Luxury watch platform Groupe Chaumont launches with acquisition of two Swiss watchmaking startups

Swiss watchmaking startups Efteor and Télôs Watch have been acquired by private equity operator Vam Investments alongside established companies Le Composant and Henri Robert – marking the official launch of Groupe Chaumont.

Groupe Chaumont is a new industrial platform headquartered in Neuchâtel and focused on producing movements, cases, tools, and components for high-end Swiss watches. The entrepreneurs behind the four acquired companies are reinvesting alongside Vam and becoming shareholders in Groupe Chaumont, while continuing to manage their respective businesses.

“The high-end watchmaking market requires components of absolute quality and precision. Against this backdrop, Groupe Chaumont aims to be an industrial partner capable of bringing together, under a single Swiss banner, the finest savoir-faire – from cases to movements, from cutting tools to the development of complications.

“Our ambition is to build an industrial group where outstanding companies, deeply rooted in the Swiss Made tradition and led by talented entrepreneurs, can share their experience, expertise and resources. Together, we will build the leading platform dedicated to components for high-end watchmaking”, says Umberto Macchi di Cellere, CEO of Groupe Chaumont. (Translated)

Founded in 2013 in Milan by Marco Piana, Vam Investments specialises in buyout investments and buy-and-build strategies, particularly in fragmented industries where several specialist businesses can be brought together under a shared platform.

Over the past five years, it has invested more than €600 million in mid-market companies. Its portfolio includes Everest Group, Gym Nation Italia, Etjca, and Gruppo Florence.

The acquisition gives Groupe Chaumont an immediate presence across several stages of watch component production. Its combined capabilities include conceptualisation, technical development, machining, finishing, tooling, movement development, and the manufacture of components using precious metals.

Founded in 2011 by Léonis Tafaj, Efteor is based in Bassecourt, in Switzerland’s Canton of Jura. The startup produces limited-series watch cases and clasps made from precious metals for the ultra-luxury watchmaking industry. It employs 55 people, most of whom are specialist craftspeople.

Télôs Watch was founded in 2009 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, in the Canton of Neuchâtel, by Franck Orny and Johnny Girardin. The startup develops watch movements and complications, overseeing the creative and technical process from initial development to the production of limited-series components and timepieces.

The two startups are joined by Le Composant, another Bassecourt-based business associated with Tafaj. Established in 1988, Le Composant manufactures rotor weights and bracelets made from precious metals for high-end and ultra-high-end watch brands.

The fourth acquired company, Henri Robert, is a micromechanics specialist based in La Chaux-de-Fonds. The company has operated in the region since the 1960s and was acquired and developed during the 2010s by Laurent Ryser and Thibault Richard. It produces high-precision cutting tools used to machine watch components.

Together, the four businesses give Groupe Chaumont a portfolio spanning cases, clasps, bracelets, rotor weights, movements, complications, and specialised manufacturing tools. Each company will retain its operational autonomy while working within the group’s wider industrial and commercial strategy.

Léonis Tafaj (Efteor and Le Composant), speaking on behalf of Franck Orny, Johnny Girardin (Télôs Watch), and Thibault Richard and Laurent Ryser (Henri Robert), commented: “We are proud to be the founding companies of this initiative. We strongly believe in the project and in the value of collaboration. The opportunity to combine our expertise and experience while continuing to provide our customers with the highest standards of quality, reliability and innovation represents an outstanding growth opportunity.

“We look forward to welcoming new partners to Groupe Chaumont as we continue to expand the range of products and services offered by the Group.”

Vam’s acquisition strategy is intended to address the demand among watchmaking maisons for suppliers that can provide specialist expertise while also offering greater capacity, traceability, and operational continuity.

Rather than combining the businesses into a single operating company, Groupe Chaumont is being structured around shared resources, collaboration, and the exchange of technical knowledge.

The ownership structure is a central part of the acquisition model. By reinvesting and becoming shareholders in Groupe Chaumont, the entrepreneurs remain financially involved in the platform’s future development. They will also continue leading their companies, maintaining the specialist expertise and customer relationships established before the acquisitions.

Groupe Chaumont will be led by Macchi di Cellere, a former Managing Director of Bulgari Watches who has also served as head of sales for the Bulgari Group and CEO of the Tod’s Group.

“With the Chaumont Group, we are entering a sector that is strategic for the competitiveness of Swiss Haute Horlogerie, by bringing together entrepreneurs who share a clear industrial vision and a strong commitment to this consolidation project, and who are prepared to reinvest part of their profits into the Group as a whole and to become shareholders.

“We are convinced that this is the winning model to support the best possible development of their companies, within a collaborative framework and with the support of a professional management team capable of maximising their strengths and expertise,” adds Marco Piana, Managing Partner at Vam Investments. (Translated)

Following the initial four acquisitions, Groupe Chaumont plans to add further specialist businesses and broaden the products and services it can provide to high-end watchmaking brands.