Richemont Chairman Says Luxurious Watchmakers Should Minimize Manufacturing

The pinnacle of Richemont, the proprietor of Cartier and Vacheron Constantin, stated the posh watch trade should scale back manufacturing after a downturn in demand for pricey timepieces.

Chairman and founder Johann Rupert informed shareholders on the Swiss luxurious conglomerate’s annual basic assembly that world demand for watches “has gone previous the increase,” held again by subdued gross sales in mainland China and Hong Kong.

“One ought to be cautious in simply making an attempt to pursue quantity,” the South African billionaire stated in Geneva on Wednesday.

The Richemont chairman, whose manufacturers additionally embody IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Van Cleef & Arpels, applauded non-public rivals within the watch trade for exhibiting restraint. The largest intently held watchmakers in Switzerland embody Rolex SA, Patek Philippe SA and Audemars Piguet Holding SA.

“We’ve an in depth relationship with the non-public rivals and we all know what they’re doing and they’re appearing very responsibly by constraining manufacturing,” he stated.

Though Rupert controls Richemont via a household belief that has a majority of the voting shares, the inventory is publicly traded and the corporate is required to offer detailed monetary updates. In contrast, intently held watchmakers in Switzerland “don’t have shareholders to report back to,” he added.

After three years of features at report worth ranges, Swiss watch exports have declined this yr. Customers turned cautious as pandemic-era financial savings ran dry following a interval of excessive inflation and as a powerful Swiss franc raised watch costs and crimped income for producers.

Bloomberg Information reported final week that makers of watch parts and a few manufacturers are utilizing a Swiss authorities programme that enables them to furlough staff and scale back manufacturing with out everlasting job cuts.

By Andy Hoffman

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