When MB&F was launched by founder Maximilian Büsser in 2005 it heralded not just a completely different type of watch brand from a design perspective, an ethos which has continued but also morphed from being radical in visible to less visible ways, but also brought to light, for many, how many people it takes to create a new watch, by the naming of the ‘friends’ in the eponymous ‘F’.

It is no small feat for independent watch brands to not just break through and survive for two decades, but to do so with financial success, and for those who have followed the course of MB&F and have met/ spoken to/ known Büsser, the latest news that Chanel has acquired a 25 per cent stake in MB&F will come both as a surprise and yet at the same time, not.

The ‘not’ part of this is that he has proven himself to be astute and smart in terms of the brand’s positioning, development, and marketing. The diversification into ‘side things’ not just in terms of clocks, but also like the M.A.D. Gallery, which started in Geneva but has since expanded worldwide into a retail arm which stocks high-end unusual objets that appeal to those of a (horological) mechanical bent, is also evidence of this.

Exactly how well is MB&F doing? In 2023 it had revenues of CHF 45.4M, with production of 419 watches under the MB&F banner.

One of the smart (and perhaps as unexpected as the Chanel news) things it has done in recent years was the creation, in 2021, of a secondary considerably less expensive line called M.A.D. Editions, whose initial launch was oversubscribed to quite extraordinary levels, leading to changes in distribution for subsequent editions. It currently makes approximately 3,500 pieces per annum.

If there was going to be any external ‘big party’ investment in MB&F, it was probably going to be from Chanel. Why so? Chanel may have started its own watchmaking arm 1987 intending to focus on its own-branded timepieces, whose popularity and commercial success in and of itself (this century) has been remarkable, but it has been slowly seeing its watchmaking arm take form. This latest investment is yet another smart move by Chanel’s watchmaking division.

In the 1990s it acquired G&F Châtelain Manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds (1993) and invested in Bell & Ross (1998), but its acquisition of a minority stake in Romain Gauthier’s eponymous brand in 2011 came as a surprise. It was unexpected but seen by many observers of independent brands as also a smart business move by Gauthier in terms of the financial stability that comes with this sort of backing. The concern at the time was whether it would be a hands-off investment.

Chanel further solidified its foray into independent brands in 2018, becoming a minority shareholder in the cult high-end brand F.P. Journe which has, like Romain Gauthier, also remained independently run.

Alongside this, in 2019 Chanel became part owner of Tudor-founded movement manufacturer Kenissi which supplies movements of a number of brands.

This new investment by Chanel into MB&F is, as it was with Romain Gauthier and F.P. Journe, also to do with looking at long term stability for a high-end independent brand.

Maximilian Büsser retains a majority (60%) share, his partner Serge Kriknoff (Head of R&D & Production), has 15 per cent. Management team-wise, Charris Yadigaroglou (Head of Marketing Communications) and Thibault Verdonckt (Head of Sales) are unchanged.

Chanel is a privately held company owned by brothers Gérard and Alain Wertheimer, and the current President of Chanel Watches and Fine Jewellery is Frédéric Grangié.

For those interested in this sort of thing, the ‘investment management arm’ of the Wertheimers is Mousse Partners, a division of Mousse Investments, which oversees the diverse global portfolio which includes Chanel Limited.

Categories: Chanel, Industry news, MB&F