Stern under group control

In 1996, Orior Holding SA acquired all of the shares in Stern Créations and its subsidiaries.

The value of the transaction is estimated at 45 - 47 million Swiss Francs. The balance sheet published by Stern Créations in the Commercial Register of Geneva for 1996 was almost 50 million, which would indeed bear out the purchase price. The takeover included 260 employees.

The advantage of the 1981 restructuring operation was that the same people and employees were retained within the company. Stern Créations thus continued to benefit from their expertise in their respective fields of activity, whilst safeguarding the Stern family philosophy and business culture. André Colard's efforts were vital in this respect. They undeniably helped to preserve the company's historical, human and cultural values, which continued to be upheld following the company's acquisition by Orior SA.

The new owners of the company had no involvement or experience in the watchmaking sector. The buyers were, therefore, soon confronted with the complexities of the dial-maker's profession, realizing that the maison needed a manager with in-depth knowledge of the field. Despite this handicap, every endeavour was made to protect Stern's reputation and image as a traditional, leading high-end manufacturer. In one of the company's reports published in 1977, I came across these words by Maxime Manera, managing director at the time:

"We are virtually the only ones to manufacture jewellery dials with ornamental or semi-precious gemstones... "

He was referring to the fact that Stern produced hundreds of thousands of dials a year, a few of which were set with jewels and manufactured in limited series of a maximum of 20 pieces.

"We remain artisanal in our approach, although our industrial process is characteristic of what is going on in the luxury industry: it offers a very high added value; the knowledge of the mind that inhabits the hand that gives shape to the object. Our personnel are supremely specialised. Although age-old techniques form the basis of our skills, modernity is evident in our use of digital machinery and our access to the very latest technologies."

In late June 2000, Stern Créations was acquired by the Richemont Group. Highly active in the luxury industry, the group had a solid basis in the watchmaking world, in particular, and already owned brands such as Cartier, Vacheron Constantin, A. Lange & Söhne, Piaget, Jaeger LeCoultre and Panerai.

The new owner, known for its skills in the takeover and management of traditional brands, embarked on a restructuring exercise that incorporated the subcontracting companies already in its possession. It thus embarked on a redistribution of Stern's various departments and the significant task of transferring their knowhow to other units. In doing so, it brought a legendary entrepreneurial history to an end.

During the seventeen years following the acquisition, four or five different directors took the helm. Naturally, many customers of Stern Créations terminated their agreements, neither wishing to divulge their trade secrets to a competitor, nor to share projects protected by intellectual property rights, such as prototypes or special dials.

The number of outside orders thus gradually diminished, although Rolex continued ordering for some of its ranges for another ten years. It was a nice demonstration of loyalty, especially knowing that in the year 2000 Rolex was procuring its supplies from Stern's life-long competitor, the Beyeler factory.