Thursday, February 16, 2012

Former Hublot Exec to Lead U.S. Expansion for Girard-Perregaux

Michael Margolis
 Updated, 12:04 p.m.

Luxury Swiss watch brand, Girard-Perregaux, named Michael Margolis president of America for Sowind (which owns Girard-Perregaux and watch brand JeanRichard), effective March 1.

Margolis will join Michele Sofisti, CEO of Sowind and Stefano Macaluso, Girard-Perregaux managing director, to oversee the U.S. expansion strategy for the watch brand.

Born in the U.S., Margolis graduated with a double major in Latin American Studies and Foreign Languages from the University of Connecticut. Proficient in English, Spanish, Portuguese and German, he began a sales career at Crest Reprographics and later moved to Nikon. His passion for luxury timepieces began when he served as TimeZone.com moderator from 1996 till 2007. It was during this time that Hublot CEO, Jean-Claude Biver, hired him as U.S. sales director.

“Mike is a remarkable individual, with true passion for the craft,” Sofisti said. “We are very glad to have him on board to lead the U.S. team into this new phase of the brand.”

“I am very excited and honored to join an iconic brand like Girard-Perregaux”, Margolis said. “I have admired the brand and its heritage from afar for many years and greatly look forward to being a part of the team.”