Editor’s Note
This article has been updated to reflect the official appointment of Louis Ferla as the new CEO of Cartier, effective September 1, as announced by parent company Richemont.
Louis Ferla, CEO of the 269-year-old Swiss luxury watchmaker Vacheron Constantin, will assume the role of CEO at Cartier starting September 1. Richemont, the Swiss luxury goods holding company that owns both high-end watch & jewelry brands, recently formalized this appointment.
Following the news that Cyrille Vigneron, who led Cartier for eight years, boosting brand awareness, reputation, and sales, is planning to retire, there had been various speculations about his successor. The watch industry media Hodinkee noted, “Louis Ferla is moving from a brand that ranked 8th in total sales last year according to a recent report by Morgan Stanley and Luxe Consult (2nd within Richemont) to lead the world’s second-largest watch brand with sales of CHF 3.1 billion (approximately KRW 4.784 trillion). Unlike Vacheron Constantin, which has focused solely on watches, he will now also oversee a jewelry design empire.”
Louis Ferla began his career at Richemont in 2001 with Alfred Dunhill in Hong Kong and served as CEO of Cartier China from 2006 to 2017. Having worked in Asia for nearly 20 years, he is known to be well-versed in Asian market dynamics. Cyrille Vigneron, who is set to retire, is expected to become Chairman of Cartier’s cultural and charitable sectors after stepping down. Vacheron Constantin’s new CEO has not yet been announced.
On the same day, Richemont also announced the new CEO for Van Cleef & Arpels. The position, which had been temporarily vacant since Nicolas Bos, the former Van Cleef & Arpels CEO, assumed the role of Richemont Group CEO on June 1, will be filled by Catherine Rénier, former CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre.
French-born Rénier joined the Group in 1999 as Cartier’s North America Retail Development Director in New York. In 2003, she moved to Paris to join Van Cleef & Arpels as Deputy Marketing Manager. From 2008 onwards, she held positions such as Managing Director for Asia Pacific and President for Asia Pacific in Hong Kong, rising through the ranks and driving the Group’s growth momentum. Like Louis Ferla, she is highly knowledgeable about the Asian region. Rénier was appointed CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre in 2018 and now returns to her “alma mater,” Van Cleef & Arpels.
Until a new CEO for Jaeger-LeCoultre is announced, Chief Financial Officer Philippe Hermann will serve as interim CEO.
The Richemont Group owns luxury watch and jewelry brands including Cartier, Vacheron Constantin, Van Cleef & Arpels, IWC, Piaget, Jaeger-LeCoultre, and Montblanc, as well as high-end fashion brands like Chloé and Delvaux. According to the Group’s sales figures released in March, Richemont recorded revenue of €20.6 billion (KRW 30.88 trillion), representing a 3% increase at actual exchange rates and an 8% increase at constant exchange rates compared to the previous year.