The master watchmaker and the founder of Antoine Martin company, Martin Braun, has replaced Bruno Jufer as the brand’s CEO. Jufer was managing the Alpnach-based brand ever since its establishment in 2009. At the start of 2014, Jufer left the young watchmaking brand and is now replaced as Chief Executive Officer by Martin Braun.
Martin Braun
Antoine Martin was formed four years ago by Martin Braun who opened the firm because he wanted to produce club-tooth lever escapement movements which he patented. Braun first teamed up with the businessman Antoine Meier who was to be in charge of the financial segment of this new venture. The brand name itself is the combination of their names. For the new company’s head and the person who was supposed to set the foundations of the firm, the duo selected Bruno Jufer who had an impressive resume and lots of experience in the field. Jufer’s previous work included stints at the industry’s giant such as Zenith, Jaquet Droz, Maurice Lacroix and Carl F. Bucherer. The vision of creating high-end watches which would implement technical innovation was finally brought to fruition at the Baselworld 2012 show. This event was the venue where Antoine Martin presented its first timekeeper which featured perpetual calendar complication. Subsequently, the brand released two more products which were so successful that they were both shortlisted for the accolades of the most significant award ceremony in the watchmaking world - Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Geneve (GPHG). The first of them was another perpetual calendar watch which also possessed a tourbillon. More recently, at the last edition of the Baselworld, Antoin Martin unveiled peculiar Slow Runner model with a huge balance and the slow rate of 1 Hz.
Bruno Jufer
At the end of 2013, there were however some major changes in the brand. Without deeper insight into the reasons that caused the decision, Antoine Martin’s representatives told the public that one of the three pillars of the brand will no longer be engaged with the company. As it had been announced, Jufer was to leave his executive position and to be replaced by Braun at the start of 2014. In the official statement to the media, the brand’s Chairman of the Board of Directors Antoine Meier (originally the third pillar of the brand along with Jufer and Brown) said: “The company has been successfully established and now has the ideal strategic positioning for the future. We are deeply grateful to Bruno Jufer for his contribution during his period”. Moreover, Meier announced that the brand will soon be releasing watches that feature “sensational new developments”. These novelties will be premiered at the Baselworld 2014.
