BY JOVAN K
When I was about to start writing, I couldn’t help but look back at SIHH 2019, when François-Henry Bennahmias and I had so much fun during the fair that he told me he wanted to adopt me. Good ol’ times… He is a great and funny guy. That was also when Audemars Piguet left the show, right before making their big return at Watches and Wonders 2026. The watch industry has been a little quiet since he stepped down as the CEO of Audemars Piguet, but he was never going to stay sidelined for long. He is officially back, and true to form, his new venture is anything but ordinary.
François-Henry Bennahmias has pulled back the curtain on his first major horological venture under his new umbrella, The Honorable Merchant Group. The project is called N3W5, which stands for North, East, West, South, and is pronounced simply as “News.”
Initially tried to acquire De Bethune and held talks with two other independent watchmakers. Still, when those deals fell through, he secured CHF 30 million in private funding to build his own collective from scratch.
Me & François-Henry
A Collaborative Creation Hub
François is framing N3W5 as a collaborative creation hub. Instead of hiding suppliers and craftspeople behind a corporate logo, this ecosystem is designed to shine a spotlight on the silent experts who actually build the pieces. As he put it, the industry is too obsessed with logos and hype, often overlooking the people whose hands shape these incredible objects.
Take a look at the roster of talent he has already assembled for this hub:
- Design: Xavier Casals, Dalibor Klas, and Sébastien Perret.
- Dials & Métiers d’Art: The legendary Anita Porchet on enamel, Yann von Kaenel for guilloché, and Pierre-Alain Lozeron handling master engraving. In fact, François noted that for N3W5, Anita Porchet is being given total creative freedom to design exactly what she wants, with profits shared equally.
- Cases & Straps: Industry heavyweights like Biwi, Werthanor, and Multicuirs.
- Movements & Engineering: Built with Alpine Précision, TimeForge, and Astro.
The Launch Plan
Rather than sinking massive capital into traditional marketing, François plans to bypass the noise entirely and leverage the high-profile network of serious collectors he spent decades building at AP.
As for the watches themselves, the official rollout is scheduled for Dubai Watch Week 2027, with sales kicking off in 2028. N3W5 will debut with two distinct collections, one round, one cushion-shaped—powered by two new dedicated calibres, one of which includes patented tech.
François isn’t aiming for ultra-low volume, either; the long-term goal is to scale up production to several thousand pieces a year. Pricing is set to start around CHF 20,000, scaling up to CHF 60,000. It’s a highly competitive playground to step into, but if anyone has the charisma and track record to make a splash like this, it’s him. It’s going to be fascinating to watch this unfold, and I wish François and the team all the best in this new endeavor.
Explore more at N3W5
