THE QUESTION OF SUCCESSION

In the watchmaking industry, a company’s longevity is oftentimes measured not in decades but in centuries. What then happens to a brand beyond its founders? We speak to three CEOs to answer this question.

- DANIEL GOH

The watchmaking industry as we know it today is fascinating for several reasons but recently, I found myself wondering specifically about the names of brands the dial. Some of the most recognisable names in watchmaking today bear the surname of the founders. Breguet, Cartier, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Vacheron Constantin and so many others.

If you really think about it, however, the companies that bear these names have been around for so long, with histories counted in centuries, that they no longer have any direct connection with the founders or the founding families. Hamilton, with all its American heritage, is now owned by The Swatch Group, it is headquartered and manufactured in Switzerland. A. Lange & Söhne, the company that practically founded Glashütte as the epicentre of watchmaking in Germany is still headquartered there but is now owned by the, also Swiss, Richemont group.

Then there are the brands that bear the name of watchmakers, some of whom are still alive, and yet are owned and run independently from their founders. Speake-Marin is a good example of this, Franck Muller is yet another. Both Daniel Roth's and Gerald Genta's original brands were acquired by The Hour Glass and subsequently sold to Bulgari and have only recently been revived by LVMH (a French luxury group).