Swiss group Richemont has announced the appointment of Giorgio Sarné, formerly of the Lvmh and Tapestry groups, to the helm of its writing instruments house. And this at a key anniversary moment for Montblanc, which this year celebrates the centenary of the iconic Meisterstück.
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of its signature pen, the Meisterstück, created in 1924, Montblanc is treating itself to a luxury “veteran”…
Giorgio Sarné, the new CEO of the Swiss house of writing instruments, has over 20 years’ experience in management positions in the ultra-high-end world.
For the past four years, this graduate ofMilan’s Bocconi University and Paris’sHautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC) was President and CEO of the American shoe brand Stuart Weitzman, owned by the Tapestry Group.
Prior to joining the American luxury goods group, Giorgio Sarné held senior positions at Veuve Clicquot and TAG Heuer, two LVMH-owned brands.
118 years old
After champagne, watchmaking and fashion, he has now embarked on the adventure of luxury pens.
Giorgio Sarné, who takes up his responsibilities at Montblanc on November 15, replaces Philippe Fortunato, CEO of Richemont’s fashion and accessories division, who has held the position on an interim basis since Nicolas Baretzki stepped down at the end of 2022.
After six years at the helm of Montblanc, Baretzki joined Christian Dior, where he was appointed deputy CEO in charge of commercial activities…
Philippe Fortunato, said he was “delighted to welcome Giorgio to the Group as CEO of Montblanc” and praised “his great expertise in creating luxury brands, whether ‘soft’ or ‘hard’, comes at a pivotal time, as the House celebrates the 100th anniversary of the iconic Meisterstück”.
He is confident that “under Giorgio’s leadership, Montblanc will continue to share its 118-year history and rich heritage of writing culture, leather craftsmanship and watchmaking in new and unexpected ways”.
Poor form for Richemont
For his part, Giorgio Sarné “looks forward to working closely with Montblanc’s talented teams to continue nurturing and celebrating the culture of writing around the world”.
This appointment comes at a time when the Richemont Group is not in the best of Olympic form.
After a record performance in 2023-24, the Swiss group marked time in its first quarter of the current financial year , ended June 30, dragged down by Chinese activity, wholesale sales and the watch division.
Sales fell by 1% on a reported basis (+1% at constant exchange rates), to 5.3 billion euros.
However, the Group’s Fashion and Accessories division, which in addition to the Montblanc brand includes the Maisons Alaïa, Chloé, Delvaux, Dunhill, Delvaux et Peter Millar and Gianvito Rossi, stood out with an increase of 6% (both on a reported basis and at constant exchange rates) to 701 million euros. However,it represents only 13% of Group sales, far behind the historic Watch and Jewelry divisions (Cartier, Vacheron Constantin, Panerai, Jaeger-Lecoultre, Buccellati, Van Cleef & Arpels…).
The limits of the inclusivity policy…
In any case, Giorgio Sarné’s appointment shows the limits of the inclusivity policy advocated by Johann Rupert at the end of 2016.
At the Annual General Meeting, the owner of the Richemont group had proclaimed thathe didn’t want to “see as many white men with greying hair”. This was the trigger for an aggiornamento within the company.
Last spring, in response to the company’s recent mediocre performance, the management team underwent yet another overhaul.
In addition to the replacement of Managing Director Jérôme Lambert by Nicolas Bos, previously Managing Director of Van Cleef & Arpels, three appointments were made to the company’s senior executive committee: Karlheinz Baumann, Group Operations Director, de Boet Brinkgreve, Managing Director of Laboratoire de Haute Parfumerie et Beauté, and Swen Grundmann, Group Secretary General and Director of Corporate Affairs.
On an operational level, Stéphanie Martinez was appointed General Manager of Montblanc.
Following on from these recent appointments, Giorgio Sarné’s appointment shows that it is still possible to be male, not a newcomer, and still be considered worthy of joining the top management of the Swiss group!
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Featured Photo: © Richemont
