Dear CEIBS Friends,

We cordially invite you to attend a lecture on March 30, 2018 given by Mr. Olivier Audemars, Vice Chairman of the Board, Audemars Piguet, who will speak about “Family Business Heritage and Innovation”.

Audemars Piguet is the oldest Haute Horlogerie manufacturer still in the hands of its founding families (Audemars and Piguet). Since 1875, the company has written some of the finest chapters in the history of watchmaking, including a number of world firsts. In the Vallée de Joux, at the heart of the Swiss Jura, numerous masterpieces are created in limited series embodying a remarkable degree of horological perfection, including daring sporty models, classic and traditional timepieces, splendid ladies’ jewelry watches, as well as one-of-a-kind creations.

True to their entrepreneurial heritage, Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet set up business together in 1875. The founding values enduring to the present are heritage, independence and innovation. As the oldest Swiss watch manufacturer still in the hands of its founding families, Audemars Piguet has the freedom to invest in the future. As a priority, the company invests in skills training. Many traditional techniques have been rescued from the brink of extinction and repurposed for modern designs. Audemars Piguet’s independence means it can think in terms of generations, not quarterly results. It has consistently championed fine watchmaking, striving to maintain this age-old industry in the Vallée de Joux and striking out on a path led to growth in new and unexpected places. For more than 140 years, Audemars Piguet has been constantly pushing technical and aesthetic limits through its belief of innovation, setting multiple world records and introducing a wealth of world firsts.

As the great-grandson of Edward Auguste Piguet, one of the founders of Audemars Piguet, Olivier Audemars was born on 13 June 1959, a few kilometers from Le Brassus, birthplace of the family business. Olivier Audemars joined the brand's Board of Directors in 1997 and took over as Administrator in 2000. "I see myself as just one another link among many in this company. No doubt the reason Audemars Piguet is now the only Swiss watch manufacturer not to have left the hands of its founding families is because the heirs continue to uphold the spirit of independence and artistic excellence handed down by their forefathers." he says. A huge enthusiast of the mechanics of watchmaking, he also confesses to a passion for the inner workings of cars. To create the timepieces for generations, the key remains the same: beauty, precision and performance.

Speaker: Mr. Olivier Audemars, Vice Chairman of the Board, Audemars Piguet