LONDON— In a day that will go down in the fine jewelry history books, Richemont has made a rapid-fire series of top management appointments, naming Louis Ferla chief executive officer of Cartier and Catherine Rénier CEO of Van Cleef & Arpels.
Richemont revealed the two key appointments within hours of each other on Tuesday. Both managers are current Richemont executives, and will take up their positions at two of the group’s biggest and most profitable brands on Sept. 1.
Ferla, who is currently head of Vacheron Constantin, will take over from Cyrille Vigneron as CEO of Cartier. Rénier, currently CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre, will succeed Nicolas Bos, now Richemont’s CEO, as head of Van Cleef & Arpels.
Vigneron, 63, is retiring after eight years at the helm of Richemont’s biggest brand, and will assume the position of chairman of Cartier culture and philanthropy. He’ll also work with Ferla on the management transition.
The exiting Cartier leader is a busy man. He also assumed the role of chairman of the Watches and Wonders Geneva Foundation on Monday.
The appointments come in a year of management change for Richemont, whose chairman and founder Johann Rupert has been succession planning as a generation of top managers reaches retirement age.
In May, Richemont revealed that Bos would take over as CEO, and talked about the reasoning behind the changes.
“People tend to stay a very long time, and we have loyalty up and down. Then, you suddenly get to a situation where you look at your senior executives and they’re roughly approaching retirement age. So we have to ask ourselves how to prepare for succession and how to ensure that smooth transitions take place,” he said.
At Richemont, employees tend to retire between the ages of 63 and 65, although Rupert often likes to keep some of them on as advisers, or in ad hoc positions.
Ferla, who turns 49 this year, is part of the new generation of top managers. He has “earned the admiration and respect of his colleagues across the group, and of the industry at large” for his work at the high-end watch brand, Rupert said.
Bos said Rénier, another new-generation leader, built a strong leadership team and a clear and differentiated positioning for Jaeger-LeCoultre.
“She brings the perfect mix of experience and leadership skills to the role, which — coupled with her deep knowledge of the maison — will enable her to ensure Van Cleef & Arpels long-term success,” he added.
Both Ferla and Rénier have big shoes to fill.
On Tuesday, Rupert said Cartier reached “new heights” under Vigneron, who helped to choose Ferla as his successor.
“I wish Cyrille all the best in his new role, where I know he will be working on topics that he has always felt passionate about,” Rupert added.
Jean-Luc Martinez, president-director of the Louvre Museum, and Louis Ferla, CEO of Vacheron Constantin, in 2019.
Barclays was broadly positive about Ferla’s appointment earlier on Tuesday.
The bank described Vigneron’s departure as “a small negative,” but not a big surprise considering the ongoing management reshuffle.
“We believe that Vigneron was highly respected among investors thanks to his ability to reinforce Cartier over the past years,” the bank said.
During Vigneron’s tenure, the Cartier business doubled, while Vigneron became known as a bold thinker and marketeer. He promoted archive designs, including the Panthère, Santos and Baignoire watch styles, to a new generation and marketed new ones, such as Clash de Cartier, at the same time.
While his retirement — not unexpected but coming six to 18 months sooner than expected by the bank — could bring short-term volatility to Richemont’s shares, it did not see as a negative the appointment of Ferla, who’s credited with markedly improving Vacheron Constantin’s brand desirability.
Following the announcements, the group’s share price was up 0.39 percent at market close while the Swiss Market Index dipped 0.32 percent.
Ferla, a French national, joined Richemont in 2001, starting at Dunhill as area sales manager in Hong Kong, and then as general manager in Taipei.
In 2006, he joined Cartier, where he held various senior executive positions, namely across the Middle East, India and Africa before being appointed CEO in China.
In 2015, he was promoted to Cartier’s executive committee as international director, clients and business. Ferla has been CEO of Vacheron Constantin since 2017.
Under Ferla’s tenure, the watchmaker has stepped up its cultural partnerships, signing a collaboration with the Louvre in 2019 and inking an agreement for educational programs with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2023.
Bos said he has “always admired Louis’ strategic vision and inspiring management style, which have served him well in turning Vacheron Constantin. I look forward to seeing Cartier continue to thrive under his leadership.”
Vigneron said he helped to choose Ferla for his “outstanding leadership skills, exceptional business acumen and deep affinity for our maison.” He said those qualities make Ferla “the ideal candidate for the role. I look forward to working with Louis in my new role.”
Rénier, who is also a French national, joined Richemont in 1999 as Cartier North America’s retail development director in New York.
Catherine Rénier
In 2003 she moved to Paris to join Van Cleef & Arpels as deputy marketing manager, and in 2008, she relocated to Hong Kong to support the brand’s growth in the Asia Pacific region.
She served first as commercial director, then as managing director for Hong Kong and Macau SAR, China in 2011. Her last role in the region was as president for Asia Pacific, a position that she held for eight years.
With her 2018 appointment as CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre, Rénier became the first female CEO of a historic Swiss watchmaker.
Under her tenure, the watchmaker has encouraged the intersection with artistic practices; stepped up its effort to develop know-how and education, and, in terms of product, extended the brand’s warranty to eight years and in 2023 launched its vintage The Collectibles watch offer.
While no successor has yet been named for Ferla at Vacheron Constantin, the group said Jaeger-LeCoultre’s chief financial officer Philippe Hermann would be assuming the role of ad interim CEO for that brand.
