Both Bédats leave Bedat & Co.

William George Shuster, JCK Senior Editor -- JCK Online, 10/18/2006 2:50:00 PM

Both founders of Bedat & Co., the Swiss luxury watch company, have now resigned from the company. The resignation of Simone Bédat, who had been chairman of its board since its founding, is effective this week. It was confirmed to JCK on Wednesday by a spokesperson for the Gucci Group N.V., which owns the watch company.

The resignation of her son Christian, who was creative director and chief executive officer, had already been announced by the Gucci Group earlier Wednesday, but the resignation of his mother was not.

Bedat & Co. was founded in 1996 by Simone Bédat, who earlier was a founding partner of Raymond Weil SA, another luxury Swiss watch brand, and by her son, Christian. Gucci acquired Bedat & Co. in December 2000, expanding its own luxury watch business and strengthening Bedat & Co’s position in the world luxury watch business.

The departure of both Bédats follows other changes in the Gucci Group’s watch operations this year. On June 30, it integrated its Gucci Group Watches division into its Gucci brand division. That prompted the announced departure (when his contract ends this year) of watch industry veteran Jacques-Philippe Auriol, who was the watch division’s CEO and oversaw the repositioning of Gucci as a luxury watch brand.