Romain Jerome watches launched in 2004, but it surely made its greatest splash in 2006 coming to prominence with a foundational collection of Titanic DNA watches below CEO Yvan Arpa, a well-known Swiss watch designer who had beforehand served as Managing Director for Hublot. But, although they had been distinct for his or her recognisable and culturally related luxurious Swiss watches, it lastly declared bankruptcy on Friday 28th February 2020, after buyers Alliance Funding Group SA, its majority shareholder, declined to proceed supporting the corporate financially with instant impact.
Although no causes had been cited, its arduous to think about that majority shareholder Alliance Funding Group SA didn’t think about the damaging (and doubtlessly lengthy lasting impact) of the coronavirus on international retail gross sales, however the impact casts pale pallor throughout the watchmaking business nonetheless.
In October 2019, its present CEO Marco Tedeschi had simply obtained a glowing profile lauding his profitable management on Enterprise Insider. Additionally hailing from Hublot the place he was Regional Director, Tedeschi joined Romain Jerome in 2018 and rapidly rebranded the corporate into RJ. The then 32 yr previous was among the many youngest watch model CEOs on the time.
Underneath Tedeschi, RJ launched a brand new collection of watches, increasing the model’s ongoing pop cultural watchmaking philosophy kickstarted in the course of the auspices of Arpa’s controversial “DNA” idea, having literal supplies that belong to the historical past truly inside the watch, just like the rusted hull of the Titanic and for his or her Moon Orbiter collection, metal from the Apollo 11 shuttle. It was this “controversy” that invited commentary from Forbes on whether or not these “collaborations” had been explotative. Tedeschi pivoted and drew inspiration from different beloved icons of popular culture like superheroes of DC Comics or Marvel like Batman and Spider-Man, leaning into the online game collection that his predecessor Manuel Emch started with characters like Tremendous Mario, House Invaders and Pac-Man.
RJ Watches at its peak
The winner of a number of watch design awards, Manuel Emch was gifted with appreciable expertise within the subject of establishing and consolidating model identification; Emech was headed Jaquet Droz earlier than changing into the CEO of RJ Watches since January 2010. Emch stepped down late 2017 to hitch the Board of Administrators the place he continued to drive the general technique of the model. Underneath him, Romain Jerome had arguably its most profitable period commercially with cutesy but culturally related collaborations with Whats up Kitty and Pokemon. Although RJ was by no means a significant watchmaker, producing CHF 20 million income at its peak – the model generated vital PR worth from its out-of-this-world watchmaking philosophy and kitschy advertising campaigns.
By the point Tedeschi joined Romain Jerome S.A., it was already thought of a sinking ship. Pivoting to hip initials and leaning into chronographs whereas doubling down on its superhero collection which included a $US15,700 restricted version timepiece impressed by Batman’s archnemesis, the Joker as seen by business commentators as “too little too late”.
The instant cessation of funding from Alliance Funding Group SA closes any chance of buying the model to a different purchaser and the appliance for bankruptcy cuts 33 jobs consequently, ending the journey of one the watch manufacturers which sprouted in the course of the heady 2nd golden age of watchmaking within the early 2000s.