Chanel’s acquisition of a 25 p.c stake in impartial watchmaker MB&F (Maximilian Büsser & Buddies, based in 2005) marks a unbroken pattern in Swiss watchmaking. This isn’t about large manufacturers muscling in on small ones nor the forging of group identities and techniques. Chanel does name its funding “strategic,” and it’s little doubt taken with the lengthy view in thoughts. Chanel, a luxurious behemoth that wants little introduction, calls MB&F a “high-end artistic watchmaker,” which is a superb acknowledgment of what the watchmaking model has grow to be. Model founder Max Büsser all the time emphasised that the Buddies had been the watchmakers, along with his enter being on the artistic and enterprise sides. We really feel assured in saying this Chanel transfer was orchestrated by Büsser, maybe in a lot the identical method that he assembles the titular Buddies when he desires up a brand new watch.
Certainly, when the information dropped into our inboxes right here, we remembered that Chanel had been a part of the story because the starting. Casemaker GF Chatelain was one of many first few Buddies, making instances and buckles for MB&F; Chanel purchased GF Chatelain in 1993 and it continues to play an element in MB&F manufacturing at this time (primarily in buckles, based on MB&F). The historical past right here is obvious then, and Chanel’s behavior of taking stakes in small independents reminiscent of Romain Gauthier (2011) and FP Journe (2018) makes this story really feel very palatable. The luxurious model has not intruded on the independence of those watchmakers and we don’t count on issues to be any totally different at MB&F.
After all, questions will stay about Büsser’s goals however we are able to solely report on what is understood, greatest summarised right here in a quote from the person, issued within the presser for this information. “It was our accountability, in at this time’s very favorable context and with our administration staff in its prime, to take this main step to make sure our long-term future – a pure evolution for an organization celebrating its twentieth anniversary subsequent 12 months. Along with permitting us to pursue our impartial path, freed from any stress on progress, the funding by Chanel will strengthen our operations by offering entry when wanted to their wider ecosystem and community of specialized suppliers.”
The press launch notes that Büsser stays the bulk MB&F shareholder, at 60 p.c, whereas his accomplice Serge Kriknoc owns 15 p.c. Büsser and Kriknoc had been beforehand the one acknowledged stakeholders within the agency; Kriknoc’s share stays unchanged main us to presume that Chanel’s stake was carved out of Büsser’s. Chanel’s monitor document exhibits that enterprise will proceed as normal at MB&F, and we’ll take Büsser at his phrase that the agency is way more than a car for merely maximising returns. The beloved kinetic machines of loving time will hold proper on ticking, simply as Romain Gauthier and FP Journe’s watches do. It’s value noting that Chanel can be a significant shareholder in Bell & Ross, and that the corporate’s executives have all the time maintained that the French agency has by no means pressured them about progress. For his half, Büsser has all the time maintained that he by no means needed financiers or cash males within the image due to this stress for progress, and he has immediately addressed that time within the official launch.
What does Chanel say about all this? Right here is Frédéric Grangié, President of Chanel Watches & Effective Jewelry, on the information: “We’re delighted to signal a strategic partnership with MB&F who share the identical values of independence, creativity, and excellence. The announcement is a part of our long-term technique to proceed to protect, develop and spend money on specialist know-how and experience, reaffirming our place in high-end watchmaking.”
MB&F retails in Singapore solely through The Hourglass
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