Who Owns What in the Watch Industry?

Tony.A. · 2018-07-25T00:29:13Z

Explore the complex ownership landscape of the watch industry, revealing which major groups own popular brands like Arnold & Son, Movado, and Seiko.

Tony.A. shares an intriguing chart detailing ownership structures within the watch industry, sparking a discussion about which major groups own various watch brands. The post highlights surprising affiliations, such as Citizen's ownership of Arnold & Son, and prompts community members to share their knowledge and observations.

Key Points from the Discussion

Citizen's acquisition of La Joux-Perret (LJP) and Arnold & Son was driven by LJP's need for hairspring supply, with Citizen providing essential parts while maintaining the brands' independence.
Movado Group, formerly North American Watch Company, owns Movado, Ebel, and Concord, and licenses brands like Coach and Hugo Boss, making it a significant, though often overlooked, industry player.
Seiko Holdings does not own Seiko Epson, which produces Spring Drive movements for Grand Seiko, indicating a complex internal structure within the broader Seiko family.
There is speculation that customer service quality might be shared across brands belonging to the same parent company, based on personal experiences with Richemont Group brands.
Citizen has historically been modest about its ownership of Arnold & Son, often not explicitly stating the affiliation in advertisements.

The Discussion

AuHavrePro

Jul 25, 2018

Nice overview.

Some I was likewise not aware of. Not many . Thanks for posting. Cheers, Filip

patrick_y

Jul 26, 2018

As long as you know Apple Inc. you're all good... (joking) [nt]

KIH

Jul 25, 2018

Yes, together with La Joux Perret (parent company of Arnold & Son).

LJP was getting into trouble as they foresaw the grim future with less and less supply of hair spring from Swatch Group. So, Citizen came in and decided to provide hair spring and other essential parts to LJP, while Citizen kept LJP and Arnold & Son as-is for a while. Still no to little change they are trying to force those two companies, but finally Citizen did “coming out” that they DO own Arnold & Son openly in the past year or two.... I am surprised that Seiko does not have “group” in terms

NickO

Jul 25, 2018

Thanks for this info Ken!

Did LJP buy Arnold & Sons from The British Masters? They also owned Graham (and the smaller production Tompion watches) back in the day. I’m curious where Graham watches have ended up? Cheers, NickO

KIH

Jul 25, 2018

I believe Citizen bought La Joux Perret which had already bought Arnold & Son from the British company....

Citizen is a very modest company - I repeatedly told them to at least to show "A Citizen Company" on Arnold & Son advertisement, but they did NOT! Ken

Arie - Mr Orange

Jul 25, 2018

Very smart because it wouldn’t enhance the Arnold & Son brand name at all imo. [nt]

Key Points from the Discussion

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