How François-Henry Bennahmias, Audemars Piguet’s CEO, made fans of Serena Williams, Shaquille O’Neal and Jay-Z by getting into hip-hop and making it all about the Royal Oak model – interview

May 8 , 2023

François-Henry Bennahmias, fun-loving CEO of watchmaker Audemars Piguet, talks about transforming the company by courting rappers and sports stars. Photo: Handout

Fun-loving and casual dressing, the Frenchman is leaving Audemars Piguet, the Swiss luxury watchmaker founded in Le Brassus in 1875, at the end of the year

He started working with rappers and NBA players, introducing them to the Royal Oak, an octagonal-shaped timepiece designed in 1972 by Gerald Genta

Thirty years with the same company is a very long time, but François-Henry Bennahmias, the departing CEO of Audemars Piguet, says he has had the ride of a lifetime at the Swiss luxury watchmaker founded in Le Brassus in 1875.

The Paris-born former pro golfer, who joined the company in 1994 and rose to the post of CEO in 2012, will step down from his current position at the end of this year. But even as he plans his next move, he’s lost none of the enthusiasm and joie de vivre that have made him one of the most influential – and recognisable – CEOs in the often staid world of luxury watchmaking.

François-Henry Bennahmias in 2021. Photo: Audemars Piguet

Fast-talking, unguarded and laid-back, French-born Bennahmias eschews the suit often preferred by luxury CEOs, opting instead for casual but perfectly put-together get-ups such as bomber jackets paired with jeans and trainers. A conversation with him is peppered with jokes and mini pranks that disarm those around him.

Showmanship aside though, Bennahmias means business and has been instrumental in making the watch industry relevant to young consumers who had shunned it in favour of high fashion, pop culture and streetwear.

One of the very few independent watchmakers of global renown left in Switzerland, Audemars Piguet was a bit of a sleeping beauty until Bennahmias gave it a much-needed refresh by adopting strategies that have now become commonplace in the industry.

Audemars Piguet’s Diamond Outrage. Photo: Audemars Piguet

Back when the world of luxury watchmaking was the realm of wealthy white men and the nouveau riche in rising economies, Bennahmias realised the impact that music – hip-hop in particular – was having on culture. While in charge of the North American business, he started working with rappers such as Jay-Z long before they were courted by luxury brands left and right. He turned them and their associates – such as NBA players – into devoted fans, opening the doors to a new generation of watch lovers.

Ten or 15 years ago [the watch industry] was still a very secretive world

François-Henry Bennahmias, CEO, Audemars Piguet

“Ten or 15 years ago [the watch industry] was still a very secretive world,” he says. “When I moved to the US in 1999, if you had stopped someone on the street on [wealthy] Madison Avenue and asked how much was an expensive watch for them, they would have said US$5,000, but now they would say US$100,000. A lot of education has been done in terms of what a watch could represent – whether it’s emotions or the pop culture aspect, the fun, the arts or sport.”