HOUSE OF ROLEX AND CHANEL

By getting closer to the Rolex group, the Franco-British luxury group Chanel is taking a stake in the company Kenissi. A terse piece of information within the watchmaking profession, for a small earthquake in the Swiss watch industry. Although it may seem insignificant, this announcement takes on its full meaning when you know that Kenissi is the industrial arm of Tudor, the second brand in the Rolex group. This news is the result of a merger between two of the most important independent players in the global luxury industry.

Chanel continues to strengthen its position as a player in the prestige watch industry by taking a stake in this new Swiss manufacturer of automatic movements, and so the Wertheimers, without giving any figures or details, are getting up to speed.

Kenissi is a name that means almpost nothing for Beotians. It is in fact the Gemini project, as it was nicknamed by its initiators in the greatest secrecy, which will see the birth of a factory of about 150 meters long divided in two parts. One for Tudor, the other for Kenissi. The former vice-president of Breitling Jean-Paul Girardin will be in charge of the management of the factory and, more broadly, of Kenissi.

Chanel’s announcement suggests that Kenissi does not intend to stop there. And in the future, it could offer its mechanical movement to several different players in the watch industry. In Switzerland, watchmaking is always in tune, and from the needle to the seam Chanel jumps the gun.

FM