Richemont

Compagnie Financière Richemont SA is a Swiss luxury goods group.

History

Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA was founded in 1988 by the South African billionaire Anton Rupert. The main business areas are jewelery, watches, pens and clothing. On April 26, 1988, Cartier Monde acquired Piaget and Baume & Mercier, the first of many mergers that would become today's Richemont Group. This combination, renamed Vendôme Luxury Group, sold 30% of its stock to the public starting in 1993. It added Vacheron Constantin on December 12, 1996. Richemont announced that it would acquire the 30% of Vendôme on November 26, 1997.

From the sale of Mannesmann to the British phone giant Vodafone, the brands A. Lange & Söhne, IWC and Jaeger-LeCoultre, which were first possessed by the Mannesmann watches group LMH, newly arrived in 2000. This acquisition took the world by surprise, and remains one of the largest luxury acquisitions in history at over CHF 3 billion.

In 2007, Richemont formed a joint venture with Ralph Lauren, Ralph Lauren Watch & Jewelry. Richemont acquired Roger Dubuis in 2008. In 2018, Richemont launched a new entry-level brand, Baume.

Beneath the Swatch Group and the LVMH, Richemont is the third major watch and luxury goods group.

Business Areas

Richemont Group is organized into four main business areas, each of which contain a number of semi-autonomous "maisons". Each is maison has its own governance, product development, and marketing, but all are encouraged to work together. For example, A. Lange & Söhne and Jaeger-LeCoultre collaborate on watch spring production, and Jaeger-LeCoultre and ValFleurier supply movements to Vacheron Constantin and others. All four of the groups produce watches and related components.

Of all the Richemont maisons, Cartier is the largest. With over SFr1 billion in watch sales in recent years, Cartier is one of only seven companies that can make this claim.

Jewellery Maisons

• Cartier (1988/1998 Vendôme) - jewelry, watches, etc.
• Van Cleef & Arpels (1999/2003) - jewelry, watches, etc.

Specialist Watchmakers

• A. Lange & Söhne (2000/2003, LMH) - watches
• Baume (2018) - watches
• Baume & Mercier (1988/1998 Vendôme) - watches
• IWC (2000, LMH) - watches
• Jaeger-LeCoultre (2000, LMH) - watches
• Officine Panerai (1997/1998 Vendôme) - watches
• Piaget (1988/1998 Vendôme) - jewelry, watches
• Ralph Lauren Watch & Jewelry (2007) - watches and jewelry
• Roger Dubuis (2007/2008) - watches and jewelry
• Vacheron Constantin (1996/1998 Vendôme) - watches

Montblanc Maison

• Montblanc (1988/1998 Vendôme) - writing utensils and watches
  • Minerva (2006) - watch movements and components

Other Businesses

• Alfred Dunhill (1988/1998 Vendôme) - clothing, accessoires and watches
• Azzedine Alaïa (2007) - clothing
• Chloé (1988/1998 Vendôme) - clothing
• Lancel (1997/1998 Vendôme) - leather goods
• Net-a-Porter (2010) - online fashion retail
• James Purdey & Sons (1994) - clothing & hunting weapons
• Shanghai Tang - clothing

Former Businesses

• Montegrappa (2001-2009) - writing utensils
• Old England (1999-2006) - watches, clothing

Weblinks

• Richemont, official website