Industry News – Richemont Discards 200 Jobs in Swiss Watch Industry!

Dear All:

it just hit the Swiss news: The luxury conglomerate Richemont discards 200 jobs in the Swiss watch industry after the profit decreased for about 1/5. Mostly affected will be Geneva, La-Chaud-de-Fond and Villeret.

The financial situation of Richemont is recently very often a topic in the Swiss economic periodicals. The purchase of the former LMH watch manufacturers for 3,1 Mrd. $ is a viewed a major reason, especially since it did not ease the dependency on Swatch’s ebauches. ‘A Hayek would never pay that much money’ is a bottom line often heard.

Interestingly, neither IWC, Lange & Sohne or JLC seem to be affected with the recent decision.

Best regards,

Magnus Bosse

6/5/03