TAG Heuer SA, worldwide leader in prestigious sports watches and chronographs, has decided to sell its ArteCad subsidiary based in Tramelan, Switzerland. The facility manufactures dials and has a workforce of 55 employees.

TAG Heuer SA acquired Kohli, now known as ArteCad, in 2000. As a result, Kohli was able to restructure its finances and obtain the manufacturing and production tools that have made it a competitive, top-level designer and manufacturer of Swiss dials. TAG Heuer SA has invested heavily in ArteCad since 2001. In four years, ArteCad’s workforce has increased from 40 to 55 and the company has replaced its machinery and workshops in their entirety and created an internal laboratory for quick product development and prototyping. Today ArteCad offers products with exceptional added value, notably in the area of jewellery.

The company is being bought by its current top executives, Philippe Hubbard and Christophe Gouthier, Managing Director and Technical Director respectively.

Philippe Hubbard, 33, holds an engineering degree from the Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures in Paris. He began his career at TAG Heuer in 1996 as Industrial Project Manager. Later he was the driving force behind the construction of TAG Heuer SA’s new manufacturing site in Chaux de Fonds, Switzerland, and assumed the top position at ArteCad upon its acquisition in 2000.

Christophe Gouthier, 36, is an acknowledged expert in the field of watch and chronograph dials. He played an active role in establishing hand application on the production line at Comtec, and served as Manufacturing Director at Stern Appliques and later Stern Manufacture. Subsequently he was part of funding team of Cadrans Design and was Manufacturing Director there as well. In July 2002 he joined ArteCad, where he is responsible for Technical Management.

Fully recapitalized and debt-free, ArteCad is on a solid financial footing and boasts renowned expertise that will ensure promising growth throughout the Swiss watchmaking industry. As an independent firm, ArteCad will be able to expand its client portfolio beyond TAG Heuer SA and the LVMH Group.

Says Jean-Christophe Babin, President and CEO of TAG Heuer SA, “I am proud of the remarkable rise in ArteCad's fortunes in such a short time (four years). We are selling the company to people who have demonstrated their talent as entrepreneurs. They have fully mastered the complex and delicate task of designing and manufacturing high-end dials, and I am confident that they will offer innovative products of the highest quality to their future clients. TAG Heuer SA will continue to be a trading partner with ArteCad, not as a shareholder but rather as one client among many."

“Christophe Gouthier and I would like to thank the management of TAG Heuer SA for demonstrating their confidence in us by supporting our project”, says Philippe Hubbard. “We are fortunate to be building on a healthy, solid base: our experienced teams have mastered every aspect of dial making expertise, our manufacturing plant is one of the most modern in Switzerland, and our financial security is guaranteed for several years. We would also like to thank the Berne Economic Development Agency, which drew on its network of partners to help us finance our plans for future investment. We now enjoy complete commercial independence. Our goal is to provide the most prestigious names in the watchmaking industry with innovative technical solutions, accelerated development and manufacturing timeframes, and high-quality performance that meets the industry's most demanding specifications.


Source: TAG Heuer/ArteCad Press Release

Contact: [email protected],
philippe.hubbard @artecad.ch


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