Well-known watch designer Jorg Hysek resigned Feb. 22 from the company he founded and led—Jorg Hysek Horologerie SA, which produces his brand name luxury watches, pens, jewelry and other accessories.

The resignation was confirmed in a statement JCK received Monday from Hysek’s spokesperson. He will now concentrate on the new “hD3” brand, a collection of high-end luxury complications (separate from Hysek Horologerie), started and launched in 2005 by Hysek, Valerie Ursenbacher, and Fabrice Gonet—two designers who’ve worked with Hysek for some time.

Together, they comprise Team Styling (a Swiss design agency, with no connections to Hysek Horologerie).

The decision, Hysek said, was “for personal reasons, and above all … to give a new artistic orientation to my life as a designer.” He said he had “ceased all activities and relinquished all responsibilities” with the company. He has been replaced as chief executive officer by Akram Aljord.

Hysek said he wished “every success” to his successor, and thanked “all my suppliers, agents, retailers and journalists, who have accompanied me during all the years I have spent working for the “Jorg Hysek” brand.”

German-born Hysek, who later moved to Switzerland, began his career with Rolex, which he left in the early 1980s to become an independent watch designer. His clients were some of the best-known and prestigious brands in the business, such as Vacheron Constantin, Breguet, Cartier, Ebel, TAG Heuer, Seiko, Tiffany, Boucheron and Damiani. In 1997, he launched his “Jorg Hysek” brand with his now-world famous pens, and in 1999, he unveiled his own branded luxury timepieces (now including Kilada, V-King and X-Ray). In 2005, he and the two other designers launched “hD3.”

JCK