A guide to the ownership of luxury watch brands

Ever wondered who owns your favourite watch brand? When you’ve reached the end of this article, you’ll know everything you need to know about watch brand ownership

It might surprise you to learn that despite the diverse range of watch brands and timepieces out there, the industry is led by a few key stakeholders. There are very few solely independent watch manufacturers. Many need help in some way or another. Take for example, the sourcing of certain watch parts, or its distribution across the world to different countries. What about advertising initiatives and a successful marketing team? These areas don’t even relate directly to producing innovative watch designs but they all contribute to a brand’s global reach and its presence within the industry today.

From the 1980s (the quartz crisis) and onwards, the way traditional watchmakers did business changed significantly. The landscape became overpopulated by what we now call the “big brands”. More often than not, these brands are owned by much larger multinational groups, leaving a scarce amount of independent watchmakers in the industry that can actually compete on the same level. If you want to survey the current horological landscape and figure out who owns who, this article should give you some good insight.

Swatch Group

Swatch Group was founded in the early 1980s and is based in Bienne, Switzerland. It is the largest watch company in the world, owing 18 watch brands that comprise; Breguet, Blancpain, Glashütte Original, Harry Winston, Jaquet Droz, Omega, Léon Hatot, Longines, Rado, Union Glashütte, Tissot, Calvin Klein, Balmain, Certina, Mido, Hamilton, Swatch, and Flik Flak. Omega is the third largest Swiss brand in the world and generates a good proportion of revenue for Swatch Group. The company also owns some huge component makers, like ETA. It makes Swatch Group the top supplier of watch movements across the globe, well and truly earning its position at the top of the list in our guide to luxury watch brand ownership. Swatch Group also owns the top supplier of hairsprings - Nivarox-FAR.

Under the Swatch Group umbrella is one of the oldest watchmakers in history, Blancpain, founded in 1735. The company upholds its reputation in the industry for devoting its manufacture to mechanical timepieces solely. Also, Breguet, founded in 1775, who is known for inventing the tourbillon. Sitting beside these two big names is Hamilton – an American watch company known for its pioneering field watches, and Longines - famous for its elegant timepieces. Glashutte Original, which prides itself on constructing every component of its watches in-house, is also owned by Swatch Group.

Richemont Group

Richemont Group is the proud owner of some very prestigious names in the industry. It markets 13 watch brands and groups its brands into separate divisions. These include the “Specialist Watchmakers Division” comprising; A. Lange & Söhne, Baume & Mercier, IWC Schaffhausen, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Officine Panerai, Piaget, Ralph Lauren, Roger Dubuis and Vacheron Constantin. Separate from these is the “Jewellery Masions Division”, which includes Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels. In 2014, the Specialist Watchmakers Division accounted for 29% of all of Richemont Group’s sales. This was, in large part due to Cartier – the largest brand in the group’s portfolio. Since then, these numbers have risen significantly. The “Other Businesses Division” is where Montblanc can be found – a manufacturer not only of luxury timepieces but exquisite writing instruments, leather goods and other lifestyle products.

A few key brands to pick out from the Richemont Group would be IWC, who made a name for itself by fusing traditional Swiss craftsmanship with American manufacturing techniques and A. Lange & Sohne – a company that is revered as one of the world’s most respectable high-end watch manufacturers. Innovators of the Reverso watch, Jaeger-LeCoultre, are also under this umbrella, as well as Italian Navy suppliers, Panerai and 200-year-old manufacturer Vacheron Constantin. The company is recognised globally for its highly complex timepieces that include jumping hour watches, moon phases, perpetual calendars, and chronographs.

LVMH

LVMH is a French multinational luxury goods conglomerate that is based in Paris. It formed when Louis Vuitton and Moet Hennessy merged. It is now the owner of over 60 luxury brands, many of whom are watch manufacturers. Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA also has an extensive retail division with more than 3,000 stores worldwide. Over the last 15 years, LVMH has been growing its luxury watch brand portfolio and now owns TAG Heuer, Bulgari, Hublot, Zenith, Dior, Fred, Chaumet, and Louis Vuitton. Among these, TAG Heuer is perhaps one of the most recognised names from this list. The La Chaux-de-Fonds watchmaker is respected worldwide for its strong connection to the world of motorsport with iconic collections that include the Carrera, the Formula 1 line and the square-shaped Monaco. Bvlgari is yet another well-known watch brand that has experienced success with the sporty Octo Finissimo and the Bvlgari Bvlgari watch. Of course, Hublot is another revered brand with a reputation for creating bold and exciting designs such as the Big Bang and Classic Fusion.

Kering Group

Based in France, Kering Group has a strong focus on fashion and retail. It owns watch brands; Ulysse Nardin, Girard-Perregaux, JeanRichard, Gucci, Boucheron, Qeelin, and Bottega Veneta. From this list Girard Perregaux is perhaps most associated with watch enthusiasts of the more complex type. The brand, established in 1791, still manufactures and develops all its own components for the watchmaking process and designs essential watch movements, including tourbillons, quartz movements and mechanical movements. Ulysse Nardin, also owned by Kering, revived old enamelling techniques for its complicated mechanical watches and put itself on the map historically for creating exceptional marine chronometers.

Conclusion

There are a great many luxury watch brands out there today that are owned by larger groups. Some of these may have surprised you, others not so much. One fact remains, however. The independent manufacturers that once created the foundations for traditional and authentic Swiss watchmaking are getting few and far between. That said, with the recent rise of micro watch brands, we are seeing shifts across the horological landscape once more and so it remains a mystery as to whether watchmaking will one day take back its independence in true form.