JLC can succeed but has a clear choice to make

Before I chime in with my two cents, this is coming from a huge lover of the brand and a multi piece JLC owner. In the current market reality/new world order, JLC really has two options to make their company profitable and sustainable long term. If they want to continue with their quasi-celebrity endorsement advertising model, then they will need to slightly lower prices and try to be the King of the mid luxury market space and compete with Omega, Breitling, IWC and go after their lunch by competing as best value for craftsmanship in the space. Due to their history, pedigree and capability however, I would recommend that they take option 2 - go further upmarket and try to bet on their techniques to win over customers from Patek, Vacheron and A Lange etc. This is where I think they would shine, but in order to do that in all seriousness it would require two main attributes. Become a "if you know you know brand" and cancel all celebrity endorsements. Second, they need to develop a home-run category killer model and nothing in their current catalog is it without some serious redesigns. Maybe a blue dial Memovox (similar to their boutique offerings of 2016/2021) with an appearance or mechanical upgrade. Perhaps reintroduce the Deep-Sea line - make it standard catalog affair with black and blue dial options and fitted with choice of racing leather and a redesigned bracelet. I am not saying that they lose their DNA, I am saying to tweak that DNA with more soul and create something that people salivate over wanting, needing and buying. Then they are in the margin business and will be just fine!

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JLC MBO?

By: Esharp : February 8th, 2026-21:28

https://www.watchpro.com/richemont-considering-sale-of-jaeger-lecoultre/ Ok, it’s just rumour, but wouldn’t this be interesting - Jerome Lambert doing a Georges Kern but with JLC in place of Breitling. I’ll admit I am not a fan of what’s happened to JLC (...

Jaeger Lecoultre. has ( or at least recently had. ) an incredible richness in human resources. With a lot of talents. So, if JLC has the financial means to go ahead in terms of creativity and innovation, they can fly by themselves.

By: amanico : February 8th, 2026-21:35

And better " out of " Richemont. Best, Nicolas

I for one, second Amanico....

By: Fohp : February 8th, 2026-23:06

In my view JLC are the King of Horologerie, the most prolific mouvement designers and manufacturers by far, the so called Trilogy PP, AP, VC and many others have all had a relationships and used JLC movements in their time pieces. JLC have also been and s...

They were

By: Esharp : February 9th, 2026-17:43

The question for me is, are they still? I’d like to think so. But am not sure.

It's been quite a long time we had some iterations of the same watches from the low to the high end level. And some " new " models are less interesting than the former ones, see the Duometre...

By: amanico : February 9th, 2026-17:47

They will not have much more time to prove that they are what they were...

And if there were shared technologies and revenues coming because of richemont group of watches, what is the substitute for it? It won’t be an easy path, but if they can make the brand more distinctive, it may be worth it.

Fully agree.

By: Ping.Timeout : February 21st, 2026-02:37

I already know what they are releasing this year

By: ripper444 : February 21st, 2026-14:47

It's going to be nice but won't be "wow" in regards to the masses!

Too bad!

By: amanico : February 21st, 2026-19:21

I guess we’d need to know who is fronting the billion dollars.

By: Besançon : February 8th, 2026-22:17

Good question.

By: amanico : February 9th, 2026-05:33

Indeed!

By: Esharp : February 9th, 2026-17:43

The goal of each factory is to make money. I don't think that the retail value of JLC watches will be reduced when leaving Richemont.

By: Dmitriy : February 9th, 2026-06:38

Hi Eli 🤗

By: piccolochimico (aka dsgalaxy1) : February 9th, 2026-14:12

We all miss Blumlein, the only heir to whom is Max Busser. JLC used to be the watchmaker of watchmakers, but today it’s just another brand with exorbitant prices. A company must be profitable, but it can’t expect never-ending growth like during the pandem...

This is my fear too

By: Esharp : February 9th, 2026-17:45

…the $ has to come back to earth - just a little bit - and a renaissance in product is needed (perhaps already happening with JL as ‘new’ CEO).

Low profit margin…

By: Horo_Traveler : February 9th, 2026-22:00

What caught my attention is a low profit margin of 5.3% for the specialist watchmaker division of Richemont in FY2025 despite ever increasing prices. That compared to a margin over 30% for their jewellery business. And that margin has dropped to 3.2% in 1...

Elves are expensive!

By: Esharp : February 10th, 2026-19:42

Good and interesting point. I’m wondering if it has anything to do with the stacks of moolah spent on marketing.

As an owner of one JLC watch and someone who likes the company, I personally feel that…

By: Abu Alex : February 13th, 2026-16:28

…JLC have a stuffy, old-fashioned product catalog. Yes, the Reverso is their iconic watch but with its case shape it is a niche product that looks very dated with its Art Déco design (compared to the Cartier Tank that looks timeless, in part due to its go...