Audemars Piguet will be headed by a top manager from the cosmetics industry – Kommersant

Ilaria Resta will start working for Audemars Piguet in August this year and from January 1, 2024, the management of the company with almost 150 years of history will pass into the hands of women. Based in Switzerland, Resta holds both Italian and Swiss passports. Her experience is related to companies related to perfumery, cosmetics, household chemicals and home goods. Now she runs one of the largest cosmetic and perfume companies in Switzerland, Firmenich. Prior to this, Ilaria Resta worked for over 22 years at Procter & Gamble, which owns such brands as Tide, Ariel, Fairy, Pantene, Head & Shoulders. However, there is nothing in its track record that would connect it with the watch industry and watchmaking, one of the pillars of which is, of course, Audemars Piguet, which is proud to be the oldest manufactory still owned by the descendants of the founders.

It is curious that the watch industry already knows at least one example of such a transition. Jean-Christophe Babin, now head of the Bvlgari house, became the head of the TAG Heuer brand in 2000, having a career in the same Procter & Gamble and Henkel. Skeptics then sarcastically wondered what the watch had in common with soap, but the effectiveness of Mr. Babin quickly silenced them.

Hilaria Resta will take over from François-Henri Bennamias, who is leaving the manufactory after three decades. Over the past 10 years, when he headed Audemars Piguet, the brand has achieved tremendous success, easily passing through crises and a pandemic. He is not leaving alone: ​​earlier, a representative of the co-founder family, Jasmine Audemars, announced her desire to part with the operational leadership. In November last year, she left the post of chairman of the board of directors, giving way to Alessandro Bogliolo.

The new headmistress will take over the manufactory in a favorable situation. After celebrating the 50th anniversary of the iconic Royal Oak last year by successfully selling the Royal Oak Offshore and the Code 11.59, Audemars Piguet produced around 50,000 watches and generated CHF 2 billion in revenue. It may indeed be time for a purely cosmetic change for the brand from the village of Le Brassus.

Alexey Tarkhanov