PARIS – French luxury brand Chanel has acquired a 25 percent stake in Swiss luxury watchmaker MB&F, strengthening its presence in the watchmaking sector, it said Thursday.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Frédéric Grainger, president of Chanel’s watches and fine jewelry division, said the move was part of the brand’s “long-term strategy to continue preserving, developing and investing in its specialist know-how and techniques, and to reaffirm its position in fine watchmaking.”
MB&F stands for “Maximilian Büsser and Friends” and was founded by Büsser in 2005 with the vision of offering kinetic sculptures that can be worn on the wrist and tell the time.
MB&F’s “Machine” watches range from wristwatches to table clocks, and are characterized by organic or futuristic shapes and innovative ways of displaying time. The movements are developed in-house, and about 20 different calibers have been developed since the brand’s launch.
Since its launch in 2005, MB&F has developed 20 different calibers.
Courtesy of MB&F.
In 2002, the Legacy Machine Sequential Evo, which featured a skeleton movement with two chronographs including a split-second complication, won the Grand Prix de Genève, the world’s most prestigious award for its Golden Hands.
The Geneva-based Swiss watchmaker has two boutiques called MAD Galleries in Geneva and Dubai, four “MAD Lab” shop-in-shops in Paris, Taipei, Singapore and Beverly Hills, and also sells in several premium multi-brand stores such as Watches of Swiss.
Under the partnership, Büsser and his partner Serge Krijnock will retain a majority stake of 60 percent and 15 percent, respectively, and Büsser will continue to serve as a director on the company’s board of directors, along with Krijnock, head of marketing and communications Carice Yadigaroglou and head of sales Thibaut Verdonct.
“Given today’s very favorable circumstances and with a strong management team, it is our responsibility to take this major step to secure our long-term future and is a natural evolution for a company celebrating its 20th anniversary next year,” said Büsser.
Maximilian Büsser.
Courtesy of MB&F.
He said the investment would allow MB&F to continue on its independent path “without any pressure to grow,” while giving it access to Chanel’s watchmaking ecosystem “when it needs it.”
Chanel’s first foray into watchmaking was the Premier watch, launched in 1987. The company began investing in the watch industry in 1993 with the acquisition of G&F Châtelain, a manufacturer based in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, and also acquired luxury parts manufacturer Kenissi in 2019.
The French luxury brand has also invested in other watchmakers over the years, including Bell & Ross in 1998, Romain Gauthier in 2011, and FP Journe in 2018. The company’s level of ownership in the watchmakers has not been disclosed.
