Representative of the third generation at the head of the Lucerne family business, the businessman died Monday evening at the age of 87. Its jewelry and watch chain passed into the hands of Rolex this summer.
Bucherer boss Jörg Bucherer died shortly after the sale of his jewelry and watch chain to Rolex. The 87-year-old died on Monday evening, the group said on Tuesday, in response to a question from the AWP press agency, confirming an article in the “Handelszeitung”.
Mr. Bucherer represented the third generation at the helm of the Lucerne family business. He took over his father’s business in 1977 and pursued a policy of expansion, first in Austria and Germany. He opened the world’s largest watch and jewelry store in Paris, made acquisitions in Great Britain and the United States and established himself in New York. He also launched into the second-hand luxury watch business.
Today, the brand has more than a hundred specialized jewelry stores around the world and has 2,400 employees, according to the group. The headquarters on Schwanenplatz in Lucerne is also a tourist attraction, benefiting from tourist buses stopping in front of the store. During the global pandemic, Bucherer was hit hard by the tourism crisis and had to cut jobs.
Very discreet and having no direct descendants, Mr. Bucherer sold the company to Rolex in August 2023. He was the last businessman to personally know its founder, Hans Wilsdorf, and to work with him. Bucherer has been selling its products since 1924 and Rolex, still unknown at the time, became the main partner of the family business.
