Business News: Corum Watch Brand Back In Swiss Hands After Management Buyout

Corum, the watch brand known for its “Golden Bridge” and coin watch models, has been sold in a management buyout that will return the brand to Swiss ownership. A group of managers and investors led by Corum’s International Sales Director, Haso Mehmedovic, struck a deal to buy the 70-year-old brand based in La-Chaux-de-Fonds from Citychamp Watch & Jewellery Group Limited (a Hong Kong-listed company that has owned Corum since 2013).

Mehmedovic, a trained watchmaker who has risen up the ranks at Corum for about 15 years, will become the new company’s CEO and chairman. The company plans to relaunch its brand in mid-2026. The new CEO is the majority shareholder in the venture, and his partners are two Swiss investors with expertise in the finance and luxury sectors, he said.

The historic brand, once known for cutting-edge designs and high horology innovation, plans to develop a new sales and marketing strategy under the new Swiss management group with hopes of restoring Corum to its former position among high-end brands, Mehmedovic said in an interview. The 32-year-old said he intends to surprise with new products when Corum relaunches. The sale comes after declining sales and financial losses, according to Citychamp filings with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, indicating the former owners were losing confidence in the brand.

Founded in La-Chaux-de-Fonds in 1955, Corum watches gained prominence through unique designs, case shapes, and movement construction. Among its well-known models are the Golden Bridge featuring a linear movement viewed through an open case, the Bubble that has a massive magnifying crystal, and the Admiral that indicates tides, moon phases, and tidal currents. The brand’s Coin Watch, housed in a $20 U.S. money piece, has been worn by a slew of U.S. presidents from Nixon to Reagan to Clinton and by the artist and pop culture icon Andy Warhol. The Corum brand once made a watch that featured the grill of a Rolls-Royce covering the dial.

The new owners say they plan to return the brand to its roots of “creativity and innovation.” They will reinforce distribution while consolidating key markets in Japan, the Middle East, and the U.S. The company currently produces about 3,000 watches a year, a fraction of its former production.

Citychamp paid about CHF 86 million to buy Corum in 2013 while assuming millions more in related debt, according to Swiss newspaper Le Temps. The Hong Kong listed company, that also owns the Eterna brand, and Dreyfuss Group watch assets, said in its most recent annual report that Corum, Eterna, and the Dreyfuss Group contributed revenue after tax was 155 million Hong Kong dollars in 2024 or about $20 million, a sharp decline from 218 million Hong Kong dollars in 2023. The watch assets posted a financial loss of about 90 million Hong Kong dollars in 2024, or about $11.5 million.

Citychamp said that Corum was impacted by the double digit percentage declines in Swiss watch exports to China and Hong Kong in 2024 but also faced challenges due to “its slow reaction to meet evolving consumer demand. Clients increasingly favored novelties over older collections, so old pieces have to be sold at a higher discount,” the company said in its annual report.

According to the filing, the company cut costs and streamlined operations in response to declining sales and losses while focusing on the production of fewer, more expensive timepieces.

For more information about Corum, click here.

​Hodinkee 

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