Franco COLOGNI

Senior Executive Director, Richemont International

Franco Cologni has been with Cartier since 1969. In 1973 he founded Cartier Italia and became member of the Executive Committee in Paris, under the Chairmanship of Alain Dominique Perrin. In 1981 he was appointed General Director of Cartier International and in 1986 became Deputy-Chairman. In 1990 François Mitterand nominated him "Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Mérite". In 1995 he was President of Indicam (Institute for the fight against counterfeiting) and promoted the setting up of the Fondazione Cologni delle Arti e dei Mestieri, a non profit association encouraging arts and crafts. Since 1993 he has been a member of the Executive Committee of the Vendôme Luxury Group. With his help the Vendôme group carried out its first strategic acquisition in Italy, taking over Officine Panerai in 1997 and Cologni played an active role in developing the brand. At the end of 1999 the Vendôme Luxury Group was incorporated into the parent company Richemont (listed on the Zurich Stock Exchange). In February 1999 Cologni was nominated "Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts des Lettres" and since June 2002 has been a Cavaliere del Lavoro in Italy. At present he is a Director of the Compagnia Financière Richemont A.G. and Senior Executive Director of Richemont SA, with the role of President of the Communications and Products Strategy Committee. He is Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Cartier International, Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Inter-professional Show of High Quality Watches and of the Inter-professional High Quality Watches Association, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Cartier Art Magazine. He is furthermore Chairman of Vacheron Constantin Geneva and Officine Panerai.