Tiffany-Swatch legal battle spirals

Posted March 20, 2012 | By Aaron Weinman

Global retailer, Tiffany & Co, launched a counterclaim against the Swatch Group in the aftermath of the pair’s botched watch division.

The counterclaim comes after Swatch terminated its cooperation contracts with Tiffany last September because of Tiffany’s alleged “efforts to block and delay development” of Swatch’s Tiffany Watch Co, founded in 2008 to produce Tiffany & Co branded watches.

Breaking its silence, the renowned jeweller revealed both sides are in the middle of a confidential arbitration procedure initiated by Swatch after Tiffany filed a $587 million counterclaim to Swatch’s initial $4.1 billion claim made last December.

In its counterclaim the company said Swatch failed to provide appropriate management, distribution, marketing and other resources for the brand, while the two accuse each other of loss of future earnings.

As previously reported by Jeweller, Swatch accused Tiffany of breaching the license and development agreements by obstructing and delaying development of the former watch business.

In a company statement Tiffany said the watchmaker’s claim was “without merit and believes a Swatch victory is highly unlikely.

“If Swatch’s claims were accepted on their merits, the damages cannot be reasonably estimated at this time,” a Tiffany company statement said. “This could have a material adverse effect on financial statements or liquidity.

The arbitration hearing is scheduled for October.

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