The Business of Watches Podcast: Greubel Forsey CEO Michel Nydegger

This week on The Business of Watches, we’re in La Chaux-de-Fonds to talk to the man heading Greubel Forsey, one of the most revered and respected brands in independent watchmaking. The company had been on a recent roll, with Meta CEO and chairman Mark Zuckerberg seen wearing its pricey timepieces and a ‘Mechanical Exception’ win for its Nano Foudroyante at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie Genève (a watch also in Zuckerberg’s collection). Then news broke that Stephen Forsey, one of the brand’s founders, was stepping down from the board, and, in a widely-seen social media post, Forsey said he had been “disengaged” from his duties by the board and chose to resign. 

Nydegger tells us some of the backstory to the situation and how the company plans to move forward under stable ownership. Greubel Forsey isn’t looking for investors, and should Forsey want to sell his minority stake, Robert Greubel, his fellow co-founder and majority owner, has a right of first refusal on the shares. So where is Greubel Forsey headed? Nydegger says the only thing shrinking will be the size of its timepieces as it continues a push to make its watches more wearable and possibly prices as they are trying to produce an entry-level watch in the lineup priced at around CHF 120,000 or less. They haven’t quite got there just yet. 

But first, we’re joined by Arthur Touchot, the co-founder of Marteau & Co., to talk about his upstart auction house’s plans to cut independent watchmakers in on the sale proceeds. For its sophomore edition, called ‘The Echo’, Marteau is auctioning off watches from independents, including Simon Brette, a Berneron Mirage Tiger Eye, vintage Daniel Roth, and an Audemars Piguet Starwheel. So will mighty AP be in line for 3% of the hammer price? Tune in to find out.

We hope you enjoy the conversations. There’s plenty of watch business and strategy to discuss. Be sure to leave any thoughts or questions in the comments section, and we’ll do our best to respond.

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Show Notes

1:30 Arthur Touchot
2:40 Marteau & Co.
4:13 New Swiss Auctioneer Aims To Bring ‘Artist’s Resale Right’ Concept To Independent Watchmaker Sales
6:21  The Echo catalogue (Marteau & Co.)
11:40 M.A.D. Gallery Geneva
12:52 AHCI
14:11 Audemars Piguet Starwheel (Hodinkee)
16:08 Greubel Forsey (The Art of Invention)
19:14 Greubel Forsey Gets New CEO – Michel Nydegger (SJX)
20:20 Introducing The Greubel Forsey Double Tourbillon Technique Black, The First Titanium Watch From Greubel Forsey
20:40 Guy Takes $600,000 Greubel Forsey Double Tourbillon 30 Degrees Technique Swimming, Resists Heart Attack (Hodinkee)
24:02 Quadruple Tourbillon The History
24:50 Interview: Giulio Papi, Director Audemars Piguet Renaud & Papi (Hodinkee)
29:59 Greubel Forsey Watches: A Division of Labor (NYT paywall)
32:01 Micro-machinist in watchmaking (FHH)
38:20 These Watches Used To Be A Secret Of The Ultra Rich. Not Anymore. (Bloomberg paywall)
46:30 Stephen Forsey, Co-Founder Of Greubel Forsey, Steps Down From Company Board (Hodinkee)
49:02 Michel Nydegger acceptance speech GPHG 2025 Mechanical Exception prize (GPHG Youtube)
54:40 Mark Zuckerberg Wears $900,000 Watch To Announce End Of Meta Fact Checks (Bloomberg paywall)
55:30 Greubel Forsey Family