here is no-one, in watchmaking, like Franco Cologni. This atypical leader came to the industry not as a business school graduate, nor as the scion of an industrial dynasty or from the ranks of a major multi-national, but from the worlds of theatre and journalism. As well as a marked disinclination for corporate doublespeak, he is known for his straight talking, his outbursts against “imbeciles”, his far-reaching ideas and manoeuvring worthy of a Renaissance cardinal.

Versed in the arts, literature and classical tradition, this Milan native, born in 1934, has held a number of executive positions in the Cartier-Vendôme galaxy which he helped transform into the Richemont group, becoming the group’s éminence grise alongside his friend, Johann Rupert — something we will come back to later, but first we must emphasise another of Franco Cologni’s essential qualities: a man of culture rather than money, he has established multiple foundations dedicated to his profound and vibrant passion for the arts and crafts.

Franco Cologni and Johann Rupert, founders of the Michelangelo Foundation and the Homo Faber biennial in Venice

No other watch industry leader has invested so much energy in what he considered – showing great foresight – as essential and central not only to watchmaking but to the evolution of society as a whole. In 1995 he established the important and busy Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d’Arte; in 2003 he set up the Creative Academy in Milan to support knowledge continuity; in 2005 he co-launched the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH) in Geneva then, in 2016 with Johann Rupert, the Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship which brings together thousands of craftspeople from around the globe and organises, among other events, the wonderful Homo Faber biennial in Venice.

“Culture is truth”

As he reminded us almost immediately when we met in Milan, in June 2025, in the magnificent offices of the Fondazione Cologni, “culture and marketing are two very different things. Culture is truth, not just storytelling, and there can be no culture without craftsmanship, the veracity of the hand. Crafts associate hand and mind, and this takes us further in the search for truth.”

Among the many examples of this culturally informed approach to watchmaking, one of the most striking is the exhibition he organised in Beijing in 2004 for Richemont: the first to go by the name “Watches and Wonders”. Its purpose was to introduce the Chinese public to the group’s brands but, rather than host yet another sumptuous VIP gala, Franco Cologni succeeded, not without difficulty, in convincing the Beijing authorities to allow him to stage a vast historical and cultural exhibition in Taimiao temple. Built in 1420 at the entrance to the Forbidden City, the temple once held the ashes of past emperors.

© Europa Star 5/2004

The pinnacle of cultural-historical refinement, the exhibition’s Chinese logo was calligraphed by the younger brother of Puyi, the last emperor of China (the elderly man, who attended the inauguration, was the only, and last, person to wear a Mao suit). Inside the temple, museum pieces illustrated the history of watchmaking while each brand — beginning with the oldest, Vacheron Constantin, founded in 1755, — presented its own rich past.

Master watchmakers, enamellers, engravers and gem-setters showed examples of their work and demonstrated their skills. “Our ambition was not that of a conqueror,” explained Franco Cologni at the time. “Our strategy was not to impose but, on the contrary, to persuade and convince through the soft power of culture.”

What more perfect illustration of the specificity and singularity of the culturally informed approach which Franco Cologni has conceptualised throughout his career?

Early days

“My love affair with culture began at a young age,” he tells us. In post-war Milan, this love took root in the theatre. “My mentor was Paolo Grassi¹ who, with Giorgio Strehler², founded Milan’s famed Piccolo Teatro in 1947. I started out in wardrobe then moved into props, sourcing objects for the Commedia dell’Arte, for example, and later set design. Early on I became interested in puppetry, which has the capacity to express an important human truth. This love of puppets has never left me.” Proof of this, a Franco Cologni in puppet form sits on one of the shelves of an impressive bookcase.

Alongside his work in the theatre, Franco Cologni, who studied literature and philosophy, taught History of Theatre and the Performing Arts at the Catholic University of Milan. Alongside teaching, in 1962 he began writing, publishing articles, essays and books on the theatre, film, television and communication. Nothing, in principle, that might have prepared him to become one of the major architects of the watch industry’s transformation. But that would be to disregard his deep-seated love of beauty and craftsmanship.

In 1969 this inveterate smoker set up Tobako International. A page was about to turn. Tobako International manufactured and distributed luxury accessories, including lighters. One, the first product under Cartier’s Must label, would outsell every other lighter on the Italian market. The stage was set.

Building on such a resounding success, in 1973 Franco Cologni set up, for Cartier, its first Italian subsidiary, subsuming Tobako International to become the luxury segment’s first multi-product company and opening stores on prestigious thoroughfares in every major city. That same year, Franco Cologni was appointed to Cartier’s executive committee, alongside Robert Hocq and Alain-Dominique Perrin.

Illustration from Lo Spettacolo della Bellezza, published by Fondazione Cologni & Marsilio, 2020

Franco Cologni describes the latter as his “alter ego. The condottiero and the guerriero. Whatever Perrin didn’t do, I did. Together we built what we called ‘the art of being unique’.” By 1980, Franco Cologni was managing director of Cartier International, becoming vice chairman in 1986. Later, in 2011, his cultural tropism led him to become founder and editor-in-chief of Cartier Art. Published in five languages, the magazine had a circulation of 100,000 and was distributed in 50 countries.

The cultural way

When, in 2012, we questioned Franco Cologni about the relationship between art and watchmaking, he answered with an important lesson learned from his experience in the theatre: “A performance cannot exist without an audience. The audience determines the success of a performance, which can only be achieved through a team effort. The same is true in watchmaking and the métiers d’art. Only by working together, as a team, can we create an exceptional object, which the public will enjoy. Having said that, the difference between art and watchmaking is that watchmaking is not an art per se, but rather art applied to watchmaking. Art enjoys complete freedom whereas in watchmaking, this freedom is under control, in the service of the product and with respect for its function.” Accordingly, Franco Cologni refers more readily to culture, in its broadest acceptance, than strictly to art.

© Europa Star, 1998

The rebirth of Officine Panerai, which he masterminded as of 1997, offers a specific example of Franco Cologni’s cultural – in the widest sense – undertakings in the watch world. This was a visionary endeavour, to revitalise an almost forgotten brand, and in many respects a foundational one, sparking the wave of revivals that continues today. What was then a novel approach, rooted in a singular and exclusively Italian heritage, was crowned with success. “Panerai was an exercise to rediscover a particular form of beauty in the watch. Achieving this required authentic content, a truth, which in this instance was historical, military and cultural,” he explained, seated in his office in Milan.

“Luxury is the opposite of the ephemeral”

In 1999 Franco Cologni was appointed executive director of Richemont SA with responsibility for the group’s watchmaking and jewellery division. It was in this strategic role that he would oversee not only the development of the group’s portfolio but also go deeper into haute horlogerie terrain. The following year he also became chairman of Vacheron Constantin, a position he held until 2005: five years during which he reconnected the storied Maison with its history and foundations. [read our cover story]

Also in 2000, Richemont further strengthened its position with a single acquisition: that of LMH, owner of Jaeger-LeCoultre, IWC and Lange & Söhne, for CHF 3.08 billion. Asked, in our pages, about what many considered a crazy amount, Franco Cologni replied: “We paid that amount because we believe luxury is eternal. Luxury is the opposite of the ephemeral. Prestige watchmaking has and always will lie at the heart of human life. To measure time in the most elegant way possible forms an integral part of true luxury.”

Franco Cologni in his office at the Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d’Arte in Milan

More prosaically, the transaction took Richemont into the elite circle of authentic and full-fledged Manufactures and enabled it to develop the solid manufacturing capabilities it had thus far lacked, at a time when Swatch group, which dominated industrial production, was threatening to cut off supplies to competitors.

Operation “haute horlogerie”

The ground was laid, ready for the next stage. In 2003 Franco Cologni established, for the Richemont group, the Creative Academy, an international school for design and creative management, then in 2005 launched the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH), alongside Gino Macaluso, the then owner of Girard-Perregaux, and Jasmine Audemars, at that time chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Audemars Piguet.

The Foundation, also the organiser of the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie, was set up with the ecumenical ambition to include brands from outside the Richemont fold and welcome all makers operating within the same realm of excellence. Drafting the criteria that would define “haute horlogerie” gave rise to labyrinthine negotiations, but twenty years later the Foundation brings together some forty partner-brands and continues to play a prominent role in education, training and the promotion of watchmaking culture.

Beyond watchmaking

However, watches are only part of the story for a man who has extended the scope of his activity, quite impressively, to the métiers d’art in their entirety. In Italy, his own Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d’Arte supports academic research, publishes books on professions that call upon the “intelligence of the hand” — from chef to photographer, couturier to typographer, instrument-maker to winegrower and, naturally, watchmaker —, stages exhibitions and awards grants. [Read the Hands special feature in our 2/25 issue]

This action in support of the “artisans of excellence” took on truly international scope with the launch, in 2016, of the Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship. Currently, the Foundation directly supports, assists and promotes, via a digital platform, several thousand craftsmen and women, partners with over a hundred museums and institutions, implements a series of learning programmes which pair designers with makers, experienced artisans with students, and organises numerous exhibitions, not least the Homo Faber biennial in Venice which in 2024 presented more than a thousand objects from all horizons. [A special issue of Europa Star will coincide with the Homo Faber biennial, again in Venice, in September 2026]

How best to sum up Franco Cologni, this “devil of a man” who celebrates his 91st birthday this year? Perhaps by quoting one of his favourite sayings: Horam non numero nisi serenam — I count only the brightest hours.

The sundial on the fifteenth-century Palazzo Carmagnola in Milan

¹ Paolo Grassi (1919-1981), theatre impresario and director, journalist and public figure, considered theatre as a public service which should propose a repertoire of the highest quality that was also accessible to all. He was the director of La Scala in Milan. ² Giorgio Strehler (1921-1997) was a foremost European stage director.