Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. MELB Luxe, Owner of H. Moser & Cie, Takes a Stake in Complication Specialist Agenhor
A strategic partnership reinforcing the strength of both entities.
MELB Luxe, owner of H. Moser & Cie, and Agenhor SA, have just announced that both companies were strengthening their partnership. Indeed, MELB Luxe takes a minority stake in the Geneva-bases complicated movement maker. Edouard Meylan, owner of MELB Luxe and CEO of H. Moser & Cie., is joining the board of directors of Agenhor SA.
MELB Luxe is the parent company of the Meylan family and was created to build a group of independent brands. After Hautlence, MELB holding acquired H. Moser & Cie. and its sister company Precision Engineering AG that is specialized in the development and manufacture of high-quality escapement components and hairsprings (2012).
Founded in 1996 by Jean-Marc Wiederrecht, Agenhor (Atelier GENevois d’HORlogerie) is an independent watchmaking company based in Geneva and specialized in the conception of complication movements and modules such as retrograde or astronomical indications. Among other creations, Agenhor is known for their remarkable Agengraphe, a revolutionary central display chronograph first used by Fabergé, Singer Reimagined and Moser. Agenhor was also responsible for the development of the display module in Hautlence’s latest creation.
In the words of Nicolas Wiederrecht, co-owner of Agenhor SA with his brother Laurent, “The vibrancy of H. Moser & Cie. is remarkable. After many years of exciting collaboration between our two companies, and in a successful period of development, we are convinced that the alliance of H. Moser & Cie. and Agenhor SA and the complementary nature of our brands will boost creativity on both sides. The independence of Agenhor SA is guaranteed. We will continue to serve our existing and prospective customers with our continuous close attention, while maintaining the same respect for confidentiality. Our new-found stability is further ensured by this strategic alliance.”
For Edouard Meylan, “This acquisition will allow us to go further and work on new movements for H. Moser & Cie. and for Hautlence. As the vast majority remains in the hands of the Wiederrecht family, Agenhor SA is free to develop and can count on the support of the Meylan family if needed. We guarantee them financial security and access to the regulating organs of Precision Engineering AG, while we secure our supply of strategic modules and movements. This is a win-win situation for all of us.”
For more information, please visit www.agenhor.ch and www.h-moser.com
1 response
Great news for the Wiederrecht brothers and hopefully for independent watchmaking too. It’s worth watching this development in the long run. Agenhor SA has developed a reputation as an mark of luxury. I look forward to seeing Agenhor’s movements in more independent watches and it is vital for the health of the industry that the supply of high grade third party movements continues to expand.
I don’t want to go back to the 2000s when great movements like the Frederic Piguet 1185 disappeared from the third party market and became Manufacture BS. Let’s remember the glut of otherwise nice 15,000 USD chronographs that used “modified” ETA movements with “custom rotors” because there were no high grade thirty party movements available. Third party movements improve the quality and desirability of the independent watches that land up on our wrists. The Agengraphe has been a key part of why watches like the Moser Streamliner Chronograph and Ming 20.01 truly delight collectors. A future where Moser restricts supplies of the movement to legacy customers and in-house brands is not something we want to see.