Paris, 22 January 2026 - Estimated reading time: 6 minutes Richemont has sold Baume & Mercier to Italian jeweller Damiani in a private transaction, with financial terms undisclosed. At first glance, the deal may look peripheral for a group dominated by high-desirability assets such as Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels. Yet it is more instructive than it seems: it reflects how luxury conglomerates are now arbitraging more decisively between heritage, distribution and value creation — particularly in watchmaking, where the recovery remains selective and market polarisation continues to intensify. Baume & Mercier holds an unusual position within Richemont’s specialist watchmaking portfolio. Founded in 1830, headquartered in Geneva, operating eight boutiques and producing watches in Les Brenets in Switzerland’s Jura, the maison has long served as a more “commercial” pillar of the division. Its more accessible price positioning and historical reliance on wholesale distribution through multi-brand retailers made it an outlier in a sector increasingly built around direct retail, tighter control of brand storytelling and carefully managed scarcity. That distinctiveness has become a structural constraint. In a note, Kepler Cheuvreux estimates Baume & Mercier generates roughly €100m in revenue but remains loss-making, describing a brand that has been “in difficulty for years”. The broker goes further, viewing the sale as evidence of a more assertive approach to underperforming assets under Richemont’s new chief executive, Nicolas Bos. While not a dramatic pivot, it does suggest a change in pace. Richemont has…
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