Caplan buys Daniel Mink watch company

By JCK Online Staff

Posted on February 23, 2005

Daniel Mink Swiss Timepieces has been purchased by Mitchell Caplan, its current president, from The Montreux Group of Switzerland. The announcement was made Feb. 18. Details of the deal weren’t released.

The new company is called Daniel Mink S.A. It will move its Swiss headquarters from Zurich to Geneva. It will continue to produce Daniel Mink watches, and Caplan will continue as president, said the announcement.

Caplan has led the company for seven years. He said there is a “Swiss partner” which will provide additional resources, enabling the brand to “expand beyond current levels.” More details should be presented later.

The new Swiss address is Daniel Mink S.A., 5c, route des Jeunes, Case postale 1541, CH-1221, Geneva 26, Switzerland.

The U.S. address and telephone remains the same: Daniel Mink, 560 Main St. Suite 2A, Allenhurst, N.J. 07711; (732) 663-9550, www.danielmink.com.

The Montreux Group acquired the 29-year-old Daniel Mink watch brand in 1998. Under Caplan’s direction, it saw significant changes including product redesign, new displays and packaging, increased marketing (including co-op), and price changes that took it into the luxury-watch segment. The Swiss-made line also increased its focus on mechanical timepieces (to a ratio of 75 percent mechanical and 25 percent quartz) and expanded its product line from two collections to several, offering certified chronometers, chronographs, complications like moonphases and fly-backs, skeleton models, ultrathin watches, and fashion-forward watches for women.