Corum has made some major mistakes over the years and has taken steps to rectify them. But, as its new CEO Jerome Biard said, it has also learned from its past mistakes. The company’s sales have been slow since the previous CEO Davide Traxler took over in 2006. Now, with the help of technology, the brand is looking forward to a brighter future. However, he is not alone.
The company survived the quartz crisis and remained independent. It was famous for its coin watches and Admiral’s Cup timepieces. In 2000, it was purchased by Holocaust survivor Severin Wunderman, who was also a Gucci watch license holder. The company was then sold to Hong Kong’s Citychamp Watch & Jewellery Group, which also owned the Eterna brand.
While the Chinese conglomerate that acquired the company was keen to make Corum more global, its management did not want to go down the same route. The firm’s execs acted swiftly and hired Biard, a former Girard-Perregaux international sales director and the CEO of Lifestyle Products International. This new leadership did much to rein in the pretense and excesses of the previous management.
