Former Audemars Piguet CEO François-Henri Bennahmias Announces N3W5, A New Watch Brand
The new brand is a project from Honourable Merchants Group, founded by Bennahmias in 2025.
Most watch enthusiasts won’t need an introduction to François-Henri Bennahmias, who was at Audemars Piguet for three decades, one of which – 2013 to 2023 – was spent as the company’s CEO. During that time he led Audemars Piguet to a position of dominance in the luxury watch industry, with n emphasis on the Royal Oak and variants as the flagship models for which the brand was able to cultivate an insatiable global appetite, with estimated revenues of CHF 670 million in 2012, and CHF 2.35 billion by 2023. Often courting controversy, Bennahmias built strong ties with pop culture ranging from influencers to musicians to Marvel comics and movies, and also launched the Code 11.59 collection.
After his departure in 2023 Bennahmias founded the Honourable Merchants Group, an investment group with the stated purpose of growing luxury brands with a humanistic philosophy that embraced long term growth over short term revenue increases. Bennahmias described the inspiration for the Group to Luxury Tribune:
“It all began with an encounter in 2017 with Brunello Cucinelli, whom I had long wanted to meet. After spending 48 hours with him in his hometown of Solomeo, it was nothing short of a revelation—or a revolution. His humanist philosophy deeply impacted me. During that stay, we also learned that he had just received a honorary title, that of ‘honourable merchants’—a distinction dating back to the 12th century in Italy and Germany. At the time, it embodied powerful human and commercial values. The concept spoke to me immediately. Later, when it came to naming the group, we discovered that “honourable merchants” was not trademarked. It was the perfect name.”
The new watch brand, to be named N3WS, which is meant to be pronounced “news” and which also references the four cardinal directions of North, South, East, and West, will present, according to WatchPro, luxury watches, “made in Switzerland” at price points from $20,000 to $60,000, with in-house movements and a team of creative collaborators drawn from across the industry.
As reported by Monochrome’s Xavier Markl, the list of collaborators currently includes bracelets and cases by Biwi, Multicuirs, and Werthanor; designs by Xavier Casals, Dalibor Klas, and Sebastien Perret; dials by LM Cadrans, and Metalem, guilloché and enameling by renowned artisans Yann von Kanael and Anita Porchet respectively, and movements by Timeforge, Régence Production, and Alpine Précision.
There’s no information available at present on the actual watches, although Monochrome reports that at launch there will a round and cushion cased model, and that the new watches will be launched in 2027 at Dubai Watch Week. Sign up for announcements at N3W5.com.