THE CEO INTERVIEW
BENJAMIN COMAR P I A G E T ’ S R E C E N T LY - A P P O I N T E D C H I E F E X E C U T I V E O N P R O D U C I N G U LT R A -T H I N T I M E P I E C E S , T H E P I T FA L L S O F P R O F I L I N G , A N D W H Y A B R A N D S H O U L D N E V E R T RY TO P I C K I TS C U STO M E R S
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enjamin Comar has some big shoes to fill. Appointed CEO of Piaget in the summer of 2021, the luxury industry veteran follows in the footsteps of Chabi Nouri, who, on her own appointment in 2017, became the first female chief executive among Richemont’s various watch and jewellery brands – a portfolio that includes Cartier, Chloé, JaegerLeCoultre, Net-a-Porter and Montblanc, among others. Under Nouri’s stewardship, Piaget went from periphery player to leading luxury name. One of Nouri’s first acts in charge was to launch Piaget’s own e-commerce platform in the United States, before overseeing the company’s entry onto both the Net-a-Porter and Mr Porter websites, the first hard-luxury maison to be carried by the YOOX group. The move online paid dividends, helping Piaget navigate its way through the
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pandemic while other brands scrambled for a digital solution. In something of a mic drop, shortly after Nouri took up her new role as strategic advisor to Richemont Group CEO, Jérôme Lambert, Piaget won two of the top gongs at the 2021 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie, the most important awards ceremony in the watch industry. The brand’s Limelight Gala Precious Rainbow was announced ‘Best Ladies’ Watch’, while the Altiplano Ultimate Automatic was named ‘Best Mechanical Exception Watch’. By the time the awards were announced in November, Comar already had his feet planted firmly under the table. Yet he deflects any praise in the direction of his predecessor. “Personally, I can take no credit for these incredible accolades. The team at Piaget and Chabi should take all of the credit. What I can say is that it is incredibly rewarding
to be recognised not only for our expertise in ultra-thin watches but also women’s watches.” Comar started his career at Cartier in 1992, before becoming fine jewellery director at Chanel in 2004. Prior to Piaget, he was based in Paris, serving as chief executive of disruptive Italian jeweller, Repossi. Piaget had always been a company that Comar had respected from afar, so when Richemont came knocking he didn’t have to mull over his decision for long. “It’s a dream for any CEO to work for a brand they admire – and I have admired Piaget since starting my career at Richemont more than over 25 years ago. I have discovered an ultracreative and fighting spirit within the teams here, which are all dedicated to creativity and innovation.” One of the first jobs of any incoming chief executive is to evaluate the core
