Francesca Bellettini — watch collection

About Francesca Bellettini’s watch collection

Francesca Bellettini is one of the most consequential figures in contemporary luxury fashion. As President and CEO of Yves Saint Laurent — and now Deputy CEO of Kering overseeing brand development across the group — she is widely credited with engineering one of the most remarkable turnarounds in modern fashion history. When she took the helm at YSL in 2013, the house was generating roughly €700 million in annual revenue. By the early 2020s, that figure had climbed past €3 billion. A trained economist with an MBA background, Bellettini built that growth through rigorous brand discipline, tightly controlled distribution, and a deliberate elevation of the house's positioning — moves that have drawn consistent admiration from peers across the luxury industry.

The Francesca Bellettini watch collection, based on sightings logged in our database, points toward a preference for precision over ostentation. She has been spotted wearing a vintage Patek Philippe Nautilus reference 3800/1A in stainless steel — a choice that says a great deal about her sensibility. The 3800, introduced by Patek Philippe in 1981, was a more wearable evolution of the original Gerald Genta-designed Nautilus 3700 'Jumbo' from 1976. Sized at 37.5mm with the same integrated bracelet and horizontally embossed dial that defined the line, the 3800/1A occupies an interesting position in Nautilus history: less celebrated than the 3700 Jumbo, but increasingly appreciated by collectors who understand the lineage.

The choice of a vintage reference rather than a current production piece is consistent with the kind of long-term thinking Bellettini is known for professionally. The 3800/1A is not the obvious pick for someone looking to signal status — it rewards knowledge rather than demanding attention. For a executive who has spent over a decade arguing that real brand value is built slowly and deliberately, wearing a watch that operates on the same logic feels entirely coherent.