LVMH: Stéphane Bianchi, head of Watches & Jewellery division, to oversee Bulgari too

By

Dominique Muret

Translated by
Nicola Mira

Published
Nov 3, 2021

Stéphane Bianchi’s rise within LVMH continues. Bianchi’s remit has broadened now that a major name like Bulgari has become part of the luxury group’s Watches & Jewellery division, which includes almost all of LVMH’s luxury watches and fine jewellery brands. Bianchi now oversees Bulgari in addition to Chaumet, Fred, Tag Heuer, Hublot and Zenith.

“The addition of a superb house like Bulgari is a major stage in the development of [Bianchi’s] career,” the group stated in a press release, announcing “the appointment of Stéphane Bianchi as president of the Watches & Jewellery division and as a member of the executive committee of LVMH.”

Bianchi’s appointment also signals “a rationalization in the group's structure, bringing together the businesses of the Watches & Jewellery division under the same leadership,” said LVMH, specifying that each brand will continue to be managed individually, while the group will frame their activities “within a hard luxury strategy, encouraging knowledge and resource sharing in order to accelerate progress.”

The CEO of Bulgari, Jean-Christophe Babin, will remain in his role, but he now reports to Stéphane Bianchi and not to Group Managing Director Toni Belloni as before. US jewellery brand Tiffany & Co., which was recently acquired by the French luxury giant, will instead continue to be run separately, outside the Watches & Jewellery division.

Stéphane Bianchi joined LVMH in 2018 to take charge of the group’s watch brands. He personally headed Tag Heuer, a role he handed over last July to Frédéric Arnault, Bernard Arnault’s fourth son, while also overseeing Hublot and Zenith. Two years later, he was appointed head of the entire division, adding French brands Chaumet and Fred to his remit.

A graduate of the Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Paris, Bianchi started out as a consultant at Arthur Andersen. He spent most of his career with the Yves Rocher group, especially at childrenswear label Petit Bateau, of which he was CEO from 2005 to 2009, and Yves Rocher, of which he was the CEO between 1998 and 2015. Bianchi is also a member of the board of directors of Swiss group Maus Frères.