====== Richemont ======
**Compagnie Financière Richemont SA** is a Swiss [[group|luxury goods group]].

===== History =====
**Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA** was founded in [[1988]] by the South African billionaire Anton Rupert. The main business areas are jewelery, watches, pens and clothing. On April 26, [[1988]], [[Cartier Monde]] acquired [[Piaget]] and [[Baume & Mercier]], the first of many mergers that would become today's Richemont Group. This combination, renamed [[Vendôme Luxury Group]], sold 30% of its stock to the public starting in [[1993]]. It added [[Vacheron Constantin]] on December 12, [[1996]]. Richemont announced that it would acquire the 30% of Vendôme on November 26, [[1997]].

From the sale of Mannesmann to the British phone giant Vodafone, the brands [[A. Lange & Söhne]], [[IWC]] and [[Jaeger-LeCoultre]], which were first possessed by the Mannesmann watches group [[LMH]], newly arrived in [[2000]]. This acquisition took the world by surprise, and remains one of the largest luxury acquisitions in history at over CHF 3 billion.

In [[2007]], Richemont formed a joint venture with Ralph Lauren, [[Ralph Lauren Watch & Jewelry]]. Richemont acquired [[Roger Dubuis]] in [[2008]]. In [[2018]], Richemont launched a new entry-level brand, [[Baume]].

Beneath the [[Swatch Group]] and the [[LVMH]], Richemont is the third major watch and luxury goods group.

===== Business Areas =====
Richemont Group is organized into four main business areas, each of which contain a number of semi-autonomous "maisons". Each is maison has its own governance, product development, and marketing, but all are encouraged to work together. For example, [[A. Lange & Söhne]] and [[Jaeger-LeCoultre]] collaborate on watch spring production, and Jaeger-LeCoultre and [[ValFleurier]] supply movements to [[Vacheron Constantin]] and others. All four of the groups produce watches and related components.

Of all the Richemont maisons, [[Cartier]] is the largest. With over SFr1 billion in watch sales in recent years, Cartier is one of only seven companies that can make this claim.

==== Jewellery Maisons ====
  * [[Cartier]] (1988/1998 [[Vendôme Luxury Group|Vendôme]]) - jewelry, watches, etc.
  * [[Van Cleef & Arpels]] (1999/2003) - jewelry, watches, etc.

==== Specialist Watchmakers ====
  * [[A. Lange & Söhne]] (2000/2003, [[LMH]]) - watches
  * [[Baume]] (2018) - watches
  * [[Baume & Mercier]] (1988/1998 [[Vendôme Luxury Group|Vendôme]]) - watches
  * [[IWC - International Watch Co. Schaffhausen|IWC]] (2000, [[LMH]]) - watches
  * [[Jaeger-LeCoultre]] (2000, [[LMH]]) - watches
  * [[Officine Panerai]] (1997/1998 [[Vendôme Luxury Group|Vendôme]]) - watches
  * [[Piaget]] (1988/1998 [[Vendôme Luxury Group|Vendôme]]) - jewelry, watches
  * [[Ralph Lauren Watch & Jewelry]] (2007) - watches and jewelry
  * [[Roger Dubuis]] (2007/2008) - watches and jewelry
  * [[Vacheron Constantin]] (1996/1998 [[Vendôme Luxury Group|Vendôme]]) - watches

==== Montblanc Maison ====
  * [[Montblanc]] (1988/1998 [[Vendôme Luxury Group|Vendôme]]) - writing utensils and watches
    * [[Minerva]] (2006) - watch movements and components

==== Other Businesses ====
  * [[Alfred Dunhill]] (1988/1998 [[Vendôme Luxury Group|Vendôme]]) - clothing, accessoires and watches
  * Azzedine Alaïa (2007) - clothing
  * Chloé (1988/1998 [[Vendôme Luxury Group|Vendôme]]) - clothing
  * Lancel (1997/1998 [[Vendôme Luxury Group|Vendôme]]) - leather goods
  * Net-a-Porter (2010) - online fashion retail
  * James Purdey & Sons (1994) - clothing & hunting weapons 
  * Shanghai Tang - clothing 

==== Former Businesses ====
  * Montegrappa (2001-2009) - writing utensils 
  * [[Old England]] (1999-2006) - watches, clothing

===== Weblinks =====
  * [[http://www.richemont.com/|Richemont]], official website


{{tag>Watch_trusts Richemont}}