Table of Contents
Richemont is letting go of Baume & Mercier. The Geneva-based luxury giant announced in January it had signed an agreement to sell the nearly 200-year-old Swiss watchmaker to Italy's Damiani Group, a family-run house better known for diamonds than timepieces.
The deal, which is expected to close sometime this summer, comes without a disclosed price tag and with a transition arrangement that keeps Richemont involved operationally for at least a year after the ink dries.
It is a quiet ending to a relationship that stretched more than three decades. Richemont acquired Baume & Mercier in 1988, when the brand was already a century and a half old.
Founded in 1830 in the Swiss Jura, it built a reputation for making Swiss-made watches that didn't require a second mortgage. That accessibility became both its identity and, eventually, its problem.
The numbers told a difficult story. Analysts at Kepler Cheuvreux estimated the brand was generating roughly 100 million euros in annual revenue while running at a loss.
The firm said Baume & Mercier had "struggled for years," and described the sale as part of a more assertive approach to underperformers under Nicolas Bos, who became Richemont's chief executive in 2023.
Richemont had at one point reportedly explored a management buyout before Damiani entered the picture.
Oliver Muller, founder of luxury consulting firm LuxeConsult, put it plainly. "Given Baume & Mercier's DNA and price positioning, it was no longer the right fit for Richemont, where the focus is firmly on luxury," he said.
"It would have fit better in a group like Swatch, which is managing similar brands.
B&M had a period of success which ended more than a decade ago and declining sales destabilized the brand, as did the many CEO and strategy changes."
The accessible luxury tier has become something of a no-man's land in Swiss watchmaking. Production costs have climbed.
The Swiss franc has stayed persistently strong. Gold prices have moved higher. And consumer behavior has shifted in ways that have been unkind to the middle of the market.
While demand for high-end mechanical watches from brands like Patek Philippe, Rolex and Richemont's own Vacheron Constantin has held up, the segment below has grown increasingly contested, squeezed from below by fashion watches and from above by prestige brands stretching their entry-level offerings.
Within Richemont's own house, the contrast had grown stark. The group's Jewellery Maisons, which include Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, have continued to perform. Its Specialist Watchmakers segment has shown signs of recovery after a rough stretch.
Baume & Mercier, with its Riviera and Clifton collections, fit a different audience entirely. Keeping it required attention, strategy and capital that the group seemed less and less inclined to spend.
Damiani saw things differently. The Italian group, headquartered in Valenza and led by the third generation of the founding family, has been building quietly and steadily.
Its portfolio spans jewelry brands including Damiani, Salvini, Bliss and Calderoni, the historic Murano glassmaker Venini, and Rocca, a luxury multi-brand retail chain that operates across Italy.
Baume & Mercier gives the group a ready-made entry point into Swiss watchmaking, a category it has been selling through Rocca but never owned.
"We will both benefit from this new start," Damiani Group CEO Jerome Favier said in a statement carried by Bloomberg. "Damiani Group will expand its offer in the watch segment and attract a new customer base. Baume & Mercier will be able to count not only on our solid position in wholesale, but also on our strong expertise in the watch market."
The plan, as Damiani has outlined it, involves leaning on the group's existing distribution network across Europe, Asia and the Middle East, while opening select standalone boutiques in targeted locations.
The brand's wholesale roots, long a tension point within Richemont's more vertically focused retail strategy, are seen as an asset under the new ownership model.
Muller noted that the move, while overdue in many analysts' eyes, reflects a sensible rationalization. "Richemont did well to groom its brand portfolio," he said. "B&M was the most obvious move to make.
It remains to be seen what Damiani's strategy will be, but they have a very strong retail network where they can reposition this once-successful brand."
Whether that repositioning sticks will depend on more than distribution. Baume & Mercier enters its new chapter with real heritage, a recognizable name and a collection that has always appealed to buyers who wanted Swiss craftsmanship at a price that didn't shut them out.
What it needs now is clarity: a clear voice, a consistent identity and an owner willing to invest in both. Damiani is betting it can provide all three. The watch industry will be paying attention.
