News Founded a quarter of a century ago by André Le Marquand and his wife, the eponymous Swiss manufacturer has undergone a change of ownership with the retirement of its founders. The new owner is the fledgling company Master Timekeeper MTK SA, controlled by Cédric Le Marquand, who becomes its proprietor. The founder’s son is seeking to make Le Marquand a luxury brand. A new automatic mechanical line of fly-back chronometers with a diameter of 45 mm, and a smaller model (41 mm) with large date and power reserve indicator, are currently in the pipeline.
Like many middle-of-the-range watch manufacturers, Le Marquand suffered from the collapse of Middle Eastern markets after 11 September 2001. These difficulties and the departure of the founders led Cédric Le Marquand to take over his parents’ shares in the company and create an entirely new company, whose only link with the old one is the factory in Bulle.
A brilliant designer (his work includes the Spaceman in the New York’s Museum of Modern Art and the famous Sidewatch range), André Le Marquand will continue to design timepieces for MTK.
The first task of MTK was to rebuild its distribution network in the Middle East. This work is now complete following an agreement signed with the leading distributor of watch products covering ten countries in the region. The United States also beckon, through the intermediary of a local partner who wishes to expand MTK’s activities on American territory.
The new image of Le Marquand involves abandoning a segment in which the competition is very strong. New models for men will feature automatic mechanical movements, or complications, with quartz being the preserve of "ladies" models.
April 26, 2005