Luxury watchmaker Richemont has reportedly inked a deal to buy mechanical watch movements from Swatch Group from 2020, according to Reuters.
The news organisation did not quote officials from either company but said that “sources close to the matter” confirmed the agreement yesterday.
The report gave few details, but noted that Swatch’s obligation to supply movements to rival watchmakers is due to end in 2019.
Swatch Group supplies most of the Swiss watch industry with movements from its ETA manufacturing facility, including Richemont which makes watches under brands including Cartier, IWC and Piaget.
Luxury goods specialist Richemont released a trading update last week in which it revealed that sales for its last fiscal quarter, to the end of December 2016, increased 5% at constant exchange rates and 6% at actual exchange rates compared to the same period last year.
Growth was driven by jewellery across most regions and watches in the retail channel.
