Watches of Switzerland

Watches of Switzerland is a British retailer of watches. The company headquarters is in Braunstone, England.[2] It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.[3]

History

Watches of Switzerland was founded in Ludgate Hill in 1924.[4] During the late 1970s Theo Paphitis, the entrepreneur, worked as a sales assistant at the Bond Street Watches of Switzerland store in London.[5]

The business was acquired by Ratners in 1988[6] and then sold on to Asprey in 1992.[7][8] In December 1998, Mappin & Webb managing director, Judith Pilkington, acquired Watches of Switzerland from Asprey, together with Mappin & Webb.[9][10][11][12] Both companies were acquired by Baugur Group in November 2005.[11] Baugur grouped both companies with fellow British jeweller Goldsmiths under the Aurum Group.[13][14]

Baugur became insolvent and went into administration in early 2009 and the group was under the control of Landsbanki before coming under the control of Apollo Global Management in 2013.[4] The group was briefly known as Aurum Holdings before re-branding itself as Watches of Switzerland Group in advance of an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange in May 2019.[4]

The company has expanded through a series of acquisitions including the purchase of Roberto Coin in the U.S. in May 2024,[15] and the purchase of U.S. based retailer Deutsch & Deutsch. The company will continue to operate those stores under the Deutsch & Deutsch brand.[16]

Operations

The company operates 221 stores in the UK, US and Europe,[17] spread across the Watches of Switzerland, Mappin & Webb, Goldsmiths, Mayors and Betteridge brands. This includes 96 dedicated mono-brand boutiques in partnership with Rolex, Omega, TAG Heuer, Breitling, Tudor, Audemars Piguet, Seiko, Bulgari and Fope.[18]

Awards and recognition

Watches of Switzerland secured its first Fair Tax Mark certification from the Fair Tax Foundation in 2022.[19]