Luxury Richemont appoints new head of jewelry brands

The luxury goods group Richemont has made new appointments to the management of its jewelry brands Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels. The Geneva-based company is thus making further changes to its management team following the appointment of Nicolas Bos as the new Group CEO in mid-May.

Louis Ferla will become head of Cartier, the Group's most important brand, as Richemont announced on Tuesday. He will take over at the beginning of September from Cyrille Vigneron, who has shaped Cartier into a highly profitable brand over eight years.

Vigneron has "courageously led Cartier through highs and lows" in recent years, said Chairman of the Board of Directors Johann Rupert in the press release, paying tribute to the achievements of the departing brand head. Vigneron will oversee the handover to Ferla until September and will then chair the Cartier Culture & Philanthropy Foundation, it said.

Richemont earns a lot of money with jewelry from Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and the smaller Buccellati brand. In the 2023/24 financial year, which ended in March, the division achieved sales of 14.2 billion euros and an operating margin of 33.1 percent. In the watch division, these figures were 3.78 billion and 15.2 percent respectively.

Internal candidate to head Cartier

With Ferla, a Richemont expert is taking over the top position at Cartier. He has worked for the group since 2001 and currently heads the luxury watch brand Vacheron Constantin. He started out at the leather goods and accessories subsidiary Alfred Dunhill.

During his career, Ferla has also made stops at Cartier: from 2006 to 2017, he held various management positions there, including managing the business in the Middle East, India and Africa region as well as in the important sales market of China, before finally taking over responsibility at Vacheron Constantin.

"I am delighted that Louis Ferla has agreed to take over the top position at Cartier," said Rupert according to the press release. He has earned a great deal of recognition within the Group and the industry and has positioned Vacheron Constantin "brilliantly" in the world of haute horlogerie.

Bos succession settled

Also on Tuesday, Richemont filled the vacancy at the head of the second important jewelry house Van Cleef & Arpels. Catherine Rénier will be in charge there from September. She is also no stranger to the Group, having worked for Richemont since 1999. Rénier is currently CEO of the watch brand Jaeger-LeCoultre.

At Van Cleef & Arpels, Rénier replaces the previous boss Nicolas Bos, who has been at the helm of the entire Richemont Group as CEO for just over a month. His predecessor, Jérôme Lambert, in turn continues as Chief Operating Officer (COO).

In May, Rupert commented on this change, stating that the traditional CEO role within the Group had been restored. And the now 74-year-old added to speculation regarding his succession to the chairmanship: "I am not stepping down."

SDA