Ebel, once one of the most successful and top-selling Swiss watch brands, which has fallen into relative obscurity under the ownership of Movado Group, is being sold to a consortium of high-profile buyers, including François-Paul Journe and Chanel, who plan to revive the Ebel marque with hopes of returning it to its former glory.
Vintage Ebel chronographs. Photo courtesy of Phillips; credit: James Kong.
Movado Group, Inc. says it entered into a binding agreement to sell a 95% interest in the Ebel brand for $66.5 million to a strategic buyer group led by Geneva-based Montres Journe SA, with the participation of French luxury house Chanel and Pierre Jacques, a long-time industry executive.
Jacques, who previously headed De Bethune for more than a decade, will take over as CEO of Ebel while Movado, with shares publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange, which purchased the brand from LVMH in 2004, will retain a 5% stake in the business when the deal is completed, the parties said in a statement.
The agreement underscores the growing business interest in reviving faded luxury Swiss watch brands once revered by watch consumers. Breitling paid more than CHF 60 million to acquire the Universal Genève brand and archives and relaunched it as a high-end luxury marque earlier this year. Ebel was once a major player in the industry, thriving during the quartz crisis era of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s under Pierre-Alain Blum, a third-generation leader of the family-owned business with a knack for clever marketing and au courant designs. Perhaps best known for its ‘Wave bracelet’ introduced on the Sport Classique model, Ebel was among the five largest Swiss watch manufacturers and produced its own quartz movements and components. It made watches for Cartier during the era, and at its peak, Ebel had more than 500 employees at its Swiss manufacture.
Don Johnson wearing his Ebel in the 1980s. Photo courtesy of LuxuryWatches635.
The brand’s profile surged in the 1980s with Miami Vice lead Don Johnson playing Detective James ‘Sonny’ Crockett in the Michael Mann-produced television series and wearing an Ebel 1911 chronograph with an El Primero (Zenith) movement. The watch is now a neo-vintage classic and has been touted by high-profile collectors, including Alfredo Paramico, who sold much of his Ebel collection through a themed auction at Phillips in 2024.
Ebel was founded in 1911 and was under family ownership until financial pressures related to other business ventures forced Blum to sell the brand in 1994 to the Bahrain private equity group Investcorp. LVMH bought Ebel in 1999 amid a series of watch sector acquisitions that included TAG Heuer and Zenith, which had previously supplied automatic movements to Ebel for its chronographs before the El Primero was used by Rolex in the Daytona model.
Under its successive owners following the Blum family sale, Ebel struggled to achieve the sales levels it had enjoyed under private family ownership.
An Ebel Sports Classic Chronograph that sold for CHF 17,145 at Phillips in 2024. Image courtesy of Phillips.
The companies and executives provided few details on their plans for the Ebel brand under new ownership. A spokesman for F.P. Journe, the independent brand that has seen valuations for its timepieces soar at auction and on the secondary market, declined to comment beyond statements made in the press release.
“Like Michelangelo and so many others after him: the product, the product, the product. Ebel has always stood for exceptional product, and I am delighted to contribute to its next chapter alongside my friends and partners,” François-Paul Journe said in the statement.
From left: François-Paul Journe, Movado CEO Efraim Grinberg, President of Chanel fine watches and jewelry Frédéric Grangié, and former De Bethune CEO Pierre Jacques. Image Credit: Pierre Jacques’ Instagram
Chanel owns a 20% stake in F.P. Journe and has been an active investor in Swiss watchmaking, snapping up stakes in Raymond Gauthier, Max Büsser & Friends, Tudor-controlled movement maker Kenissi, and Kross Studios. The move to acquire Ebel with Journe and Jacques underscores the French luxury house’s commitment to becoming a bigger player in the sector.
“Ebel is one of the great names of Swiss watchmaking, with a rich heritage, a distinctive creative identity and a strong foundation for future growth. This investment reflects our confidence in the brand’s long-term potential and our commitment to supporting its development while preserving the craftsmanship, excellence and values that have defined Ebel for generations,” Frédéric Grangié, President of Chanel Fine Watches and Jewelry, said.
An Ebel Worldtimer. Image Courtesy Phillips Credit Tim Vaux.
Movado said that under the proposed deal, trademarks, other intellectual property, inventory, and certain other assets primarily dedicated to the Ebel business, including the Villa Turque, a historic modernist house designed by architect Le Corbusier in La Chaux-de-Fonds, will be transferred to a newly formed Swiss subsidiary of the Movado Group. Certain personnel within Movado Group dedicated to the Ebel business will become employees of the new Swiss subsidiary, it said.
Closing of the deal is expected “in the next few months,” Movado said, and at that time, 95% of the equity interest in the new Ebel subsidiary will be transferred to the buyer group.
Hero Image Photo courtesy Antikauktion Krefeld.
