Bremont unveil Davide Cerrato as their new CEO. Can he deliver another Black Bay?

Luke Benedictus

When it was announced in January that billionaire hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman had taken a minority stake in Bremont, people wondered what it would mean for the British brand.  Since founding in 2002 – a short lifespan in “watch years” – Bremont had made big strides of late. In 2021, they opened The Wing, a 35,000 square foot, state-of-the-art watchmaking facility on the edge of Henley-on-Thames. This was a statement of intent signalling a move towards increased in-house production of parts without the reliance on a non-domestic supply chain. A few months later came the release of the Bremont Longitude, a watch featuring their first movement series to be manufactured in the UK. Bolstered by Ackman’s investment in a funding round worth £48.4 million, Bremont was clearly a brand with momentum. To propel things to the next level, headhunters Egon Zehnder were reportedly hired to help find a chief executive to drive global expansion. That search is now over with the news that Bremont has employed Davide Cerrato as their new CEO.

Cerrato is an industry veteran with an impressive track record. After starting his career at Panerai, he became Head of Marketing, Design & Product Development at Tudor, where, he effectively kickstarted the brand’s recent success. Aside from overseeing a re-launch of the brand, Cerrato introduced the Tudor Black Bay in 2012.  That single release proved to be the turning point for Tudor and the launchpad for its international revival.

Cerrato subsequently became the Managing Director of Montblanc’s watch division where he doubled down on the integration of the historic manufacture Minerva into Montblanc and developed a more vintage aesthetic for the brand.  Next up, came something completely different – a role as CEO and Creative Director of HYT, the independent brand known for their highly technical and innovative designs (think watches that look like alien spaceships).

This latest move is an exciting appointment. Bremont founders Nick and Giles English have achieved a great deal in a short amount of time while leveraging the soft-power panache of their homeland through marketing partnerships with the likes of Jaguar and the England rugby team. Most impressively, they’ve also built real credibility through their ties with a wide variety of military units around the world – Giles has claimed that 25% of Bremont’s total business is now with the military.

It will therefore be intriguing to see what Cerrato does for this relatively young brand.  A CEO can, of course, have a huge influence on a brand’s overall direction – one thinks of what Georges Kern has does at Breitling, toning down the testosterone-fuelled swagger in favour of an altogether more sophisticated approach.

Notably, Cerrato has a track record for introducing watches that have become hero products for a brand. At Tudor, he oversaw the breakthrough of the Black Bay, while the 1858 Geosphere was a noted success for Montblanc. Right now, the model that Bremont is most identified with is probably the Martin-Baker II with its brilliant backstory (the MBI is available only to people who have survived a live ejection from an aircraft equipped with a Martin-Baker ejection seat). Can Cerrato deliver a model for Bremont that repeats his game-changing success with other brands?

In addition, it has to be noted that the English brothers are very, well, English. They personify a quintessential sort of British charm redolent of battered Landrovers, Barbour jackets and wet dogs. Cerrato, on the other hand, is a flamboyant Italian often spotted wearing bowties and a startling number of accessories.  Cultural divergences aside, it will be fascinating to see Cerrato’s vision for a brand whose star is already on the rise. Backed by Ackman’s millions, you wouldn’t bet against Cerrato’s appointment proving to be a very shrewd move.