenio Negocios, este programa para entender mejor los negocios, las finanzas,
00:52la economía. Y hoy vamos a hablar de un sector muy interesante. Y me acompaña George Skern,
00:59el CEO de House of Brands, que tiene muchas marcas de relojes y ahora van a ir entendiendo
01:04del tamaño de lo que estamos hablando, no solo de la industria, sino de este negocio.
01:09Mr. Skern, thank you so much for being here. I was just trying to explain to the audience
01:13a little bit how you have structured House of Brands into three distinct tiers.
01:20Galei, Breitling, Universal Genève. Why is this tiered approach right now correct in the context
01:31of economic volatility?
01:33Thank you very much for the invitation. So I'm sure that our viewers know Breitling.
01:38Breitling is a very well established brand since I would say 100 years. Also in Mexico,
01:45we have now six boutiques. We have over 25 doors. So we're very well established.
01:50But we left as a brand because we become 100% in-house movement brand. The interest-wise
01:58luxury segment between two and a half and five thousand US dollars. And here we just launched
02:05last week in Geneva, what we call a sleeping brand called Galei to cover this price segment.
02:11But what you have also to understand is that currently in this current economic political
02:17environment, the super high end is the most resilient segment. And this is why we also launched
02:26six months ago, a very famous sleeping brand. It's like the Bugatti of the watch industry called
02:31Universal Genève, which started at 15,000 US dollars. But I repeat, this is the most resilient
02:39watch segment at this moment in time.
02:42And now that you mentioned that, and that we're going through a macroeconomic squeeze,
02:49let's say, that's how I should maybe put it. I would like to get some context so that the
02:56audience understands what we're talking about when we talk about the watch industry. Because
03:00this is really important in Switzerland, but it's also, as you were saying, very resilient,
03:05brilliant, but it also employs a lot of people. So tell us a little bit about what the sector means
03:11and what you represent in that sector.
03:14Absolutely. It's, of course, for you or all the other countries in the world, our clients,
03:19it has a romantic touch. But in reality, the Swiss watch industry is a major element of our economic
03:26development and of our image. Because the watch industry and the chocolate industry and probably
03:33also banks are the three key elements people know about Switzerland. And we probably cover the most
03:40sympathetic part of it. But we employ 60,000 people in the industry. So it's major. We are the second
03:47largest export industry after pharma, for instance, to China. So it's major. We are major contributor also
03:56as a taxpayer. So beyond the beautiful products we make and the aromantism around that, it's a fundamental
04:05element of our industry and our economic history also.
04:09Mexico is currently experiencing uncertainty like everyone else in the world, but also the possibility
04:15of nearshoring, but also a growing upper middle class. And in that context, how strategic is then Mexico
04:22to house of brands? How are you looking at it? And you just mentioned six boutiques. Is there more
04:32coming? What is happening?
04:34So Mexico represents roughly 50% of the watch market in Latin and Central America. So 50%. It's major.
04:44It's absolutely major.
04:45So we like watches.
04:47You guys like watches. And you used to buy a lot in Miami or abroad and you start to buy
04:53much more in your home country, which is great. But this is why we're developing our distribution
05:02network with our own boutiques and of course, through fantastic wholesale partners. And this is what
05:07all the brands try to do is to push the local markets, sell to Mexicans in Mexico. And it's a
05:16growing market.
05:17How do you tailor that narrative of historic revivals like Universal, I'm sorry, Universal
05:24Geneva to capture the imagination and get more clients also in Mexico?
05:30It's absolutely true. Today, buying a watch is buying an emotional product. Nobody buys an analog
05:38watch to read time. You have time everywhere. So you need also to sell an emotion. You need to sell
05:45a certain idea, a certain quality of life. Because thank God, our industry, if I compare it and I make
05:53the analogy to the car industry, is not a commodity. You don't, the cars lost their emotions. Because
06:00you talk now about, well, more and more electric cars. So you don't have the sound. You don't have
06:06the smell. And we will have also robot cars, autonomous driving. So everything, especially for men,
06:15and I have two vintage cars, who like the emotion, it's gone. Whilst we keep this with the watch. It's
06:23a
06:23piece of art. It's something unique, linked certainly to a memory you have in the past. And this is why
06:34I'm
06:34so confident about the watch industry. It will be there forever.
06:38What does luxury mean in 2026? Because we've also seen it. We've also seen this tendency of quiet luxury,
06:46of deep heritage. So how do your brands embody this specific moment in history of what is going on and
06:54how people are seeing luxury? Because it has changed.
06:58Yeah, I think luxury became over the last years quieter. Also, by the way, the watches became
07:07smaller. People are buying smaller watches at this moment in time. But you've asked the question what
07:15luxury means. For me, it means quality of life at the end of the day. I mean, how do you
07:23spend money?
07:24What annoys me the most is when rich people have bad taste driving horrible cars or having horrible
07:32watches or whatever, having horrible interior design in their homes. So for me, a good watch is quality of
07:41life. And because it has all the values we've been talking about, it's a reassurance that you have
07:49something for yourself, but also for your children, it's long lasting.
07:55It's also an asset class, if we look at it as investors.
07:59And I do think that younger investors are looking at it, and maybe Gen C and millennials, I don't know
08:05what you're going to tell me, are looking at it as not only a status symbol, but also as this
08:10asset class
08:11that they can inherit and they can give to their kids. And they can have something there that they can
08:17at some point sell if they need to, like art. So it's an alternative asset class.
08:24How do you see this happening in terms of transparency, sustainability and the resale value
08:30for House of Brands? It's a very good question. So two aspects in my response. The first aspect is that
08:38what we call the certified pre-owned or the secondary market has been structured and has been developing
08:45dramatically over the last 10 years. So all the retailers offer what we call certified pre-owned
08:51watches, which are not vintage watches, which are pre-owned watches with a certificate, with a guarantee,
08:57with a quality, with a service. And this is great. And by the way, the certified pre-owned market is
09:04bigger
09:05today than the new watches which are going out. Because you don't throw away an analog watch, you throw
09:14away an Apple watch or your phone, but certainly not this kind of product. So this is important to
09:23understand. This market exists and has been developing. On the other side, I would never
09:27recommend somebody to buy a watch as an investment. You buy a watch because you like it and you want
09:34to
09:34wear it. And therefore, I think it, for me, has a different aim. Again, we're not robots. We like to
09:43eat a good meal, have a good glass of wine, and let's try to wear a proper watch. But it's
09:48like art,
09:49correct? It is like art, but honestly, you will not put on your wall at home a painting you don't
09:55like.
09:55No. So put on your wrist what you like. Exactly. Now, you're widely recognized
10:00in the industry as a master of resurrection. And in that idea, what is your leadership playbook?
10:09Now that you put in the three brands together, that you're doing house of brands, that you're
10:14tackling different ranges of consumers, that you're also going to China, but then you're here in Mexico
10:21City, which we appreciate. Thank you for coming. But what is it that you like to have in that
10:29leadership playbook that do you think is relevant today that doesn't lose the soul of the brand? I
10:38know, thank God there's no playbook. Because if there were a playbook, everybody would do the same
10:44and everybody would be successful. But we are like a CEO in the luxury industry. First of all,
10:51we create a need. We don't respond to a need. So we create a need. Nobody needs another watch brand
10:58like Universal Genève or Galet. But people love it now that they've seen it, and they're buying it.
11:04It's the same for jewelry. We create needs. It's not selling coffee or any other food product. So we
11:15create needs. The second thing is, you're like a cook. You know, you don't when you cook at home,
11:22and in Mexico we have good food, you don't calculate one gram of salt, one gram of pepper, one gram
11:30of
11:30paprika. You see what is in the fridge, you put it together, and it tastes good. And if a good
11:38cook
11:39makes good tasting food, and this is our same approach, it's very intuitive. Our industry,
11:48as we create needs, a new plate is very intuitive. And again, I repeat, if there were
11:57things to tick, everybody would be successful. And thank God it's not the case.
12:03We're going to end with that. Thank you, George Scurron, for being here.
12:08Gracias también a la audiencia por habernos acompañado. Nos vemos la
12:11siguiente semana en otro Milenio Negocios.
12:14Gracias.
12:29Gracias por ver el video.
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