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A series of changes is taking place in the global watchmaking giant’s management team. The Swatch Group has just appointed new managers at the head of its watch brands and renewed its General Management team. The Longines, Tissot, Rado, Certina and Union Glashütte brands are concerned. A reorganization like none in the history of the Swatch Group, aimed at accelerating the recovery of the Swiss watchmaking market, which has been struggling since the coronavirus outbreak.
Swatch Group is actively restructuring its management and that of its brands. In a press release published this Thursday morning, the Biel based watch giant announced major changes concerning its General Management and its extended General Management, but also the management of several of its brands, including Longines, Rado, Union, Tissot, Certina and Hamilton.
Two monuments of Swiss watchmaking are stepping down
Walter von Känel, 79, Longines’ emblematic chairman since 1988, has just been replaced by Rado Matthias Breschan, currently at the head of Rado and a member of the Extended Management Board. He is retiring after 51 years at the head of the group but keeps the title of Honorary Chairman of Longines and Chairman of the Longines Foundation. “The Group would like to thank him warmly for his admirable commitment to Longines over half a century”, the Swatch Group stated in a press release.
François Thiébaud, 74 years old, president of Tissot since 1996, is also retiring after having managed the emblematic Le Locle brand for 24 years. He becomes Chairman of the Board of Directors, stepping aside from his position as Director to Sylvain Dolla, the current boss of Hamilton, who also joins the extended management. Musical chairs oblige, Sylvain Dolla will be replaced internally by Vivian Stauffer, sales manager, who is therefore taking over the reins of Hamilton watches.
Two historic figures of contemporary watchmaking are therefore leaving their functions, handing over to a new generation of managers also from the group.
Changes within the General Management
Adrian Bosshard, the boss of Certina and Union up to now, takes over as head of Rado, whose boss was Matthias Breschan. At Certina, he is succeeded by Marc Aellen, sales manager of Jaquet Droz.
Adrian Bosshard, current CEO of Certina and Union, will head up the Rado brand, which is known in particular for its high-tech ceramic watches. As a direct consequence, Marc Aellen, Vice President of Sales at Jaquet Droz, succeeds him at Certina. In addition to his duties as CEO of Mido, Franz Linder will also take over the management of the Union brand while maintaining his position as CEO of Mido.
At management level, Raynald Aeschlimann, President and CEO of Omega and member of the Extended Group Management Board of Swatch Group, has been appointed to the Executive Group Management Board of the Biel Group.
All of these changes will be effective July 1.
The beginning of a new era
At the end of an unprecedented health crisis with worrying consequences for the watchmaking industry, a large-scale overhaul was necessary.
Indeed, Swiss watch exports fell by 81.3% in the first quarter due to the closure of shops during the confinement and absence of tourists, and in 2020 the Swiss watch sector will have to face one of the largest drops in its revenue in the last 50 years.
The health crisis, which has halted the machines of the entire luxury industry and in particular the watchmaking industry in the Jura Arc, has therefore accentuated the need for significant changes in the leadership of the world’s number one watchmaker.
If the Swatch Group has been engaged in a major shake-up within its management in recent days, it is to accelerate its slow progress towards a recovery after the crisis, as the Swiss Made industry gradually emerges from the pandemic and manufacturers and boutiques reopen their doors one by one.
And by handing the reins of its most important brands to a new generation of managers, the Biel-based group hopes to mark a turning-point in its history.
They will therefore have to face the new challenges of the post-COVID19 watch market and lead the Swiss Made giant into a new era.
Read also > Swatch Group CEO sees ‘massive’ temporary hit in china from coronavirus
Featured photo : © Swatch Group[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row njt-role=”not-logged-in”][vc_column][vc_column_text]
A series of changes is taking place in the global watchmaking giant’s management team. The Swatch Group has just appointed new managers at the head of its watch brands and renewed its General Management team. The Longines, Tissot, Rado, Certina and Union Glashütte brands are concerned. A reorganization like none in the history of the Swatch Group, aimed at accelerating the recovery of the Swiss watchmaking market, which has been struggling since the coronavirus outbreak.
Swatch Group is actively restructuring its management and that of its brands. In a press release published this Thursday morning, the Biel based watch giant announced major changes concerning its General Management and its extended General Management, but also the management of several of its brands, including Longines, Rado, Union, Tissot, Certina and Hamilton.
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A series of changes is taking place in the global watchmaking giant’s management team. The Swatch Group has just appointed new managers at the head of its watch brands and renewed its General Management team. The Longines, Tissot, Rado, Certina and Union Glashütte brands are concerned. A reorganization like none in the history of the Swatch Group, aimed at accelerating the recovery of the Swiss watchmaking market, which has been struggling since the coronavirus outbreak.
Swatch Group is actively restructuring its management and that of its brands. In a press release published this Thursday morning, the Biel based watch giant announced major changes concerning its General Management and its extended General Management, but also the management of several of its brands, including Longines, Rado, Union, Tissot, Certina and Hamilton.
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