Just three months after securing the distributorship of Victorinox Swiss Army watches in Australia, Lion Brands has taken on the local distributorship of timepieces from its sister-company, Wenger, as well.
Lion Brands founder Graeme Goldman said its latest acquisition would allow its retail partners to “build a sizeable and profitable business around the sale of Wenger watches, to both local consumers as well as to international tourists”.
“Wenger perfectly complements our current suite of brands, which allow our retail partners to profit from all price segments of the watch market,” he said.
“The Wenger collection includes casual watches for everyday life and sports watches with specific features as well as ladies’ watches with a more fashionable approach.
“Worn by professionals in extreme conditions as well as by discerning consumers during work or leisure, the Wenger timepiece collection is worthy of the Wenger Swiss Cross emblem that has stood as a benchmark for quality, functionality and precision engineering for over 120 years.”
Wenger (founded in 1893) and Victorinox (founded in 1890) have both been pocket knife suppliers to the Swiss Army since 1901.
In the early 20th century, the Swiss government decided to provide half of its orders to a company from the French-speaking part of Switzerland (Wenger) and the other half to a company from the German-speaking region of the country (Victorinox).
This allows Wenger to state its Swiss Army Knives are “genuine” while Victorinox can lay claim to being the “original”.
Lion Brands portfolio now also includes Alfex, Claude Bernard, Eberhard & Co, Edox, Kubik Geneve and Luminox.