GENEVA — Former Audemars Piguet chief executive François-Henry Bennahmias is returning to the luxury sector after a two-year hiatus with a sprawling new luxury venture called The Honourable Merchants Group. The Honourable Merchants Group will be based in the Swiss city of Nyon to the east of Geneva, where the luxury watchmaker Hublot is headquartered and where Bennahmias lives. “It was expressed we could go to a canton where we pay less taxes, but we said, no, it’s the Honourable Merchants, so we will pay taxes,” said Bennahmias. In luxury watchmaking, Bennahmias is recognised as the driving force behind the explosive growth of Audemars Piguet in the 2010s. While running Audemars Piguet’s North America division, Bennahmias created links with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jay-Z.