Bucherer acquires American jewelry store Leeds & Son in the Coachella Valley

By

Dominique Muret

Translated by
Cassidy STEPHENS

Published
Oct 20, 2022

Bucherer is expanding in the United States, a fast-growing market for the very high-end sector. The Swiss group specializing in the distribution of jewelry and luxury watches, which operates a flagship store of 2,500 square meters in the Opéra Garnier district of Paris, has acquired the Californian watch and jewelry retailer Leeds & Son, located in the El Paeso district of Palm Desert, near Palm Spring in the Coachella Valley. This acquisition brings the total number of its stores in the United States to 34.
 

This acquisition, of which the amount was not disclosed, comes after the acquisition in early 2018 of Tourneau, the largest luxury watches retailer in the United States, with which the Swiss company merged to operate in this market.

An operation that was closely followed by the acquisition, in the summer of 2018, of Baron & Leeds. A luxury watches and jewelry retailer created in 2002, that manages two Rolex stores, one in the South Coast Plaza mall, in Costa Mesa, California, and the other in the International Market Place shopping center in Honolulu, as well as two multi-brand boutiques in Hawaii.

Leeds & Son was founded in 1947 by Edward and Eleanore Weiner, and has become a well-known address for high-end watch and jewelry enthusiasts. The company, which distributes Rolex, Patek Philippe and Messika among others, has expanded its offer under the aegis of son Terry Weiner and daughter Riki Stein, who have taken over the management since 1981.
 
This will allow Bucherer to strengthen its presence on the West Coast by expanding its relationships with California customers. "The Leeds & Son team has worked hard to maintain the loyalty of their community and we look forward to building on that momentum. In 2018, we acquired Baron & Leeds in Costa Mesa and Hawaii, and we couldn't be happier with the success of these boutiques," notes Ira Melnitsky, Tourneau's CEO and president of Bucherer USA.
 
Founded in 1888 by Carl-Friedrich Bucherer, the Lucerne-based company, which had also acquired British luxury watch distributor The Watch Gallery in 2017, is still in the hands of the founding family. It markets its own collections through its Carl F. Bucherer house, as well as other renowned brands. It has 2,000 employees and 38 stores in Europe (16 in Switzerland, 13 in Germany, one in Vienna, one in Paris, one in Copenhagen and six in London), plus 34 outlets in the United States.