It was surely only a question of time: After the emergency declared by the Swiss government has come into effect today, 17th March 2020, it is now slowly becoming apparent what concrete consequences this will have for the Swiss watch industry.
Rolex CEO Jean-Frédéric Dufour wrote a letter to the workforce yesterday to announce the move. Production is scheduled to close today, March 17th at 5 p.m, initially until March 27th. Only those jobs that are operationally absolutely necessary to secure the company’s future are to remain open. At the same time, Dufour calls on all employees to follow the instructions of the Swiss and French governments to the letter.
The LVMH Group, which includes watch brands such as Bulgari, Hublot, TAG Heuer and Zenth, has also taken a far-reaching decision in response to the situation: since March 16th, all the Group’s perfume factories have been producing disinfectant gel, and making it available free of charge to the French health system to prevent a bottleneck in availability.
The Richemont Group had already closed the doors of its production sites to outsiders a few days ago, in order to protect its employees. The next steps will have to be awaited here and at the Swatch Group, however we will of course keep you informed in this situation.
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