Luxury Brand Management and Heritage Revival: Case Studies from the Swiss Watch Industry

by Pierre-Yves Donzé, Harry Guhl

Overview

Pierre-Yves Donzé and Harry Guhl analyze the strategies used to relaunch luxury brands, focusing on 11 case studies from the Swiss watch industry including Patek Philippe, Hublot and Breguet.

This perceptive study reveals the role of heritage in successful luxury brand management, showcasing how it has been strategically employed to revive brands in three ways: relaunching vanished brands; recovery of declining brands; and leveraging heritage to launch completely new brands. Tracking the history and growth of this influential market from its transformation into a luxury industry to the impact of the Apple Watch, the authors provide statistical overviews and explore topics such as the importance of heritage, the legal protection of trademarks and the success and failure of certain brand revivals.
Bringing industry expertise as well as an academic perspective, the authors offer both a practical and critical insight into this lucrative global industry, making this book an invaluable tool for students and professionals interested in the strategies used to build, market and manage luxury brands.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781350545328
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	01/08/2026
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Pierre-Yves Donzé is Professor of Business History at Osaka University, Japan, and a visiting professor at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland and EM Normandie Business School, France. He is the author of numerous books, edited volumes and academic articles published in English, French, Italian and Japanese.

Harry Guhl is an expert in seed funding strategy and market positioning for horological start-ups. In the last twenty years, he has revived numerous watchmaking names. He has been an art gallery owner, a global head of VIP relations at Art Basel and an art consultant for Rolls-Royce Motorcars.

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Bringing Luxury Sleeping Beauties Back to Life
The Objectives of Reawakening Brands
The Importance of Heritage for Brand Management
Conclusion

2. Brand Management in the Watch Industry
Proto-brands in the Preindustrial Era
The Legal Protection of Trademarks
The Birth of Global Brands
Global Luxury Brands
Conclusion

3. The Revival of Vanished Brands
Case 1: The First Mover: Blancpain
Case 2: The Failed Reawakening of Léon Hatot
Case 3: German Brands from Glashütte
Conclusion

4. Brands Revival in the Reovery of Declining Firms
Case 4: Patek Philippe
Case 5: Making Chopard a Jewelry Brand
Case 6: Revival Based on a Concept: Hublot
Case 7: Failed Attempts to Relaunch Sleeping Beauties: Corum and Ebel
Conclusion

5: Creating New Brands from Heritage
Case 8: Breguet
Case 9: British Watch Masters
Case 10: JeanRichard
Case 11: Heritage Brands with a Technical Foundation: Czapek, Lowenthal and Pouzait
Conclusion

Conclusion

Editorial Reviews

Luxury Brand Management and Heritage Revival by Pierre-Yves Donze and Harry Guhl is a meticulously researched book about a critically important problem not only in wristwatches but luxury brands in general - how do you successfully revitalize a "sleeping beauty" and avoid the strategic mistakes that some brands have made? Donze and Guhl are marvelously adept at mining business history to describe case studies of not only successes in brand revitalization but also failures. The result is a tour(billon) de force!” —Rohit Deshpande, Harvard Business School, USA

“An excellent and innovative contribution to the study of luxury brand management. Donzé and Guhl's text is a richly rewarding exploration of heritage revival from Blancpain to Breguet, based upon much hitherto untapped material from the Swiss luxury watch industry.” —Professor John Armitage, University of Southampton, UK

“There has never been a book like this before in area of branding scholarship! Donzé and Guhl take us on a journey of manufacturing, technology and the revival of Swiss watch innovations. A must-have reader!” —Dr. Joseph H. Hancock II, Drexel University, USA

“From forgotten names to global icons, this book demystifies the complex process of brand revival in the luxury watch industry with real-world examples and actionable insights-offering valuable inspiration for other sectors in the luxury market.” —B. Ellie Jin, North Carolina State University, USA

From the Publisher