This year, Revolution turns 20. Two decades of chronicling watches, people and ideas have given us a front-row seat to a remarkable story: how an age-old craft has both preserved its soul and reinvented itself for the 21st century. To celebrate, we’ve chosen over 100 names and milestones that, for us, define the era so far. From leaders to watches, you can see the whole list here.

Nicolas Bos has one of the most interesting background stories of anyone on this list. He graduated from ESSEC Business School in Paris and then went to work for Foundation Cartier from 1992 to 2000. In 2000, he joined Van Cleef & Arpels as its Head of Marketing, and nine years later, he became the maison’s Vice President and Creative Director. In 2010, Bos received a unique appointment — he became the President of VCA in America, but simultaneously remained the brand’s Creative Director. If you can, just imagine the challenges of managing one of the world’s top two markets, while also being responsible for every piece of jewelry and watch that Van Cleef & Arpels produced. One can only imagine the number of Air France frequent flier miles that Bos must have chalked up.

Van Cleef & Arpels Marguerite secret watch open (Image © Revolution)

But what is even more impressive is that throughout this period, Bos remained the personification of calm, gentile and quiet confidence, while at the same time demonstrating through his leadership his extraordinary creative abilities coupled with strong business acumen. Now this puts him in a unique category of leaders, where the individual leading the business is also responsible for the product. Indeed, it places him in the same category as seminal entrepreneurs like Richard Mille and Max Büsser, neither of whom are watchmakers yet both of whom have created immense impact on the industry.

In 2013, Bos succeeded the much beloved Stanislas de Quercize and has remained an incredible driving force in jewelry and timepiece creation for over a decade. In 2024, he was appointed Richemont Group’s CEO, but this time, his influence meant that he also oversees the group’s two jewelry maisons, Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels. What is very interesting is that he is the very first person in this position who has core competences in marketing, business and creation. Indeed, he fills the position in a way that no one could have done before, save for Günter Blümlein, who unfortunately never got the chance. With Bos in place, Richemont is poised to both weather the prevailing storm in luxury and find its way out, not only intact but also successful.

Van Cleef & Arpels Lady Arpels Bal des Amoureux Automate (©Revolution)