Business News: RJ-Romain Jerome Declares Bankruptcy
RJ Watches, better known as Romain Jerome, has just gone bankrupt. Announced almost exactly a month after De Grisogono met the same fate, the bankruptcy of RJ Watches SA is the consequence of its majority shareholder, a company controlled by a member of the Saudi royal family, deciding to “stop investing in the company”. Though RJ was never a major watchmaker – its peak revenue was around 20 million Swiss francs – the brand was often in the headlines thanks to its shrewd and occasionally ridiculous marketing. Founded in 2004 and named after the two sons of its founder, Alain Bajulaz, RJ started out making mechanical golf-counter watches, but swiftly took a drastic new direction after Yvan Arpa was appointed chief executive in 2006. By then owned by the Saudi investor, RJ enjoyed a brief period of turbocharged, and in hindsight unsustainable, growth under Mr Arpa. A former Hublot manager, Mr Arpa was a fervent marketer of the most preposterous ideas that were somehow weirdly compelling. Amongst his creations were the rusty-looking Titanic DNA watches and timepieces sprinkled with actual Moon dust. Perhaps the masterpiece was a rusty-Titanic double tourbillon that had no hands and did not tell the time. The 2008 collaboration between Romain Jerome and Cabestan producing the Titanic DNA tourbillon – and now both brands are no more The case has a stabilised and protected rusty-look finish Mr Arpa and the company parted ways in 2009 amidst a lawsuit, and he went o...
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