Luigi Macaluso, President of GIRARD-PERREGAUX and the SOWIND Group, was re-elected as President of the “Association Interprofessionnelle de la Haute Horlogerie” (AIHH), which comprises 11 of Switzerland’s most prestigious watch brands, their distributors and over 280 of the world’s leading watch and jewellery retailers. The election was held during the AIHH General Meeting in Budapest on June 19-20.

The AIHH, headquartered in Geneva, counts 11 of Switzerland’s most prestigious watch brands among its members: Audemars Piguet, Baume & Mercier, Cartier, Corum, Ebel, Girard-Perregaux, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Piaget, Vacheron Constantin, and Zenith.

Luigi Macaluso will be assisted by Jean-Claude Roustant (formerly of Louis Vuitton and Ebel), who is to take over as Secretary General of the association following the retirement of Eugen Maier.

The Executive Committee will comprise, along with the President and Secretary General, Gerard Djaoui (Cartier), Jérôme Lambert (Jaeger-LeCoultre), Georges-Henri Meylan (Audemars Piguet), Patrick Frischknecht (Les Ambassadeurs – Switzerland), Christian Hübner (Uhrmachermeister Hübner – Austria), and Antonio Machado (Machado Joalheiro – Portugal).
While the Haute Horlogerie market represents only 8% of watch exports in quantity terms, it represents an extraordinary 72% in value terms, illustrating the importance of this segment to the watch industry.
Haute Horlogerie, which comprises the luxury range (CHF 4,000 -12,000, retail price) and the prestige range (over CHF 12,000 retail price), saw its turnover grow from CHF 3.7 thousand million in 1993 to CHF 6.5 thousand million in 2003. These figures underscore the constant growth enjoyed by the Haute Horlogerie segment from 1993 to 2003: 89% for the luxury range and 67% for the prestige range.
In his speech, Luigi Macaluso confirmed his determination to continue developing the association, in particular through the delegations in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

“After 5 years as president, I remain full of ambition for our association. We are emerging from a period of tight market conditions during which the Association has asserted itself as a benchmark in the Haute Horlogerie segment. And this is why we must concentrate on the creation of a Study Centre to compile and provide vital information for the benefit of the watch industry in general and the luxury and prestige segment in particular. “

Source: AIHH Press Release

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(Please Credit europastar.com)