Watches of Switzerland
Watches of Switzerland store in Brompton Road, London | |
| Company type | Public limited company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Watches and jewellery |
| Founded | 1924 |
| Headquarters | Braunstone, England, UK |
Key people | Ian Carter, (Chairman) Brian Duffy, (CEO) |
| Revenue | £1,537.9 million (2024)[1] |
| £120.0 million (2024)[1] | |
| £59.1 million (2024)[1] | |
| Website | www |
Watches of Switzerland is a British retailer of watches. The company headquarters is in Braunstone, England.[2] It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.[3]
History
Watches of Switzerland was founded in Ludgate Hill in 1924.[4] During the late 1970s Theo Paphitis, the entrepreneur, worked as a sales assistant at the Bond Street Watches of Switzerland store in London.[5]
The business was acquired by Ratners in 1988[6] and then sold on to Asprey in 1992.[7][8] In December 1998, Mappin & Webb managing director, Judith Pilkington, acquired Watches of Switzerland from Asprey, together with Mappin & Webb.[9][10][11][12] Both companies were acquired by Baugur Group in November 2005.[11] Baugur grouped both companies with fellow British jeweller Goldsmiths under the Aurum Group.[13][14]
Baugur became insolvent in 2010 and the group was under the control of Landsbanki before coming under the control of Apollo Global Management in 2013.[4] The group was briefly known as Aurum Holdings before re-branding itself as Watches of Switzerland Group in advance of an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange in May 2019.[4]
Operations
The company operates 221 stores in the UK, US and Europe,[15] spread across the Watches of Switzerland, Mappin & Webb, Goldsmiths, Mayors and Betteridge brands. This includes 96 dedicated mono-brand boutiques in partnership with Rolex, Omega, TAG Heuer, Breitling, Tudor, Audemars Piguet, Seiko, Bulgari and Fope.[16]
Awards and recognition
Watches of Switzerland secured its first Fair Tax Mark certification from the Fair Tax Foundation in 2022.[17]
References
- ^ a b c "Annual Report 2024" (PDF). Watches of Switzerland Group. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
- ^ "Contact Us / Watches of Switzerland". Watches-of-switzerland.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-10-24.
- ^ "London Stock Exchange | London Stock Exchange". www.londonstockexchange.com. Retrieved 2025-04-30.
- ^ a b c "Watches of Switzerland starts clock on London IPO plan". Evening Standard. 2 May 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
- ^ "Enter the Dragon of balls, rubber and lingerie". This is London. 24 October 2007. Retrieved 21 July 2008.
- ^ Haapalainen, Valérie; Skog, Nan (1 February 2011). "Growth Strategies of Multinational Companies: the Jewelry Industry" (PDF). p. 53. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
- ^ "Crown jewellers sold off for a princely pounds 250m". The Independent. 4 November 1995. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
- ^ Asprey Annual Report and Accounts 1993. 31 March 1993 – via Companies House.
- ^ Nelson, Fraser (24 December 1998). "Piasecki in £48 million bid for Goldsmiths". The Times. p. 21.
- ^ "Royal jeweller sells two chains". BBC. 24 December 1998. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
- ^ a b "Baugur buys £30m Mappin & Webb". The Telegraph. 13 November 2005. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
- ^ "Royal jeweller sells two chains". BBC. 24 December 1998. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
- ^ "Jurek Piasecki on building up Nuval". Watchpro. 14 May 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
- ^ "Baugur to buy Goldsmiths shares from ousted boss". The Guardian. 14 October 2007. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
- ^ "Watches of Switzerland confident of sales boost amid recovery in luxury market". Evening Standard. 3 September 2024. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
- ^ "Watches of Switzerland". London Stock Exchange. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
- ^ Blascsók, Nora (2022-04-01). "The Watches of Switzerland Group makes time for the Fair Tax Mark". Fair Tax Foundation. Retrieved 2025-05-21.