Macaluso to repeat as president of AIHH Luigi Macaluso, President of Girard-Perregaux and the Sowind Group, has been appointed to another three-year term as president of the Association Interprofessionnelle de la Haute Horlogerie (AIHH).

The renewal of the mandate was confirmed during the General Assembly of the Association, which recently took place in Reims, France. At the meeting four new historical brands of the Swiss watchmaking industry were officially welcomed: Corum, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, and Zenith. They join other members Audemars Piguet, Baume & Mercier, Cartier, Ebel, Girard-Perregaux, Piaget and Vacheron Constantin, increasing the AIHH to 11 prestigious watch brands and 200 selective watch and jewelry retailers. This “exclusive club” alone accounts for almost 40% of the global turnover of watches from the high-end and prestigious segments of the market. The AIHH was founded to promote worldiwide, the quality of the products services associated with haute horlogerie.

During the meeting export figures were showing continued growth in the luxury watch sector despite the slowing global economy. In 2000, watchmaking exports represented approximately $5.213 in sales. The export value of the turnover (sales to the end consumer) is estimated to be nearly $14 billion.

At the end of the first five months of 2001, the watch sector showed a growth of approximately 7.6% (from 2.16 billion in 2000 to 2.327 billion in 2001). However, the total number of timepieces exported during the same period fell 9% (from 11 836 000 pieces in 2000 to 10 780 000 pieces in 2001).

JCK