Once known primarily as a niche aviator’s watchmaker, known mostly for a very specific watch if I am allowed to say that outloud here, Breitling has reemerged under the leadership of CEO Georges Kern as a versatile, globally recognized luxury player. The brand’s momentum has been evident everywhere, from an expanded product lineup and a booming retail footprint to growing sales in key markets like China and the United States.
Since private equity firm CVC Capital Partners acquired Breitling in 2017, the company’s revenue has more than doubled, from an estimated CHF 380 million to roughly CHF 850 million by 2024. Breitling has been growing and gaining ground. Selling about 160,000 watches a year, the brand now ranks among the top ten Swiss watchmakers by revenue, a significant jump from its former middle-tier status. Part of this success stems from aggressive expansion. Breitling’s global monobrand boutiques have ballooned from around 50 in 2017 to nearly 300 today!
Breitling does not release financial reports. So how can outsiders gauge its financial health? How well is Breitling doing, really? It is a rough exercise, I admit. But for this article, let’s just presume that the clearest window comes from credit rating agencies such as S&P Global Ratings, which have issued formal evaluations of Breitling’s corporate debt. These ratings are used by lenders and institutional investors to decide whether a company is creditworthy. And in Breitling’s case, the answer is complicated.
S&P currently assigns Breitling a “B” rating, to the best of my knowledge, which falls into “junk” territory. That doesn’t mean the company is failing or near collapse, but it signals heightened risk. A “B” rating implies the company is more vulnerable to economic shifts and liquidity pressures than investment-grade peers. In Breitling’s case, the high rating risk likely reflects its significant debt load, as well as the inherent volatility of the luxury goods market. Private equity ownership brings operational efficiency and growth capital, but also, pretty much always, higher leverage. And as a luxury brand still in massive transition, Breitling is exposed to discretionary spending trends that can quickly change direction. One would assume, it is currently in the finding out phase, much like the rest of the watch industry.
Now, since this is more or less all we have to work with here, what is this rating anyway, how do they get to that rating. Credit ratings like these are derived from confidential financial data shared with the agencies. Breitling and its private equity owners allow S&P and Moody’s behind closed doors, giving them access to internal audits, financial forecasts, and debt agreements. For now, the “B” rating is paired with a “stable outlook,” meaning S&P doesn’t expect to downgrade or upgrade Breitling’s rating in the short term. It means the current risk level, though elevated, isn’t expected to deteriorate quickly.
On the one hand, Breitling has been growing pretty rapidly. It has expanded retail, diversified its product lines, and embraced e-commerce more quickly than many of its peers. Not to mention its small army of celebrity influencers (I do wonder how much that costs). CEO Georges Kern has introduced a sleeker, more fashion-forward design language while keeping aviation and performance in the DNA.
That said, I’m guessing that Breitling is growing on borrowed money (this is just a guess). Its private equity parent, CVC, will eventually exit, because that’s what they tend to do, and when it does, the company must be able to stand on its own financially. If the global luxury market were to (continue to) slow meaningfully, or if rising interest rates increased borrowing costs, a company rated B would feel that pressure quickly… and isn’t that exactly what is unfolding in 2025?
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