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FC Group Bought By Citizen

3K views 40 replies 29 participants last post by  KAW 
#1 ·
This just out, Frederique Constant Group bought by Citizen...

Frederique Constant Group bought by Citizen | WatchPro
Another semi-indepenendent swallowed up. Doubt this will be well received by fans of the brand (FC, Alpina). A shame, there's a certain caché and purity associated with standing alone. Will be interesting to watch and see if/how the brands change as a result.
 
#3 ·
I'm actually happy to see them now under the umbrella of a much bigger company, instead of being a niche and living on the edge of uncertainty. I'm guessing Citizen will keep Arnold & Sons as their flagship brand? and try to push FC as their mainstream volume brand? I don't know where Graham is going though
 
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#7 ·
Peter and his wife will remain with the FC Group, which will seem business as usual. However, time will tell if this was a good move.
 
#16 ·
At no time, ever, did acquisition of a great product by a large corporation improve the product. The focus of large corporations is necessarily maximum profits.

Too bad, my Alpina is a lovely watch and I will never part with it. Maybe it's time to go find that Alpiner panda chrono I'd thought about.
 
#14 ·
I am a big Alpina fan.
I am excited to see what happens next. With no family successor to take over, there had to be some sort of deal for the brands to live on.
Citizen will give them access to huge resources, distribution and marketing in particular. I think they'll the designs be the original brand personality but allow them to expand in the way FC-Alpina never could before.
 
#20 ·
Genuinely hope it'll work out for Alpina. See this sort of stuff happening all the itme, and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Kinda sucks because I always thought Alpina's biggest selling point was their "little engine that could" mentality, and an independance which seemed pretty refreshing. Hopefully the new resources they get access to just helps grow the brand, and doesn't shake up the core products or dilute the overt "Swiss-ness" of the brand.
 
#25 ·
Doubt it.

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#28 ·
Kind of bummed. I've been thinking of adding an Alpina to the watch box. I'm a very big fan of independent brands. Something gets lost when they are swallowed up by a Swatch or Richemont or whoever. Yes sometimes the movements, fit , finish all get better but to me they just seem soulless.


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#29 · (Edited)
Sometimes companies fall by the wayside through acquisition, sometimes they improve, sometimes they stay relatively unchanged. I've seen all 3 scenarios play out quite a number of times. All anybody has so far with this situation is guessing. I personally am now more interested in the brand (and taking them more seriously) than I ever was.
 
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