resign

Just as I anticipated, the stream of fallen luxury watch company heads continues. This time it is not from the Richemont Group, but from Swatch Group's boutique luxury brand Jaquet Droz. No one is particularly happy about this news, and I am sure Maunel Emch himself suffered for long enough before calling it quits.

Why the departure? Sources seems to indicate that new company for Swatch Group (acquired in 2000) president struggled with the heavy hand of conservative and old school thinkers who simply could not conceive the needs of the modern watch market landscape. Emch is 37, while the average age of a watch company executive is much older. The poor economy likely resulted in a slew of bitterness and resentment, not to mention oppressive and unnecessary micromanagement when it was undue. Emch is well regarded as the one who made the Jaquet Droz brand as interesting as it is, but I must disagree with the giant plastic glasses. He took some risks, but overall made the brand what it is today. Despite what looked like success for the brand, the pressure on Emch was apparently too much. We can add his name to list of recent watch company casualties. Who will be next?

Via Business Montres (in French).

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

What is it, resign as CEO season? Just the other day I wrote about how A. Lange & Sohne lost their CEO, and now the same is happening to Swiss watch brand Baume & Mercier. I still know them by their "original" name "Baume et Mercier." Guess that "&" was put in there for us Americans. These resignations are starting to look awfully fishy if you ask me.

Michel Nieto, the CEO of Baume & Mercier just called it quits after being at Baume & Mercier since 2002. Just like A. Lange & Sohne, Baume & Mercier is part of the Richemont Group, and just like A. Lange & Sohne's loss of their CEO Fabian Krone, Richemont Group identified the reason for Nieto's resignation as a "strategic disagreement." Not that I don't believe PR speak, but either Richemont is handing out a canned response or we are going to see a major change in the organization of the group's brands in the coming months. I can't speculate if this is good or bad, but I anticipate change is 'ah comin' in the luxury watch world. Aside from the Swatch Group, Richemont Group is the largest collection of luxury watch brands.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

It was sad news to hear that Fabian Krone, the charming and charismatic CEO of luxury watch company A. Lange & Sohne has stepped down, and left the company. On numerous occasions A. Lange & Sohne has been heralded as the best Germany luxury brand, as well as best German watch brand. I've been to their factory and viewed many of their watches. I can easily attest to all of this being more than mere hyperbole.

While the watch industry has been down, and will be down for the next few years, there are no signs that Lange is hurting disproportionately. Plus, being under the wing of the Richemont Group certainly helps curb economic issues. So why did Mr. Krone leave the company? Hard to say, but reports suggest disagreements between him and others regarding the future direction of the company. Who Fabian disagreed with and over what issues are still a mystery to me. I have a feeling that it may be part of the stifling effect Lange experienced as being part of the Richemont Group. Though, this is speculation. When you are part of a group of brands, the problem is that issues can occur when brands compete with one another or wish to do something that the parent company does not want. For this reason there may have been pressure for Lange to act or not act in various ways when it came to future products or other company directions.

For the mean time the company COO Jerzy Schaper will take over as interim CEO until a replacement is found. Having shaken the man's hand in the past - I wish him success and prosperity in his next career move.

Via Perpetuelle.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Concord and I have had a funny little brief history as I have not been as kind to their watch designs as they would have hoped for. I reviewed such watches at their "$$$,$$$" priced Quantum Gravity Tourbillon with less than jovial enthusiasm. Concord even responded to me via their CEO Vincent Perriard who admirably defended the brand, and his ideas. It was a sign of his dedication to his position and the brand that he helped rebuild. Now that dedication has waned and Mr. Perriard has resigned from Concord, to be effective as soon as possible. He will now take the helm at TechnoMarine, a wholly different type of watch company fitting into a lower end segment with much higher volume production.

I have to ask myself whether this move was prompted by Mr. Perriard's outgrowing of Concord, or vice versa. There have been many critics (such as myself) of where Concord strayed during its "re-birth." Others seemingly loved it as a few of the watches even received design awards. Though I suppose not all was well, and now the critics may have prevailed as Concord might have the possibility to offer arguably more "marketable" watches under new leadership (as of now still undecided). I can't speak as to the sentiments on each side of the table, but I sense a degree of "bad blood" as it appears Perriard ditched camp before his time was due - leaving Concord floundering to fill the position and delicately plan its future. We will see what types of new ideas Perriard can breathe into TechnoMarine that has traditionally enjoyed a fair amount of market success.

Via WorldTempus (in French).

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Since 2001 the very flamboyant Thierry Nataf has been at the helm of Zenith watches, part of the LVMH luxury group. He has undoubtedly had a profound effect on the brand, though his 'touch' has been controversial, especially in terms of marketing and the focus on extremely niche products for what was supposed to be a more mainstream luxury brand. The recent economic downturn has effectuated in an over 25% decrease in Zenith watch sales - something no one is happy about.

The reason for Nataf's departure from the CEO position at Zenith watches is unclear, and rumors indicate that he will remain at LVMH, but in a different group (who watch brands include Tag Heuer, Hublot, Dior, and Louis Vuitton). The successor who will lead Zenith through this difficult economic period has not yet been announced. It will no doubt take sometime before the new leader's effect on the brand is observable, but I hope that LVMH is wise enough to place someone capable of reinvigorating Zenith's former glory.

Via WorldTempus (in French).

Ariel Adams publishes the popular watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.