Not so long ago, Richemont might have been described as the awkward Swiss cousin of the big French luxury groups: despite its portfolio of A-list brands like Cartier, Van Cleef and Vacheron Constantin, the group was strategically frustrating (regularly diverting cash and management focus to its non-core e-commerce arm Yoox Net-a-Porter) and operationally opaque (succession plans for chairman Johann Rupert were unclear, while brand CEOs and his deputies at the group-level were discouraged from speaking to the press).

But in recent years the group — which reports six-month earnings Friday — has been on a roll.
- Shares are up 20 percent year-to-date.
- Shares are up 120 percent overthe five years since 2020’s coronavirus lockdowns (compared to +38 percent for LVMH or-48 percent for Kering). Its market cap is hovering around €100 billion.
- Sales have continued to climb even as the broader luxury sector entered a downturn over the past two
years: up 8 percent at constant currency for FY24, 4 percent in FY25.