South African billionaire Johann Rupert's Richemont completes Baume and Mercier sale to Italy's Damiani

Johann Rupert's Richemont has completed the sale of Baume and Mercier to Italy's Damiani Group, transferring ownership of the 196-year-old Swiss watchmaker that has been part of Richemont's portfolio since the luxury conglomerate's founding in 1988, ending a 38-year relationship and marking Rupert's most significant divestiture since Richemont's exit from Yoox Net-a-Porter.

The transaction closed in July 2026, within the summer 2026 timeline that Richemont had guided for regulatory completion when the deal was first announced in January 2026. Financial terms were not disclosed at announcement and no updated figures have been publicly shared. Richemont has agreed to provide transitional operational support to Damiani for a period following the close.

Baume and Mercier, founded in the Swiss canton of Geneva in 1830, is one of the oldest continuously operating watchmakers in the world. The brand entered Richemont's portfolio in 1988, the same year Rupert created the group from the international assets of his father Anton Rupert's Rembrandt Group. Its exit from Richemont after 38 years reflects a strategic shift that Rupert has been executing across the luxury group over the past two years, concentrating the portfolio around brands with the highest pricing power and the strongest global scale in jewellery and high-end watchmaking. Baume and Mercier has historically been positioned at the entry level of the luxury watch segment, a market positioning that generates strong volume but lower margins than the flagship Richemont houses such as Cartier, IWC Schaffhausen, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Vacheron Constantin.

Damiani, the Italian family-run jewellery and luxury goods group founded in Valenza in 1924 and returned to private family ownership through a buyout in 2019, acquires Baume and Mercier as its seventh brand, adding a Swiss watchmaking heritage to a portfolio that includes the Salvini, Bliss and Rocca brands. The deal reinforces a pattern of established luxury watch brands moving from large conglomerate ownership to smaller, specialist groups that can give them more focused commercial attention.

Richemont reported revenue of EUR 22.4 billion for its most recent financial year, with its jewellery division, anchored by Cartier and Van Cleef and Arpels, delivering 14 percent combined sales growth. Net profit rose 27 percent to EUR 3.5 billion. The financial strength underpinning those results reflects a deliberate focus on categories and brands where Richemont's competitive advantages are strongest, and the Baume and Mercier exit is consistent with that strategic logic.

Rupert, whose net worth is estimated at approximately $10.2 billion by Bloomberg, remains the chairman and controlling shareholder of Richemont through his family holding company Compagnie Financiere Rupert, which holds approximately 10 percent of the equity and controls 51 percent of the voting rights.