Hebe

Skeletonised brand HEBE falls into administration

Swiss mechanical watch brand HEBE (Horology Elaborated by Experts) has gone into liquidation following a failure of negotiations between the company and its potential investors.

Nicholas Monge, marketing manager at the brand, informed WatchPro that on Tuesday November 27 the decision was taken to liquidate the company, with the contracts of all its workers terminated and the company placed under the administration of a civil judge.

Monge said: “I am obviously very sad in regards to this situation; not only for myself but my workmates, our clients and business partners.

“We are going through extremely tough economic times and small firms like HEBE Watch SA are not protected against the risks of markets slowdown.”

He added, however, that the HEBE brand still exists as such, and is part of the assets of the company meaning it can be bought during the sale of the assets.

The HEBE brand was founded in 1901 in Switzerland and became known for its skeletonised watches, but was badly affected by the rise in quartz movements in the 1970s. In 2011 it was taken over by new investors with “the mission of replacing the brand on the highest level”.

It said in April this year that it planned to push into the global watch market in 2012, having received encouraging feedback from consumers and retailers after appearing at BaselWorld in March.

 

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