Back to the Future of Watchmaking: Daniel Roth and Gerald Genta
LVMH group after buying both brands is working on their rebirth
In the last few months LVMH has announced two very big news for all watch enthusiasts and in particular for that niche that is called "Neo-Vintage".
In fact, the Arnault Family Holding, mainly thanks to the work of Jean Arnault, has decided to bring back into production the "Daniel Roth and "Gerald Genta" maisons.
Respectively in 1994 and 1996, The Hour Glass had acquired both brands but however due to the Asian financial crisis that erupted in 1997 the Singaporean retailer had then sold all shares back to Bulgari in 2000.
At the time of the acquisition this statement was issued:
"The Bulgari Group has reached an agreement with The Hour Glass - a Singapore-listed group - to acquire 100 percent of Gerald Genta SA, Daniel Roth SA, Swiss leaders in high-end watchmaking, and Manufacture de haute horlogerie SA, owner of the related production facilities. The memorandum of understanding signed with The Hour Glass also includes the appointment of The Hour Glass as the exclusive distributor of the two brands in Asian markets.
By acquiring two brands renowned for their complicated and collectible watches, Bulgari intends to combine their important know-how in the production of highly complicated watches with its extensive experience in the watch industry gained over the past 25 years. The two companies' cutting-edge technologies and manufacturing capabilities will enable the Bulgari Group to further develop its leading position in the watch market and take advantage of significant production and distribution synergies.
The total consideration for the acquisition of the companies is 37.6 million Swiss francs and is based on the book value of the companies' net assets as of June 30, 2000. As part of this consideration, The Hour Glass will receive 33 percent of adjusted cumulative profits for a seven-year period, with a minimum of 4.5 million Swiss francs."
In 2011, Bulgari was then acquired by LVMH, and the latter after noticing the ever-increasing interest of collectors and retailers in these brands did some experiments in the to sound out the market.
In fact, in 2019 Bulgari made some limited editions with the Gerald Genta, including the Arena Bi-retro in platinum, announcing 2 years later that it would bring back the Genta brand by celebrating this news with the production of the iconic Arena Retrograde Mickey Mouse.
A few months ago, however, news also came of Daniel Roth's return to production via social media announcement.
Most Daniel Roth watches will be decidedly high-end, with a focus on tourbillons and other imaginative mechanical animations. LVMH clarified that no more than "a few hundred watches per year" will be produced under the Daniel Roth name. The first new Daniel Roth watch will be a 20-piece limited edition arriving in 2023.
Both projects will maintain very high levels of quality as they will be made at Louis Vuitton's manufacturer La Fabrique du Temps.
Both projects will be supervised by Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini, the two founders of this High watchmaking workshop as well as master watchmakers who trained right at Gerald Genta.
As mentioned, the fast-growing market was one of the main factors that led LVMH to relaunch these brands.
Phillips is the auction house with the largest number of models produced before the acquisition by Bulgari. Aggregate figures obtained from their sales in 2022 show a delta of +152% between total sales made and relative total estimates. Among them, the best result is 289,900 Swiss francs, recorded by a perhaps unique Tourbillon Skeleton in yellow gold. Adding to this performance are some very significant ones, such as the sale of a unique Monaco Legend Group tourbillon-set piece for 143,000 euros and the total figures from the Ineichen auctions, where as many as 25 Daniel Roths (mostly post-2000s) were sold.
Are you surprised by this announcement by LVMH? Do you think it is a correct strategy for the relaunch of such an important brand?
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