Sowind Group - Unexpected Death of Luigi Macaluso
WORLDTEMPUS - 28 October 2010
Luigi Macaluso, affectionately called Gino by those who knew him, led a multicultural life and can lay claim to having successfully resuscitated the Girard-Perregaux brand, integrating it into a group and making it a major independent player in the haute horlogerie scene.
Having been a successful rally driver and obtaining a degree in architecture - a sure sign of the Italian national's good taste - Macaluso, born in 1948, took a job with Omega's new Italian subsidiary in 1975. In 1982, he founded his own company, Tradema, and became a watch wholesaler in Italy for brands as reputed Breitling. One of the brands he sold through Tradema was Girard-Perregaux, and it wasn't long before he was offered shares in the Swiss brand. A few short years later, the entire company was proposed to him, and thus it came about that he went to La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1992 to polish up a grand old name as its owner.
Macaluso had a place of residence in Switzerland's third largest French-speaking city, but he always retained an apartment in Turin and a farm in Tuscany.
Macaluso's systematic acquisition of property around the main Girard-Perregaux factory building located on Place Girardet made it possible to cleanly separate production workshops, representation space, and management offices for his group's two watch brands Girard-Perregaux and JeanRichard from each other while keeping them connected by short pathways. Villa JeanRichard and its museum for tools and tooling machines is located just a few steps away from the Girard-Perregaux Museum within Villa Marguerite, and in between them the main factory and manufacturing buildings pretty much take up the rest of the block. Acquisition of suppliers for case and bracelet manufacture and the consistent quest for quality in Girard-Perregaux's own four manufacture movements combined with prestigious strategic alliances such as Ferrari and the BMW Oracle returned Girard-Perregaux to its former status. This was aided by the creation and continuation of historical delicacies such as the Three Golden Bridges Tourbillon and the Laureato line.
Macaluso's two sons (he is also survived by two daughters) joined his company close to a decade ago. Massimo (who also raced cars like his father) is currently president of JeanRichard, while Stefano (who studied architecture in Turin) became vice-president of Girard-Perregaux a few years ago.
Macaluso sold 23 percent of the Sowind Group's capital to PPR in 2008. PPR owns such prestigious brands as Gucci, Boucheron, and Bedat. Boucheron's prestigious jewelry designs are powered exclusively by Girard-Perregaux's manufacture movements.
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