Horolonomics

Of late it appears that the Kering group is steadly withdrawing resources from watchmaking. Gucci's watchmaking office in Switzerland. Source: Google Earth. Kering owns Gucci and a number of other brands. In January of 2022, word broke that Kering had jettisoned Ulysse Nardin and Girard-Perregaux . Management acquired ownership and has been operating the brands since then (unless there was another, subsequent, private party sale of ownership stakes). The most recent step on the path to a reduction in Kering's watchmaking footprint appears to involve Gucci Watchmaking. News broke last week that Gucci's watchmaking office in Cortaillod, Switzerland has notified the trade union for watchmaking that the brand would like to dismiss 25 employees. The brand and the union have started negotiations regarding the possible layoffs. Such steps are usually the last that a business will take, typically only under the most challenging and fraught financial circumstances. As I wr...

A number of principles are foundational to the watch industry and watch collecting. Screenshot of a Timex advertisement from the 1950s. One of these is, no doubt, the preservation and perpetuation of heritage. Brands with a longer legacy often maintain archives overseen by someone with a title like "Heritage Director." Some open museums in order to share heritage with the public. Vintage collectors connect with these archives and museums, which further perpetuates interest in and enjoyment of collecting. The list goes on. It was with this context in mind that I learned that the United States, and Connecticut in particular, has an import watchmaking heritage property which may soon disappear, never to return. That property is the Timex World Headquarters in Middlebury, CT. Ground level view of the Timex World HQ. Source: Bellapart. I first wrote about this property in 2023 when I learned from local news that Timex had sold it off to a local developer. This wasn'...