Gregory Kissling is the new CEO of luxury watch brand Breguet

Luxury watch brand Breguet has appointed Gregory Kissling as its new CEO, effective immediately. He will report to Breguet President Marc Hayek.

Kissling replaces Lionel a Marca, who has held the position of CEO since 2021. Marca is reportedly taking on a new role at Swiss watch brand Blancpain, as well as taking on a new role as head of manufacturing for Swatch Group's high-end division. The Swatch Group includes both Breguet and Blancpain.

Originally from Neuchâtel in Switzerland, Kissling worked for more than 20 years at the Swiss watch brand Omega of the Swatch Group, where he held increasingly responsible positions.

He is a microengineering engineer with an MBA and a master's degree in luxury management. He began his career at Cartier as a movement designer and later took responsibility for all calibers. He joined Omega as a product manager in 2004, became head of product management in 2008 and joined the brand's management team in 2014. He was named vice president of Omega until 2022 and led product development, Swatch Group said in a statement. Some of his most notable achievements include the launch of the Seamaster James Bond “No Time To Die” and 60th Anniversary Editions, the revival of the Caliber 321, and the launch of the popular Speedmaster Snoopy and Chrono Chime watches. He has also worked on several cross-functional projects, notably at Swatch, and was involved in the development of the Swatch Group's precious metal alloys.

Kissling is known for his technical expertise and deep understanding of the luxury watch market, Swatch Group said in the brief statement.

Breguet was founded in 1775 by Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747-1823), another Neuchâtel native, one of the most influential watchmakers and inventors in the world. He is best known as the inventor of the tourbillon, which negated the effects of gravity on a watch movement, thereby improving the precision of the watch.

He is also known for several other groundbreaking inventions, including several advanced escapements, such as the first automatic watch movement. It took him almost 20 years to create the Breguet No. 160, better known as “Marie Antoinette”. It had all the watch functions and complications known at the time and had a case made of gold, platinum, rubies and sapphires. Some consider it to be one of the most important and valuable watches of all time and also one of the most expensive watches in history.

He is also credited with developing the first wristwatch, which predated common wristwatch usage by a century. It was made in 1810 for Caroline Bonaparte, Queen of Naples. The popular Breguet women's watch Reine de Naples is based on this watch.

Although Breguet is probably best known for his luxurious pocket watches and travel watches, he also made several important scientific watches.

The Breguet watch company remained in the Breguet family until the 1880s and was then taken over by the English Brown family, who owned the company until 1970. During the quartz watch crisis, ownership of Breguet was passed on to several companies until it was taken over by the investment holding company Invescorp in 1987. In 1999 the company was sold to the Swatch Group.