Richemont appoints new head of jewelry brands
Published: Tuesday, Jul 2nd 2024, 14:30
Updated At: Wednesday, Jul 3rd 2024, 01:59
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The luxury goods group Richemont has appointed a new CEO for the Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry brands. The Geneva-based company is thus making further changes to its management team following the appointment of Nicolas Bos as the new Group CEO in mid-May.
Louis Ferla will become head of Cartier, the Group's most important brand, Richemont announced on Tuesday. He will take over at the beginning of September from Cyrille Vigneron, who has shaped Cartier into a highly profitable brand over eight years.
Vigneron has "courageously led Cartier through highs and lows" in recent years, said Chairman of the Board of Directors Johann Rupert in the press release, paying tribute to the achievements of the departing brand head. Vigneron will oversee the handover to Ferla until September and will then chair the Cartier Culture & Philanthropy Foundation, it said.
Richemont earns a lot of money with jewelry from Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and the smaller Buccellati brand. In the 2023/24 financial year, which ended in March, the division achieved sales of 14.2 billion euros and an operating margin of 33.1 percent. In the watch division, these figures were 3.78 billion and 15.2 percent respectively.
Internal candidate to head Cartier
Ferla, an expert on Richemont, is taking over as head of Cartier. He has worked for the Group since 2001 and currently heads the luxury watch brand Vacheron Constantin. He started out at the leather goods and accessories subsidiary Alfred Dunhill.
During his career, Ferla has also made stops at Cartier: from 2006 to 2017, he held various management positions there, including managing the business in the Middle East, India and Africa region as well as in the important sales market of China, before finally taking over responsibility at Vacheron Constantin.
"I am delighted that Louis Ferla has agreed to take over the top position at Cartier," said Rupert according to the press release. He has earned a great deal of recognition within the Group and the industry and has positioned Vacheron Constantin "brilliantly" in the world of haute horlogerie.
Bos succession settled
Also on Tuesday, Richemont filled the vacancy at the head of the second important jewelry house Van Cleef & Arpels. Catherine Rénier will be in charge there from September. She is also no stranger to the Group, having worked for Richemont since 1999. Rénier is currently CEO of the watch brand Jaeger-LeCoultre.
Rénier replaces Nicolas Bos at Van Cleef & Arpels, who has been at the helm of the entire Richemont Group as CEO for just over a month. His predecessor Jérôme Lambert in turn continues as Chief Operating Officer (COO).
Rupert had said in May that this castling would restore the traditional CEO role in the Group. And the now 74-year-old added to speculation regarding his succession to the chairmanship: "I am not stepping down."
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