Jörg G. Bucherer, owner, chairman and patriarch of Bucherer since taking the reins in 1977, has died at the age of 87.
Mr Bucherer’s father, Carl Eduard, passed control of the 135-year-old family business to his son during the 1970s.
His leadership for over half a century saw Bucherer become one of the dominant luxury watch and jewellery retailers across Switzerland, Germany, France, Scandinavia, the UK and the United States.
Bucherer’s family relationships with Rolex executives were vital to this growth; underpinning expansion into Austria in the 1980s, and then Germany 10 years later.
In Switzerland, Bucherer acquired the Kurz Group in 1989, and Swiss Lion AG in 2001.
In recent years, executive leadership of Bucherer Group had been transitioning to Guido Zumbühl, who was promoted to CEO in 2009.
In 2013, Bucherer celebrated its 125th anniversary and opened the world’s largest watch and jewellery store in Paris.
Four more boutiques in London, including The Wonder Room luxury watch space within Selfridges, were added to the company portfolio with the acquisition of The Watch Gallery in 2017.
The acquisition not only bought a stake in the UK market, it also accelerated Bucherer’s push into ecommerce thanks to The Watch Gallery’s leadership in online sales at the time.
The following year Bucherer took over American luxury watch retailer Tourneau, with 28 stores across the US.
Again, there was a fringe benefit to the purchase beyond the physical locations because Tourneau was an established player in the pre-owned watch space, to the extent that its sales of second hand watches were ranked second only to Rolex in America.
Mr Bucherer’s final act was seen as a way of securing the historic Swiss company’s legacy, and to keep it under Swiss control. He sold the business to Rolex.
He passed away without an heir, and becoming part of Rolex’s family trust, the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, was deemed to be a suitable way to secure his legacy and guarantee a successful future for Bucherer.
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