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Can Made in France<\/em> compete with Swiss watchmaking ? In any case, this is the challenge that the Ai\u00f4n group intends to take up, a holding company with a mission created on the C\u00f4te d’Azur in 2021 by four founders, and endowed with 20 million euros of capital.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Among them, Anthony Simao, who in 2016 created the Lornet brand in homage to the name of his maternal grandfather, making a watch that is almost entirely French.\u00a0<\/strong> Anthony Simao has joined forces with Olimpiu Salcou<\/strong>, a specialist in business management, the financier C\u00e9line Guth<\/strong> and the investor Hubert Patural<\/strong>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After various proposals in Lyon, Strasbourg, Nantes, Mont\u00e9lima<\/strong>r and the Pays de Gex<\/strong>, Ai\u00f4n Group<\/strong> chose La Ciotat<\/strong> for various reasons: the territorial dynamics, the proximity of the international airport, the prospect of having available land and the existence of a certain purchasing power on the French Riviera.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ai\u00f4n Group plans to build an XXL factory with a production capacity of 400,000 movements and watches per year by 2025 in the Provence-Alpes-C\u00f4te d’Azur region<\/strong>, at La Ciotat. This 30,000 square meter<\/strong> site is expected to house the manufacture of “made in France”<\/em> timepieces. Since November 2021<\/strong>, the company has already set up shop in a temporary 2,600 square meter<\/strong> building to supply the French market.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The investment for this project is 60 million euros, in partnership with public aid and that of the region. It is also a winner of the France Recovery Plan and should benefit from the new France 2030 industrialisation aid scheme. The project should create more than 160 jobs within 5 years on the La Ciotat site.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n In France and Switzerland, in the watchmaking world, the project is perplexing. The Lornet company “has left quite a few slates<\/em>“, according to a local economic observer interviewed by Les Echos. The Burgundy-Franche-Comt\u00e9 region, which was asked to support the project along with the French government and Bpifrance, finally passed on the project. “We had met with them several times and had judged that the conditions were not met to allow us to position ourselves on this issue … We lacked answers and details on investment, ownership, business model …<\/em> ” , says the cabinet of the president of the region. says the office of the president of the region.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It would seem that it is especially the immense proportions of the project which seemed unrealistic to the actors of the sector. Indeed, in an investigation published on March 16 on the Ai\u00f4n project, the Swiss daily newspaper “Le Temps<\/em>” claimed that it would be “absolutely impossible<\/em>” to set up a production line capable of producing 400,000 movements in just three years. To be continued.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lire aussi > LUXURY WATCHES : IWC TAKES ITS FIRST STEPS IN NIGERIA<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Photo \u00e0 la Une : \u00a9 Ai\u00f4n Group[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row njt-role=”not-logged-in”][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Can Made in France<\/em> compete with Swiss watchmaking ? In any case, this is the challenge that the Ai\u00f4n group intends to take up, a holding company with a mission created on the C\u00f4te d’Azur in 2021 by four founders, and endowed with 20 million euros of capital.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Among them, Anthony Simao, who in 2016 created the Lornet brand in homage to the name of his maternal grandfather, making a watch that is almost entirely French.\u00a0<\/strong> Anthony Simao has joined forces with Olimpiu Salcou<\/strong>, a specialist in business management, the financier C\u00e9line Guth<\/strong> and the investor Hubert Patural<\/strong>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After various proposals in Lyon, Strasbourg, Nantes, Mont\u00e9lima<\/strong>r and the Pays de Gex<\/strong>, Ai\u00f4n Group<\/strong> chose La Ciotat<\/strong> for various reasons: the territorial dynamics, the proximity of the international airport, the prospect of having available land and the existence of a certain purchasing power on the French Riviera.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n […][\/vc_column_text][vc_cta h2=”This article is reserved for subscribers.” h2_font_container=”tag:h2|font_size:16|text_align:left” h2_use_theme_fonts=”yes” h4=”Subscribe now !” h4_font_container=”tag:h2|font_size:32|text_align:left|line_height:bas” h4_use_theme_fonts=”yes” txt_align=”center” color=”black” add_button=”right” btn_title=”I SUBSCRIBE !” btn_color=”danger” btn_size=”lg” btn_align=”center” use_custom_fonts_h2=”true” use_custom_fonts_h4=”true” btn_button_block=”true” btn_custom_onclick=”true” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fluxus-plus.com%2Fen%2Fsubscriptions-and-newsletter-special-offer-valid-until-september-30-2020-2-2%2F”]Get unlimited access to all articles and live a new reading experience, preview contents, exclusive newsletters…<\/p>\nA dubious watchmaking sector<\/h2>\n
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The Ai\u00f4n watchmaking group will not be setting up in the historic Franc-Comt\u00e9 cradle of watchmaking, nor in Switzerland, but in La Ciotat in the Bouches-du-Rh\u00f4ne department. By relocating to France a Swiss factory that it has just acquired, the producer of the luxury brand Lornet wishes to revitalise and relaunch the “made in France” watchmaking industry. An announcement that is already causing a stir in the sector.<\/h4>\n