July 2026
Richemont Completes Sale of Baume & Mercier to Italy's Damiani Group
Swiss luxury group Richemont, controlled by South African billionaire Johann Rupert, has completed the sale of Swiss watchmaker Baume & Mercier to Italy's Damiani Group — marking another step in the company's strategy to focus on its strongest luxury brands as the global industry adjusts to slowing demand. The deal gives Damiani one of Switzerland's oldest watchmakers as it expands beyond jewellery into hard luxury, while Richemont sharpens its focus on its most profitable jewellery and watch brands.
The transaction reflects a broader wave of consolidation and portfolio reshaping across the global luxury industry. Richemont — the Geneva-based conglomerate whose portfolio includes Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Vacheron Constantin, and IWC Schaffhausen — has been steadily streamlining its holdings to concentrate resources on its highest-performing maisons, particularly in jewellery and high horology, where margins and demand have proven most resilient. Baume & Mercier, founded in 1830 and one of Switzerland's oldest watch manufacturers, had increasingly occupied a mid-market positioning that no longer fit neatly within Richemont's sharpened portfolio strategy.
For Damiani Group, the acquisition represents a significant expansion beyond its core jewellery business into hard luxury. The Italian house, founded in 1924 in Valenza, has built its reputation on fine jewellery and high-end goldsmithing, and the addition of a nearly 200-year-old Swiss watchmaker provides an established platform in a category where the group previously had limited presence. The move mirrors a broader trend of family-owned European luxury houses seeking diversification through acquisition, particularly as jewellery and watchmaking converge in the high-end market.
The sale also comes against the backdrop of a global luxury market experiencing a pronounced slowdown after several years of extraordinary growth. Rising interest rates, softening demand in China, and broader macroeconomic uncertainty have prompted the major luxury groups to reassess their portfolios, divesting underperforming or non-strategic assets while doubling down on the brands best positioned to weather the downturn. For Richemont, that means Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels — the jewellery engines that now account for the lion's share of group revenue — and a focused portfolio of high-end watch maisons. For Damiani, it means a strategic bet that an established Swiss watch brand with genuine heritage can find new life under Italian ownership.