Haute Complication: Breguet Tradition 7087 Minute Repeater Tourbillon

Few complications are as prestigious as the tourbillon. While many brands have one in their collection, there is still something special about getting it from the brand that invented it: Breguet, especially when it is not just a tourbillon, but they add something to it!

By Adrienne Faurote

Watchmakers Struggle With Supply Bottleneck As Swatch Parts Cut-Off Comes Into Effect

Luxury watchmakers are fighting for market shares of the lucrative Swiss watch industry, which the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH pegs at a worth of US$23 billion. With growing demand in Asian, European and American markets, luxury watchmakers are scrambling to secure production means in order to maintain growth, but Reuters reports that there […]

Swatch Group Continue Strong Growth in 2013 After Acquiring Harry Winston

This month luxury conglomerate Swatch Group released financial figures from 2012 showing that earnings are up a billion dollars over the previous year. The Bienne, Switzerland-based company, which is the world’s largest holder of watch manufactures, earned $8.79 billion (CHF 8,143 million), an increase of 14% over 2011. Although the company owns various holdings, the Watches & […]

Swatch to Pay $1 Billion for Harry Winston

Swatch, the Swiss company that owns Omega, Blancpain, Breguet, and a total of 19 brands, will be the new owner of Harry Winston. The company will pay $1 billion for the watch and jewelry business, based in New York, with 25 retail spaces around the world. The sale also includes a factory in Geneva and […]

Breguet Betting on Continued Growth in China

The high-end watchmaking industry is employing the wait-and-see policy in regards to lagging sales in mainland China, with hopes for a 2013 rebound. However, Breguet, which is owned by the Swatch group, is apparently confident that demand for their luxury timepieces will remain strong.  Case in point? Breguet recently opened a third boutique in Beijing, bringing […]

Swatch Will “Fight” to Make 8 Billion Swiss Francs in Sales in 2012

Swatch Group, the world’s largest watchmaker, set an ambitious global sales goal for 2012. They strive to top total sales from the previous year by a margin of 1 billion Swiss francs, bringing their total sales up from 7 billion in 2011 to 8 billion in 2012. This is an amount equivalent to nearly 8.5 […]

Tiffany & Co. to Refocus on Watches

Tiffany & Co plans to build it back up once its settles its disagreements with Swatch Group SA. “We are working very diligently to imagine what our watch business might look like once our disagreements with the Swatch Group are behind us,” Kowalski said at a Goldman Sachs retail conference in New York, reported Reuters. […]

Omega and Bond Crash Into Theaters This November with “Skyfall”

Daniel Craig is set to reprise the role of James Bond this November in “Skyfall” and, once again, the debonaire British secret agent will be sporting an Omega Seamaster to stay on schedule. To commemorate this, the seventh time an Omega Seamaster will be playing a supporting role in a Bond film, the Swatch Group […]

The World vs. Swatch

Swatch Group CEO Nick Hyek and the group United Against a Nuclear Iran (UANI) are at odds over Swatch’s continuing presence in Iran as conditions continue to worsen in the region. UANI’s position is that the only people in Iran who can afford an Omega or other Swatch Group watch are members of the oppressive […]

Swatch Keeps Ticking in a Sea of Uncertainties

Swatch’s CEO Nick Hayak continued to make the rounds of the haute horology literati this week, touting the company’s increased sales even as the European Union pursued an antitrust probe into the Swiss watchmaking giant. Gross sales for the conglomerate were $3.87 billion in the first half of 2012, up 14.4 percent from the same […]

Swatch Group is Optimistic Thanks to Product Diversity

Swatch’s ambitious goal of earning $8.1 billion in 2012 is on track, according to CEO Nick Hayek. Last year’s sales broke records at $7.5 billion for the Swiss watchmaker. This year’s economic slowdown in China has been a cause of considerable anxiety for producers of high-end watches and other luxury goods, but Hayek says Swatch […]

Watch Industry Feuds Over What Makes Timepieces Swiss-Made

 Watch brand Swiss Mountaineer dons Switzerland’s national flag on the dial of each timepiece. It claims it’s Swiss-made, but with its components made at a factory in Shenzhen, China and the company itself being owned by Hong Kong’s Golden Hawk, is it? Under Swiss rules, Golden Hawk can label its watches as Swiss-made so long […]

Swatch Group Acquires Simon Et Membrez

Swatch Group recently announced that it has purchased watch case manufacturer Simon Et Membrez for an undisclosed amount. Swatch will acquire 100 percent of the shares and a related 60 percent holding in Termiboites. Simon Et Membrez produces watch cases at top prices out of gold, platinum, titanium, palladium and steels. The company has a […]

As Swatch Cuts Deliveries, Tag Heuer To Use Japanese Seiko Parts

When Swiss rival Swatch cut supply lines, Tag Heuer made the announcement that the brand would be sourcing parts from Japanese manufacturer Seiko. The change, the Watchmaker states, would not harm the prized “Swiss made” tag. Swatch, which has been the main supplier for the Swiss watch industry for decades, has sent watch companies searching […]

Swatch Watch Collection Sells For Over $6 Million

A collection of 4,363 Swatch watches from over the years sold in Hong Kong recently for $6,650,00. Swiss businessman Peter Blum and his wife Linda put together prototypes, hybrids and production variants never brought to market to create one one of the most complete collections of Swatch watches ever. This includes the rare first Swatch […]