WT_2009_03: PROFILE: MIGUEL RODRIGUEZ

PROFILEMiguel Rodriguezof Citizen Miyota quartz movements, doing inthe cradle of Switzerland’s high horology,home to, besides Breguet, Jaeger-LeCoultre,Audemars Piguet, Blancpain, Daniel Rothand other prestigious mechanical watchmarques?The answer is that he was adding a majornew mechanical-watch wing to hisquartz-watch empire. Within weeks, Rodriguezquietly — he does everything quietly— acquired DTH S.A. (Dubois TechniqueHorlogère), a producer of mechanical partsand movements in Le Sentier, the home townof Jaeger-LeCoultre. “I saw that mechanicalcomponents were not available to everybodyand I wanted to break into that market,” he toldme later. “DTH had the ability to make escapements.”His goal, he said, was to be able to build hisown movement. “Escapements were the key.” Anotherpart of DTH’s appeal was that it had access to hairsprings,a key component of the escapement, through DTH’s sistercompany, Astral Technologie Sàrl, located in Porrentruy,Switzerland. “The key to making your own movement,” Rodriguezsays, “is the escapement and hairspring. Once you havethem, the rest is easy.” (DTH recently was renamed MHVJ[Manufacture Horlogère Vallée de Joux]).Since then, Rodriguez has quietly emerged as a new power inthe mechanical watch and movement sector. In 2004, he acquiredthe Perrelet brand. With Perrelet and three dormantbrands he already owned (L. Leroy, Joseph Chevalier, andBerney-Blondeau), he created Holding Hispano Helvetique deHaute Horlogerie, known as the H5 Groupe, based in Bienne.(The Hispano in the H5 name is a reference to Rodriguez’sSpanish heritage and Barcelona headquarters.)Last year he expanded his foothold in mechanical movementmanufacturing. In August, Rodriguez’s Festina Lotus Grouptook complete ownership (it had been a minority shareholder)of Switzerland’s SFT Holding S.A. (Société Holding de Financeset de Technologie), the parent company of Soprod S.A. Soprodhas two facilities. In Les Reussilles, it develops and makes modulesfor ETA-based mechanical movements. In Sion, the company(formerly called Intec S.A.) makes movement parts and performswhat the Swiss call T0, T1, and T2, the pre-assembly andassembly of mechanical movements. It also produces quartzwatch parts and finished, high-end quartz movements there.SFT has a third company, Imm Ineltec Sàrl in Maîche, France,which specializes in cutting and milling bridges and other smallmechanical movement parts.“The goal,” Rodriguez says, “is to build an industrial base.”The SFT/Soprod acquisition was a giant step toward that. TodayRodriquez has an impressive watch portfolio: He owns fivecompanies that manufacture mechanical watch componentsand movements, which he has reorganized in a new holdingcompany called H1 Holding (see sidebar). He will in the near futurelaunch the group’s first manufacture movement, using it toPerrelet, acquired in 2004, markedRodriguez’s entrance into the hautehorlogerie segment of the market.MOVIN’ ON UPIn the past five years, Miguel Rodriguez hasadded two mechanical watch wings onhis Barcelona-based Festina Lotus Group.The group now has three pillars:MID-RANGE WATCHES / FESTINA GROUP:FestinaJaguarCandinoLotusCalypsoHAUTE HORLOGERIE WATCHES / H5 GROUPE:PerreletL. Leroy**Relaunch expected in 2010MECHANICAL MOVEMENT MANUFACTURING /H1 HOLDING:MHVJAstralSoprod SionSoprod Les ReussilesImm Immeltec66 WatchTime June 2009