Telling you that the watchmaking industry is now facing some troubles won’t be the biggest piece of news you’ll have today. It is now known, the Swiss industry is in tough period, sales are decreasing, profits are going lower and stocks are massively increasing at retailers. This situation seemed to be quite a secret for a year or so, but now, large groups – mainly those listed and that must report to shareholders – are making things clearer and the situation becomes public. As a proof, yesterday Richmont Group, the second largest actor in the field of luxury watchmaking (owner of Cartier, IWC, Jaeger, Montblanc and more) announced declining results, abolished CEO Role and unveiled a major sweeping management overhaul – as IWC’s Kern will become Head of Watchmaking and Montblanc’s Lambert Head of Operations.
