A BIGGER Splash
By MING LIU
W
hat is it with watch executives and their
sports? Perhaps it’s the high-octane
performance and perpetual motion,
the competition and the hard-nosed
drive to win. Whatever it is, many
watch bosses are amateur athletes in
their own right. Industry legend Jean-Claude Biver regularly
cycles dozens of kilometres a day, Ulysse Nardin’s Patrick
Pruniaux recharges via punishing ski tours and, after a full-
on season in Verbier, Bulgari’s Jean-Christophe Babin and
Piaget’s Chabi Nouri swap their winter kit for water skis.
A s h i g h- energ y, overach iev i n g A-t y p es , it ’s no su r pr is e t hat
one water sport alone just won’t cut it for these executives.
Pruniaux is an avid kitesurfer, but windsurfing was his first
love thanks to his father, who, in the 1970s, brought back a
windsurf board from the United States. Below the surface,
the former Apple executive f lits between scuba and free-
diving, much preferring the latter: “It’s less equipment and
closer to mother nature.” Oh, and spearfishing, too—thoughSailing, diving, kitesurfing, spearfishing...For the world’s overachieving luxury
watch CEOs, clocking out of the office is when the real challenge beginsPruniaux admits he does less of the James Bond-esque sport
these days owing to lack of practice. “It’s not a sport you want
to do recklessly,” he says.
Nevertheless, despite Lake Geneva being on his doorstep, it’s
the sea—notably the South of France and the Mediterranean—
that resonates most strongly with Pruniaux. “The light, the
smell and feeling are so unique,” he explains. “Sometimes
I drive down from Geneva, which takes five hours. I can be
extremely busy and concerned about work, but when I see
the sea, about an hour before arriving, suddenly my mood
changes. It’s both exhilarating and relaxing.”
Bremont’s horological brothers, Nick and Giles English, are
avid sailors, wakeboarders and surfers. “It’s all boys’ toys and
good fun,” says Giles. “It’s a break from your day job and we
are lucky to do it; it’s a bit of adrenalin and escapism.” Their
ocean immersion started young, when their father built the
43ft sloop Queen Bee, and took them both out of school for six
months to sail from England to Africa.
“I was about 12 at the time but I remember literally every JACQUES HENRI ADDOR (ALTAIR); ALAMY (NAUTICAL MEDITERRANEAN MAP)Philippe Stern
The trimaran Altaïr X, pictured on
Lake Geneva in 1979, in which the
Patek Philippe patriarch (right)
won the Bol d’Or Mirabaud a
record seven times, earning
the soubriquet “Roi du Lac”.
Inset: the Patek Philippe
Nautilus Ref. 5711/1A-01172 VANITY FAIR ON TIME AUTUMN^2019