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The address, along the beautiful Rue du Rhône in Geneva, the city’s luxury shopping street, is, as they say, “iconic”: at number 49 the La Bavaria brasserie had been open since 1912, loved by those who frequented the League of Nations, organization founded in the Swiss city in 1920 and precursor of the United Nations, therefore ministers, heads of state, journalists. Its appearance remained unchanged after the renovation in 1942, and for some years it has been protected as a historic building by the Geneva administration. Even Ian Fleming in “Goldfinger” has James Bond stop by his tables to enjoy a beer. The news is that today that same address is the home of an unprecedented formula, which sees a watchmaking brand meet the world of catering, with the “FPJourne Le Restaurant”.
Born (with an investment that seems to be around one and a half million Swiss francs) from the meeting between the master watchmaker François-Paul Journe, one of the best known and loved names in independent watchmaking, as well as a passionate foodie, and the chef Dominique Gauthier (chef for 30 years at Le Chat-Botté, the starred Geneva institution of the Beau-Rivage hotel), is located a few steps from the brand’s boutique, whose style pervades the place: in fact, François himself is responsible for the furnishings. Paul Journe, who wanted to give the restaurant a strong watchmaking identity, with walls adorned with posters representing the technical drawings of the movements, tables bearing the names of famous watchmakers such as Jost Bürgi, AL Breguet, Antide Janvier and Christiaan Huygens and menus which refer to the brand’s models. Even the cutlery is inspired by the world of hands, and on the menu cover the brand motto “Invenit et Fecit” (he found and made) becomes “Invenit et Coxit” (he found and made). In the foreground, in the center of the restaurant, stands a 17th century astronomical clock signed “Giovanni Brugell Venetia”.
In reality, contact between more lifestyle consumption models and brands in the “hard luxury” segment, in which the luxury industry traditionally collects watches and jewellery, had already occurred with the first two Breitling Cafés, opened by the brand controlled by the fund CVC Capital Partners in Geneva and London, followed by Breitling Kitchen, a “branded” restaurant inaugurated in 2022 in Seoul together with the new boutique.
Remaining in hard luxury, another investment concerns Boucheron, a historic jewelery maison belonging to the Kering group: it recently took over a high jewelery laboratory not far from its headquarters at 26 Place Vendome in Paris, made up of four companies , Blondeau, Belter, Chanson and FG Développement, founded in 2017 by Cédric Gangemi, a young entrepreneur and jeweler himself, and which involves around 60 artisans including Cad designers, lapidaries, assemblers and cleaners. The investment, the company announced in a note, will be able to guarantee the satisfaction of the increase in demand for the most precious creations.
Kering’s most recent financial data, relating to the first half of 2023, highlighted double-digit growth in the jewelery brands (in addition to Boucheron, Pomellato, DoDo and Qeelin are also part of it), within the “other brands” division (in which Alexander McQueen and Balenciaga appear) which recorded revenues of 1.86 billion euros, down 5% compared to the same period in 2022.