New CEOs at Richemont-owned Vacheron Constantin and Jaeger-LeCoultre

Watches

Luxury goods holding company, Richemont, made changes to the leadership of two of its luxury brands.
Laurent Perves, CEO of Vacheron Constantin
Laurent Perves, CEO of Vacheron Constantin (Richemont)

First, the company named Laurent Perves as the next CEO of Vacheron Constantin, effective January 1, 2025. He is currently the chief commercial officer for the Swiss luxury watch brand.

This was immediately followed by the announcement that Jérôme Lambert has returned as CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre. He was most recently Richemont chief operating officer and executive board member.


Laurent Perves, CEO of Vacheron Constantin

Perves replaces Louis Ferla who accepted an offer as CEO of French luxury brand, Cartier. These two executive level changes are the newest of several leadership changes made by the Swiss luxury goods holdings company during the past seven months.

Perves has worked for nearly eight years serving as CCO and chief marketing officer of Vacheron Constantin. He began his tenue at Vacheron at about the same time that Ferla became CEO of the watch brand. According to the statement released by both the Swiss watch brand and its parent company, the two have worked closely together during that time.

The statement from Richemont credits Laurent for playing “an important part in positioning Vacheron Constantin as a leader in Haute Horlogerie and in its commercial success since joining the Maison in 2016.”

A Swiss and French national, Perves has more than 20 years of experience managing global brands, leading creative teams as well as developing business in the luxury goods industry, the Richemont statement reads.

Laurent began his career at the LVMH group as “change manager” within its perfumes and cosmetics category. He then worked for 10 years in the “prestige products” division of Procter & Gamble, where he occupied various functions in consumer intelligence, marketing, creation and business development, before reaching a global brand leadership position on Gucci Parfums.

He joined the watchmaking industry in 2014 as head of brand communication for Audemars Piguet, building specific capabilities in digital platforms and trade marketing while reinventing the brand communication campaign., according to the statement.

Perves graduated from ESSCA with a master’s in economics and marketing, he completed his education with a master’s in processes engineering and project management at Polytech Angers University as well as a master’s in strategy and organization at Paris Dauphine University. He is also a visiting professor at Paris Dauphine University, NEOMA and Geneva University.


Jérôme Lambert, CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre
Jérôme Lambert, CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre (Richemont)

Meanwhile, this is the second time Lambert will be leading Jaeger-LeCoultre. He previously spent more than 17 years with the Swiss watch company starting as financial controller in 1996 quickly working his way to CEO position, which he held from 2002 till 2013.

His success led him to become the CEO of Montblanc. In four years at Montblanc, he managed to place his stamp on every aspect of the luxury brand’s operation and its broad categories of products—which includes writing instruments, watches, leather goods and jewelry.

In 2019 he was promoted to Group CEO of Richemont, currently serving as chief operating officer at Richemont.

Other leadership changes among Richemont’s brands during the past year include the following:

  • On May 17, Richemont, named Nicolas Bos, CEO of Van Cleef & Arpels, to the reestablished role of CEO, which became effective June 1. At the same time Bram Schot was appointed as non-executive deputy chairman of the Richemont board, which became effective September 11.
  • Richemont on July 2 moved Catherine Rénier, from CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre to CEO of Van Cleef & Arpels, which became effective on September 1.
  • Richemont on July 2 announced that Ferla would replace Cyrille Vigneron as CEO of Cartier. Vigneron retired after eight years at the helm of Cartier and took the position of chairman of Cartier Culture & Philanthropy, which became effective September 1.
  • On September 13 Richemont said it completed the acquisition of Italian contemporary high jewelry brand, Vhernier, and immediately made changes to the company’s leadership structure. Gianluca Brozzetti, executive VP of Buccellati, joined Vhernier’s board of directors as executive VP and as ad interim CEO until a permanent CEO is named.

This article was originally published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.

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