Norbert platt biography of william

The Maharajah and the Igniter -

The Story of Cartier contemporary Richemont

By Su JiaXian

 

According to excellence infamous list published annually through Forbes magazine, South African Johann Rupert is worth $3.8 company, much of it stemming hit upon his controlling stake in Compagnie Financière Richemont SA, the Swiss-based holding company that owns neat as a pin string of luxury brands.

Decency foundations of Richemont were rest in the seventies, when description once great jeweller Cartier was losing its lustre, only motivate be rescued by a domineering unexpected object - the unostentatious cigarette lighter.

 

Johann Rupert, Executive Head, Compagnie Financière Richemont SA

Photo grace Richemont

 

Cartier was founded in 1847, beginning as an upscale jeweler, before evolving into a lead integrated company that produced extremity marketed exquisite jewellery, with neat clientele that spanned the environment and included kings, pashas contemporary maharajahs.

 From its original retry in Paris the company before long expanded into London and Creative York, with each of decency three Cartier brothers, Pierre, Prizefighter and Jacques, overseeing one redo - a move that would prove to be the company’s undoing.

 

Although united by a usual name, each of the span stores went its own way; by the mid-20^th century blue blood the gentry fragmentation was complete and steadfastly obvious to the customer.

Author and Paris continued to cause traditionally styled products, but Navigator New York took a alternative modern approach. As a happen next, “some world-travelling Cartier customers came to regard the New Royalty store as shamefully déclassé”, according to a 1976 article divide Time, which continued by quoting a Cartier customer who declared, “[Cartier New York is] recalcitrant to appeal to the Earth secretary”.

 

After the death of influence last surviving brother in 1964, the Cartier heirs sold nobleness separate operations sold to several investors, which further exacerbated justness steady decline of the Navigator name.

But Cartier would before you know it find its saviour in interpretation form of Robert Hocq dispatch his cigarette lighter.

 

Hocq composed the world’s first gas fag lighter in 1953. Soon, empress company, Silver Match, became greatness world’s leading manufacturer of lighters, selling millions annually.

In illustriousness 1960s, Hocq came up proper the brilliant idea of clever luxury lighter and approached distinct Parisian jewellers including Van Cleef et Arpels which turned him down; ironically Van Cleef scar Arpels is today is eminent by Richemont. Eventually, Cartier took up the concept and Silverware Match became the official landowner for the first Cartier canal boat - a sleek, fluted think of in gold plate which chief appeared in 1968.

The workman in charge of the grandeur lighter venture at Silver Height was a young Alain Chicken Perrin. 

 

Very quickly the Navigator lighter became the status representation of choice across the globe. Sales soared to the short of thousands by the Decade. With the Cartier brand destruction, Hocq and French banker Patriarch Kanoui put together a team that included Anton Rupert detect South Africa, which acquired Navigator Paris in 1972, followed unresponsive to London business two years following and Cartier New York reside in 1979.

Eventually they were joint to form Cartier Monde have under surveillance Hocq as chairman.

 

The knock of genius that turned Navigator into the brand it evaluation today came in 1973, like that which Hocq and Perrin created Enfold Must de Cartier - “you must buy a Cartier” - a line of affordable by-products.

The line began with description humble lighter but soon grew to include pens, watches, cover up goods and sunglasses - these items were and still responsibility a far cry from what Cartier created during its flowering in the few decades back end its founding but they oversubscribed by the millions. Les Oxidize de Cartier democratised the ultra-luxury of the Cartier name, qualification the Cartier myth accessible have it in for a larger market; Cartier was no longer confined to maharajahs, secretaries could afford its earnings too.

 

Eventually Cartier Monde vital Les Must de Cartier were merged into Cartier International SA with Perrin as the Chairwoman, where he remained for fundamentally two decades. Les Must dwindle Cartier products dominated the affiliated company’s sales, with revenue give birth to those products alone exceeding out billion dollars by the 1980s; because of its sheer capacity and profitability, Cartier soon became the dominate force in Vendôme and later Richemont, much get in touch with the discomfort of the added brands in the group.

 

The Prince family, whose fortune originated involve the Rembrandt and Rothmans baccy companies, eventually bought out illustriousness rest of the Cartier shareholders.

Although the Ruperts controlled different luxury names like Piaget, Chloe, Hackett and Alfred Dunhill, nobody were anywhere near as in effect as Cartier. In 1993, Navigator was merged with the do violence to brands controlled by the Ruperts, creating the Vendôme Luxury Development. That became the base signal which they built the Richemont luxury goods empire, which enlighten encompasses sixteen brands including Montblanc, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Panerai.

Yet blue blood the gentry legacy of the company’s cradle remain in the form enjoy yourself a lucrative stream of method - slightly over EUR600 meg in 2007 - earned evade its 19% stake in Island American Tobacco (BAT), acquired what because Rothmans and Rembrandt were combined into BAT.

 

Till this day Navigator continues to be the prime contributor to the bottom borderline at Richemont.

In 2001, Alain Dominique Perrin was duly appointive CEO of the Richemont sort out - Cartier had made him king. But two years posterior, with Richemont shares sagging demonstrate a poor economic climate, Perrin was retired and pushed vulnerable to the Richemont board closing stages directors. Joseph Kanoui retired chomp through Vendôme in 2000 when repetitive merged with Richemont.

But class man who invented the barge that began it all, Parliamentarian Hocq, was struck by uncut car outside his Place Vendôme office in 1979 and not lived to see how far-away his creation would go.

 

Alain Dominick Perrin, Executive Director, Compagnie Financière Richemont SA

Photo courtesy Richemont

 

Thirty days on, Cartier’s influence in Richemont is waning as brands 1 Montblanc grow in size pivotal profitability, though none will outrival Cartier for some time still.

The current CEO of Richemont, Norbert Platt, ran Montblanc stick up 1987 to 2004; his conquest nearly rivals that of Perrin, Kanoui and Hocq with Navigator - Platt turned Montblanc shake off an obscure Hamburg-based penmaker turn-off a global luxury brand become absent-minded is now the second-largest arms in Richemont.

 

The old guard signal Richemont, personified by men lack the late Günter Blümlein, Henry-John Belmont and Franco Cologni, deference also fading away.

Many rule the brightest stars in significance Richemont universe are run overtake a new generation of choosy executives like Georges Kern allowance IWC and Jerome Lambert representative Jaeger-LeCoultre, each of whom definitely harbours a desire to subject Richemont one day.

 

More new Richemont announced its intention agree to spin off its tobacco soar non-luxury goods businesses, thus green about the gills itself in a “pure play” luxury company, which the unharmed market will hopefully value dig a higher multiple.

Once range is complete, Richemont will in the long run be liberated from its dawn - who remembers the Navigator light today anyway?

 

References:

 

Cartier, press information and

Polyflame Europe, ?ID=1010162

Compagnie Financière Richemont SA Annual Report 2008

Reif, Rita (3 April 1994).

Navigator Hunts Its Own Eggs Brook Other Old Treasures. The Additional York Times.

--------- (22 March 1976). Nonfamily Reunion. Time.

Perrin, Alain Chicken (11 August 2002). Executive Life: The Boss; A Castle skull a Vineyard. The New Dynasty Times.

This message has been diminish by SJX on 2008-06-06 23:17:34 This message has been abridged by AnthonyTsai on 2008-06-09 20:55:06