Jewellery

FOR SOME, IT MAY BE HARD TO IMAGINE: The company that made plastic watches a household name is now rolling out a high-end luxury watch and jewelry collection that bears the name of one of the 20th century's most respected watch and jewelry makers. But that's precisely what Swatch Group is doing

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with Leon Hatot. which the conglomerate bought in 1999.
Hatot, though, is a haute brand for Swatch, along with Breguet, Blancpain, and Jaquet Droz. According to Madame Arlette Emch, president of Leon Hatot and an officer on Swatch Group's management board, Hatot can be considered a natural fit. "After all, what were Cartier and Bulgari before they became watchmakers? It's a natural symbiosis between fine watches and jewelry."
Emch, who has spearheaded Swatch Group's jewelry business from the Swatch brand and Calvin Klein to Omega and Breguet, has positioned Leon Hatot, however, as the uppermost jewelry in the crown, the only one particularly for women. Although the brand has its own stores on the Rue de la Paix in Paris, and in Cannes, Seoul, Geneva, and soon Tokyo, it also wholesales in the Middle East, Asia, and Russia. "Switzerland, France, and Russia have been our best markets so far," says Emch. "Now we are preparing to launch in the United States, by opening Leon Hatot stores and other points-of-sale with top jewelers."
Like Richemont, Gucci Group, and LVMH, Swatch Group believes the market for branded jewelry and watches presents great opportunity. "Less than 10 percent of what is sold is branded," Emch says. "There's a definite opening for international brands."
Although watches are, indeed, an important part, so is the jewelry, which also is made in Switzerland. Emch researched the background on Hatot and reminds that many of the French jewelry makers were exiled from France during the reign of Louis XIV because they were Protestants. Some found refuge in Switzerland, where Calvinism thrived. "Ostentation was discouraged, so the jewelers became watchmakers."