Compagnie Financière Richemont SA is a Swiss luxury goods company that was founded in 1988 by the South African billionaire businessman, Anton Rupert. It has four main business areas: jewellery, watches, writing instruments and clothing. The company is listed on the Swiss Exchange (ticker: CFR). It is the eighth biggest company in the SMI (Swiss Market Index). As of 2004, it is the second-largest luxury goods company in the world by turnover; behind LVMH and just ahead of Pinault-Printemps-Redoute. A luxury good is a good at the highest end of the market in terms of quality and price. ... 1988 is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Anton Edward Rupert (4 October 1916 _ ) is an Afrikaner-South African billionaire entrepreneur, businessman and conservationist. ... SWX Swiss Exchange is Switzerlands stock exchange. ... Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (usually shortened to LVMH) is the worlds largest luxury goods company. ... Pinault-Printemps-Redoute or PPR is a French multinational holding company specializing in retail shops and luxury brands. ...

Companies

Principal companies in the group are:

• Cartier SA - jewellery, watches, etc.
• Van Cleef & Arpels - jewellery, watches, etc.
• Piaget - jewellery, watches
• Vacheron Constantin - watches
• A. Lange & Söhne - watches
• Jaeger-LeCoultre - watches
• Officine Panerai - watches
• International Watch Co - watches
• Baume et Mercier - watches
• Montblanc - pen manufacturer
• Alfred Dunhill
• Lancel
• Chloé
• Old England
• James Purdey & Sons
• Montegrappa - Italian pen manufacturer

All companies, except Old England SA, are fully owned subsidiaries. In addition to the above companies, Richemont has an 18.5% (as at September, 2005) investment in British American Tobacco; about 40% of the Richemont balance sheet is BAT ordinary shares. Cartier SA is a jeweler and watch manufacturer that is a subsidiary of Compagnie Financière Richemont SA. Famed for its Panthère Collection, especially the infamous Bestiary - including the famous brooch of the 1940s made for Wallace Simpson and the first practical wristwatch the Santos. It is one of... One of the most stylish jewellery dealers of the 20th Century. ... Piaget SA is a jeweller and watch manufacturer based in La Côte-aux-Fées, Switzerland. ... Vacheron Constantin is a swiss watch manufacturer. ... A. Lange & Söhne is a German watchmaking company founded in 1845 by Ferdinand Adolph Lange in the village of Glashütte, near Dresden in Saxony. ... Jaeger-LeCoultre is a watch and clock manufacturer based in Le Sentier (in Le Chenit), Switzerland. ... 1860 Giovanni Panerai (1825-1897), founder of the family business, opens the first watchmakers shop in Florence on the Ponte alle Grazie and establishes contact with the most prestigious and longest established Swiss watch manufacturers. ... International Watch Co, also known as IWC, is a watch manufacturer based in Schaffhausen, Switzerland IWC is a watch connoiseurs brand for several reasons. ... Baume et Mercier is a Swiss watchmaking company founded in 1830. ... Montblanc is a German manufacturer of fine pens often identified by their famous “White Star (peak) logo. ... Italian manufacturer of fine writing instruments, founded in 1912. ... British American Tobacco (BAT) is the second largest cigarette company in the world. ...

Former companies

• Hackett - Richemont acquired Hackett in 1992. It was announced in early June 2005 that Richemont had sold Hackett to Torreal, a Spanish investment company.

Hackett is a gentlemens clothing store with branches around the world. ... 1992 was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ...

External links

• Richemont corporate website