KOREASCHOLAR

The Swiss watchmaker Vacheron Constantin, based in the watchmaking industry’s capital, Geneva, was founded in 1755 by Jean-Marc Vacheron and continued its development ever since. Vacheron Constantin produced and distributed high-end watches for luxury-attached customers. Their vocation was to offer unique, sentimental watches, designed by master-watchmakers and in the famous Swiss tradition of watchmaking. The firm attached the highest importance to the satisfaction of its customers on both aesthetics and precision, with a price-range which started in 2017 around fifteen thousand dollars and went up to several millions. Since its creation, the company was called a monument of the watchmaking industry and this led the Richemont Group to acquire the company, which was established in more than 400 points of sale scattered in 80 countries, in 1996. In 2017, Vacheron Constantin offered six different collections, after more than 250 years of activity. This research case discusses the implementation of Vacheron Constantin in the competitive watchmaking industry in Switzerland and in the world through (a) a large heritage of technical know-how, recognized worldwide for its extreme precision, (b) a 250-year old relationship with its customer-base and a loyalty developed through the particularities of the brand and (c) several innovations in sustainability for the firm that justified its reputation as one of the best watchmakers of history.

• Ashok SOM(ESSEC Business School, France)