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| Nayla Hayek |
Swatch Group Ltd. said Friday that Nayla Hayek, chairwoman of the Swiss holding company and daughter of the company’s founder Nicolas Hayek, has been named CEO of Harry Winston, Inc., effective immediately.
This change in leadership was first noted in early April when it was reported that the luxury brand’s former CEO, Frédéric de Narp, quietly left the company and Hayek assumed his role. She had already been nominated chairwoman of Harry Winston when the company was acquired by Swatch Group in March from former its owner, now named Dominion Diamond Corp., for $750 million plus the assumption of up to $250 million of pro forma net debt.
The luxury diamond jeweler and timepiece retailer has salons in key locations throughout the world—including New York, Paris, London, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo and Beverly Hills.
The brand’s namesake, Harry Winston (March 1, 1896 – December 28, 1978) founded the luxury retail company in 1932. He was among the most famous jewelers in the world and the first jeweler to lend jewels to an actress for the Oscars red carpet in 1944. He was also well-known for donating the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.
The Swatch Group, based in Biel, Switzerland, is active in the manufacture and sale of finished watches, jewelry, watch movements and components. It is the world’s largest watchmaking group and supplies nearly all the components required for the watches sold by its 19 individual brands and the multi-brand Tourbillon retail company.
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