The Boards

Nayla Hayek, Swiss citizen, Dr h.c. European University Montreux, Montreux, is Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of the Swatch Group since June 30, 2010. Mrs Nayla Hayek has been on the Board of Directors of the Swatch Group since 1995.

As a member of the World Arabian Horse Organization (WAHO), and as international Arabian horse judge, Mrs Hayek’s top-level contacts contribute to many of the business and promotional activities of the Swatch Group and she is responsible for the local organization in Dubai (Swatch Group Middle East) on site. Mrs Hayek is Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of the Rivoli Group, Dubai and represents there the interests of Swatch Group. Following the acquisition of Harry Winston as per 26.03.2013, Mrs Hayek was appointed president and CEO of this new business entity. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of Belenos Clean Power Holding Ltd. As Board member of the Hayek Holding AG, she is responsible for Hayek Engineering AG, Hayek Immobilien AG and Hayek France SA. She holds no official function or political office.

Ernst Tanner, Swiss citizen, has been on the Board of Directors of the Swatch Group since 1995. He has been Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors since June 29, 2011.

Mr Tanner is the Executive Chairman of the Lindt & Sprüngli Group. Before his activity with Lindt & Sprüngli, he was for over 25 years in leading management positions with the Johnson & Johnson Group in Europe and the USA, ending up as Company Group Chairman Europe. In addition, he is a member of the Board of Directors of the German Krombacher Brauerei GmbH & Co. KG and of the Advisory Board of the Austrian SIGNA Group. Otherwise, he exercises no other executive or advisory functions and holds no official function or political office.

Daniela Aeschlimann, a Swiss national, has been a member of the Swatch Group Board of Directors since 2016.

Ms Aeschlimann studied Business Economics and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Lucerne University of Applied Sciences. In 2016, she successfully completed an Executive MBA at the University of St. Gallen. Since 2010, she has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Avesco Group and since 2013, has also served as the Board’s vice-president. Ms Aeschlimann serves on several other boards of directors and trustees including, notably, a seat on the Board of Directors of Belenos Clean Power Holding SA that she has held since 2014.

Nick Hayek, Swiss citizen, pursued two years’ study at the University of St. Gallen (HSG), then attended the Film Academy CLCF in Paris. President of the Executive Group Management Board since 2003 and member of the Board of Directors since 2010.

Mr Hayek has worked with the Swatch Group since 1992, firstly as Swatch Ltd Marketing Manager, then as Swatch Ltd President and finally as Delegate of the Board of Directors of Swatch Ltd. In the mid-eighties, he founded his own production company, Sesame Films in Paris, and worked in Switzerland and abroad. His involvement in a number of film productions (e. g. a series of documentaries for Swiss Television), then the production of a number of short films (e. g. 1st prize at the Thessalon-iki Film Festival, an official contribution to the Cannes Film Festival, etc.) and his activity as producer and manager of two feature films, «Das Land von Wilhelm Tell» and «Family Express» with Peter Fonda (a film that earned him the prize for the best Swiss comedy at the Charlie Chaplin Comedy Film Festival in Vevey) resulted in his being called upon to advise on various Swatch projects in the early ‘90s and to assume responsibility for several Swatch exhibitions (such as that of Lingotto in Turin).

Mr Hayek is a member of the Board of Directors of the CSEM (Centre suisse d’électronique et de microtechnique) and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Belenos Clean Power Holding Ltd.

Prof. Dr h. c. Claude Nicollier, Swiss citizen, graduated in Physics and Astrophysics from the Universities of Lausanne and Geneva. Mr Nicollier has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2005. Mr Nicollier resigned from his activities as astronaut at the European Space Agency ESA in March 2007.

As an astronaut he was particularly active in the space missions Atlantis 1992, Endeavour 1993, Columbia 1996 and Discovery 1999. The aim of the Endeavour and Discovery missions was the execution of reparation works on the Hubble Space Telescope which were a complete success. The Universities of Geneva and Basel and the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, where Mr Nicollier teaches as an honorary professor at the school of engineering, have conferred honorary doctorates on him. Mr Nicollier is involved in the «Solar Impulse»-Project and was responsible for the test flights. He is member of the Board of Directors of Belenos Clean Power Holding Ltd. and Chairman of the Board of Directors of CSEM in Neuchâtel. Mr Nicollier does not exercise any operative functions at Swatch Group, does not have any business relationship with Swatch Group and holds no political office.

Dr Jean-Pierre Roth, Swiss citizen, Dr oec. Graduate Institute (HEI) Geneva, has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2010. Following postgraduate studies at the Massachussetts Institute of Technology in the USA, Mr Roth taught at the University of Geneva and at the Graduate Institute (HEI).

In 2009 the University of Neuchâtel conferred him a honorary doc-torate in economics. Jean-Pierre Roth joined the Swiss National Bank in 1979 where he was active in various areas in Zürich and Bern. On May 1, 1996 he was appointed Vicepresident of the board. On January 1, 2001 he was elected President of the board. Jean-Pierre Roth was Swiss governor of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington. From March 1, 2006 until end of February 2009 he was Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank of International Settlements (BIZ) in Basel. At the end of 2009, Mr Roth resigned as President of the Swiss National Bank. Mr Jean-Pierre Roth was elected as President of the «Banque cantonale de Genève» and member of the Board of Swiss Re and of Nestlé Ltd in 2010. In 2014, he was elect-ed as member of the Board of MKS (Switzerland). Since then, Mr Roth retired from the Board of Swiss Re and the «Banque cantonale de Genève». Since July 1, 2017, Mr Roth acts as Vice President of the Arab Bank (Switzerland) Ltd.

- Swiss citizen

- Study at University of St. Gallen (Switzerland) and Film Academy CLCF, Paris.

- Joined Swatch Group in 1992.

- President of the Executive Group Management Board since 2003 and member of the Board of Directors since 2010.

- Member of the Executive Group Management Board since 1995.

- As member of the Executive Group Management Board responsible for Calvin Klein watches + jewelry, Swatch Group Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Swatch Group Spain, Swatch Group China, Swatch Group Japan, Swatch Group Malaysia, Swatch Group Thailand, Swatch Group Kanada, and EM Microelectronic.

- Mr Hayek has worked with the Swatch Group since 1992, firstly as Swatch Marketing Manager, then as Swatch President and finally as Delegate of the Board of Directors of the brand Swatch.

- In the mid-eighties, he founded his own production company, Sesame Films in Paris, and worked in Switzerland and abroad. His involvement in a number of film productions (e. g. a series of documentaries for Swiss Television), then the production of a number of short films (e. g. 1st prize at the Thessaloniki Film Festival, an official contribution to the Cannes Film Festival, etc.) and his activity as producer and manager of two feature films, «Das Land von Wilhelm Tell» and «Family Express» with Peter Fonda (a film that earned him the prize for the best Swiss comedy at the Charlie Chaplin Comedy Film Festival in Vevey) resulted in his being called upon to advise on various Swatch projects in the early ‘90s and to assume responsibility for several Swatch exhibitions (such as that of Lingotto in Turin). 

- Member of the Board of Directors of the CSEM (Centre suisse d’électronique et de  microtechnique) and of Belenos Clean Power Holding Ltd. 

- Swiss citizen

- Technical education

- Joined Swatch Group in 1977.

- CEO DYB since 2019.

- Member of the Executive Group Management Board since 2013.

- As member of the Executive Group Management Board responsible for Comadur and DYB.

- Started his career within the Group in 1977 as manager of the industrialisation division at Michel Präzisionstechnik SA in Grenchen. Later Mr Bühler held executive functions at ETA (technical lead of the division Michel) and at Nivarox-FAR (production management).

- Worked as managing director of Nivarox-FAR (Le Locle) Before taking over the general management of ETA.

- Represents the Swatch Group on the Executive Board of the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH and member of the Board of Directors of the Centre Suisse d’électronique et de microtechnique (CSEM).

- Swiss citizen

- Doctorate in Physics from the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne (Switzerland)

- Joined Swatch Group in 1979.

- Electronic Systems (ESY) since 2019.

- Member of the Executive Group Management Board since 2005.

- As member of the Executive Group Management Board responsible for Electronic Systems (ESY).

- With the Group since 1979, starting as Project Manager for the Xicor-Ébauches joint venture. Previously, he had been active in research and development for the Centre électronique horloger (CEH, today Centre Suisse d'électronique et de microtechnique , CSEM). 

- Managed EM Microelectronic as CEO from 1985 to 2007.

- Represents the Group on the Board of Directors and the Science Council of the CSEM as well as on the Board of FLRH. He is also member of the Swiss Academy of Technical Science.

- Swiss citizen

- Dr h.c. European University Montreux (Switzerland) and bachelor degree in economics, training in marketing and economics

- Joined Swatch Group in 2000.

- CEO Blancpain since 2002, President Breguet, Blancpain, Jaquet Droz, Glashütte Original.

- Member of the Executive Group Management Board since 2005.

- As member of the Executive Group Management Board responsible for Blancpain, Glashütte Original, Jaquet Droz, CHH Microtechnique, Simon Et Membrez, Swatch Group Central and South America.

- Joined Blancpain as Marketing  Manager in 2001.

- Previously worked as an independent entrepreneur (Restaurant Colors, Zurich) and had been employed by Swatch in the PR area and by Certina in marketing.

- Member of the Board of Directors of Belenos Clean Power Holding.

- Swiss citizen

- Doctorate in Economics, diploma in Mechanical Engineering, Postgraduate diploma in Management of Technology

- Joined Swatch Group in 2003.

- CFO, Corporate Reporting, Investor Relations since 2009.

- Member of the Executive Group Management Board since 2012.

- As member of the Executive Group Management Board responsible for Corporate Finance, Reporting, Investor Relations, Swatch Group Greece, Swatch Group Belgium, Swatch Group Netherlands, Swatch Group Luxembourg and Swatch Group South Africa.

- Joined Swatch Group in 2003 first as Group Controller in the business segment Electronic Systems and subsequently as head of Finance, IT and Administration at Montres Breguet.

- Prior to joining the Swatch Group, Mr Kenel was a lecturer and researcher in the field of economics at the University of Lausanne. Earlier, he was a member of the Board of Directors and the management of the Flumroc-Spoerry Group.

- Represents Swatch Group in the Board of economiesuisse, the Swiss Watch Industry Employers' Association (Convention Patronale) and in the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH, where he presides over the Economic Commission.

- Private lecturer of Finance and Financial Reporting at the University of Lausanne (HEC) as well as at the Swiss Institute of Certified Accountants and Tax Consultants. 

- Member of the Liaison Committee University-Industry at the faculty HEC of the University of Lausanne (Switzerland).

- French citizen

- Lawyer

- Joined Swatch Group 1988.

- Responsible for Flik Flak

- Member of the Executive Group Management Board since 2005.

- As member of the Executive Group Management Board responsible for Flik Flak.

- Took over the management of Swatch Group France in 1990 and in 2002 the management of Swatch Group France Les Boutiques.

- Previously worked as Swatch and Tissot Brand Manager for Société Inthor, Paris, which distributed some of the Group’s watches in France.

- Member of Board of the Colbert Committee, Paris.

- Swiss citizen

- Doctorate in Public Economics

- Joined Swatch Group in 1989.

- Corporate Controlling

- Member of the Executive Group Management Board since 2019.

- As member of the Executive Group Management Board responsible for Coporate Controlling, Logistics, Swatch Group United States, Swatch Group Mexico, Swatch Group Carribbean, Swatch Group Singapore and Swatch Group United Kingdom.

- Started his career with the Group in 1989 as Head of Finance and Administration with profit center Quartz. Later, Mr Steiger held leading finance and logistics positions within various Group companies (among others Swatch and Longines). 

- Before joining Swatch Group, Mr. Steiger had worked with international groups in Switzerland and abroad (Shell, Philips).

- French citizen

- Studied at the ICG Institut Contrôle de Gestion, Paris and Law at the University of Besançon (France).

- Joined Swatch Group in 1996.

- President and CEO Tissot since 1996.

- Member of the Executive Group Management Board since 2006.

- As member of the Executive Group Management Board responsible for Tissot, Certina, Mido, Union Glashütte, Swatch Group Brazil, Swatch Group Nordics, Portugal,  and Swiss market.

- Prior to Swatch Group Delegate of the Board of Directors of Juvenia and General Manager of Breitling.

- Represents the Group in the AMS Association des fournisseurs d’horlogerie, marché suisse (Chairman).

- Swiss citizen

- Degree in economics and an M.A. from the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland).

- Joined Swatch Group in 1996.

- President and CEO Omega since 2016.

- Member of the Extended Group Management Board since 2013.

- As member of the Extended Group Management Board responsible for Omega, Swatch Group France and coordinator for Swatch Group India.

- Vice President and International Director of Sales, Retail and Distribution at Omega since 2001.

- Brand Manager of Omega and Blancpain in Spain in 2000.

- Previously worked at Longines and Complementa AG in St. Gallen from 1992 to 1996.

- Member of the Executive Board of the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH.

- Austrian citizen

- Graduated from the Vienna School of Economics

- Joined Swatch Group in 1996 as Regional Sales Manager Swatch.

- President Rado since 2011.

- Member of the Extended Group Management Board since 2005.

- As a member of the Extened Group Management Board responsible for Rado, Hamilton, Swatch Group Taiwan, Swatch Group Austria.

- Managed Hamilton for seven years and worked as Area Sales Manager for three years and later as Division Manager at Swatch Telecom. 

- Between his activity for Hamilton and Swatch Telecom, Managing Director of Aldi in France, 1999-2003 (Aldi Marché Est).

- Before joining Swatch Group, he worked for Texas Instruments and Alcatel Mobile Phones in the product marketing, international marketing and sales areas.

- Swiss citizen

- Lic. Iur., attorney-at-law, MBA from INSEAD in Fontainebleau (France).

- Joined Swatch Group in 2010.

- Co-Chief Legal Officer (CLO) since 2016.

- Member of the Extended Group Management Board since 2019.

- As a member of the Extened Group Management Board responsible for Swatch Group Poland, Swiss Timing.

- Has been Chief Legal Officer Corporate & Industry since 2016.

- Worked as a lawyer in internationally active commercial law firms before joining Swatch Group.

- Represents Swatch Group as a delegate in the Swiss Watch Industry Employers' Association (Convention Patronale) and is board member of the Swiss Employers' Association (SAV).

- French citizen

- MBA from Lausanne (Switzerland)

- Joined Swatch Group in 1995.

- Europea Distribution Center

- Member of the Extended Group Management Board since 1998.

- As a member of the Extended Group Management Board responsible for Swatch, Swatch Group Germany, European Distribution Center.

- Assumed responsibility for the telecom business of the Swatch Group and was thereafter appointed as Country Manager for the USA, responsible for Hamilton and later on for Glashütte Original.

- Held various roles with Procter & Gamble and Cartier before joining Swatch Group. Worked as International Controller at Swatch (1988 - 1989).

- Swiss citizen

- Electrical engineering degree from the University of Applied Sciences (HES) in Biel/Bienne (Switzerland).

- Joined Swatch Group in 1980.

- CEO Micro Crystal since 1990.

- Member of the Extended Group Management Board since 2013.

- As a member of the Extended Group Management Board responsible for Renata and Micro Crystal.

- Has led various companies within Swatch Group Electronic Systems and completed their restructuring.

- Worked in South America where he was responsible for the technical implementation in connection with the importation of large machinery and installations prior to joining Swatch Group.

- Swiss citizen

- Apprenticeship

- Joined Swatch Group in 1969.

- CEO Nivarox-FAR since 2012 and member of the Management Board of ETA since 2019.

- Member of the Extended Group Management Board since 2019.

- As a member of the Extended Group Management Board responsible for Meco, ETA, and Nivarox-FAR.

- Has held various positions in a number of Group companies.

- Joined ETA in 1985 and was appointed Group Manager Automation after working for FHF for several years.

- Assumed the role of production manager for microtechnology components at Nivarox-FAR in 1998.

- Swiss citizen

- Apprenticeship

- Joined Swatch Group in 1969.

- President Longines since 1988.

- Member of the Extended Group Management Board since 1991.

- As a member of the Extended Group Management Board responsible for Longines.

- Worked for a watch-dial factory and with the Federal Customs Administration before joining Swatch Group.

- Swiss citizen

- Lic. iur., attorney-at-law, LL.M. (Chinese Law) from Hong Kong University

- Joined Swatch Group in 2009.

- Co-Chief Legal Officer (CLO) since 2016.

- Member of the Extended Group Management Board since 2019.

- As a member of the Extended Group Management Board responsible for Swatch Group Russia and Swatch Group South Korea.

- Has been Chief Legal Officer Brands & Countries since 2016.

- Worked for several years as a qualified lawyer in an international commercial law firm in Zurich and as a senior executive for a Chinese consulting company in Shanghai before joining Swatch Group.

- Represents Swatch Group as a delegate on the Legal Committee of the Swiss Watch Industry Association (FH).

- Swiss citizen

- Technical education as a qualified watchmaker at the EHMP (École Horlogerie Mircrotechnique) in Porrentruy (Switzerland)

- Joined Swatch Group in 1992.

- Vice-President and Head of Technical and Development Management for Blancpain since 2004 and Harry Winston since 2015.

- Member of the Extended Group Management Board since 2019.

- As a member of the Extended Group Management Board responsible for Breguet, Rubattel & Weyermann and MOM Le Prélet.

- Previously, he was Head of Product at Blancpain for two years. 

- Served as consultant and project manager for Swatch Group Quality Management and as watchmaker for complications at ETA, as well as at Frédéric Piguet.

- Before joining Swatch Group watchmaker in various watch companies in the Jura region.

- Italian and Swiss citizen

- Diploma in information technology from the Industrial Technical Institute L. Cobianchi in Verbania (Italy)

- Joined Swatch Group in 1999.

- Responsible Information Technology Swatch Group since 2005 and responsible for Swatch Group Italy since 2019.

- Member of the Extended Group Management Board since 2013.

- As a member of the Extended Group Management Board responsible for Information Technology, Swatch Group Italy.

- Responsible for the IT systems at Swatch Group since 2005 and was a member of the management of Swatch Group Services.

- Worked as IT Manager at Swatch Group Italy and later as Head of IT at Swatch Group Distribution.

- Chief Information Officer at Tod’s S.p.A. between his activities for Swatch Group Italy and Swatch Group Distribution.

- Used to work at Whirlpool where he was engaged in various information technology positions at the international level before joining Swatch Group.

- American citizen

- Graduated in Economics (BA) at the Michigan State University

- Joined Swatch Group in 1989.

- Country Manager Swatch Group Hong Kong and Swatch Group Macao since 2000.

- Member of the Extended Group Management Board since 2005.

- As a member of the Extended Group Management Board responsible for Swatch Group Australia, Swatch Group Hong Kong, and Swatch Group Macao.

- Started his career as trainee at Tissot and became Regional Sales Manager for Tissot and Omega.

- Since 1994 active in Hong Kong and China, first as Brand Manager Omega. 

- Worked with Caterpillar in sales before joining Swatch Group.

- Represents Swatch Group in the Hong Kong Watch Importers Association where he acts as honorary Treasurer.