David Coleridge, chairman of Bucherer UK, has announced he will retire at the end of this year.
He will remain on the board of the UK operation as a non-executive director.
Adrian Maronneau, who joined the business in 2007 as a watch and jewellery buyer, and has been joint-managing director for the past year, will take over the day-to-day running of Bucherer UK as managing director.
Richard Clement, who became joint managing director at the same time as Mr Maronneau, will take the title of executive director, responsible for sales, and reporting to Mr Maronneau.
The pair have effectively been running the business for the past year under the guidance and support of Mr Coleridge.
After 20 years working for Richemont-owned brands, Mr Coleridge founded DM London, which became The Watch Gallery, in 2006.
The Watch Gallery was an early pioneer in ecommerce for luxury watches, and Mr Coleridge was a vocal advocate for Swiss watchmakers opening up their businesses to the opportunities of online retail.
But its greatest impact came within Selfridges London, where DM London ran The Wonder Room luxury watch space on the ground floor of the iconic department store.
An attempt to replicate that success at Selfridges in Manchester did not perform as well and was shelved, with the business re-focusing on Central London locations.
Now under the Bucherer name, stores today include multibrand boutiques in Westfield in West London and Covent Garden, and Europe’s largest monobrand Rolex store in Knightsbridge.
The Watch Gallery was bought for an undisclosed sum by Bucherer in 2017, with Mr Coleridge staying on to ensure the continuity of the operation while planning for the next generation to take over.
In a statement shared with WatchPro today, Guido Zumbuehl, CEO of Bucherer, says: “We would like to take this opportunity to thank David for his great, long term commitment and we look forward to welcoming him on the Board of Directors of Bucherer Ltd UK.”
