Buccellati CEO Nicolas Luchsinger Is Doubling Down on Heritage in China

Betting on growing consumer interest in branded jewellery, Buccellati chief executive Nicolas Luchsinger and descendants of the house founder are taking the historic Milanese jeweller’s retrospective to Shanghai this month.

Luchsinger spoke to The Business of Fashion ahead of the exhibit “The Prince of Goldsmiths: Buccellati Rediscovering the Classics,” which runs from Dec. 7 to Jan. 5.

Like other storied jewellery maisons including Cartier and Tiffany & Co. that are flocking to the city with elaborate brand displays and client events aimed at raising their profiles with Chinese clients, the exhibit of smaller label Buccellati explores its craft and 106-year history.

Appointed CEO in April last year, Luchsinger succeeded Gianluca Brozzetti, who had overseen integration of the house into the Richemont group. Richemont purchased Buccellati in 2019 from Chinese conglomerate Gangtai Group, adding it to its stable of brands that includes Cartier and Jaeger-LeCoultre.

Luchsinger cut his teeth on the retail floor at another Richemont label, Van Cleef & Arpels, in both the US and Asia, eventually becoming president of the brand in the latter region. After over 30 years in the business — including nearly a decade at Christie’s — Luchsinger currently sees “huge potential” in Asia and the US. Sales associates are key to business, in his view.

At Buccellati, six descendants of the founder who work for the house also play important roles.

There are three each from the third and fourth generations, in managerial roles including creative director, head of communications and specialist sales and VIP clients. The family connection is a “huge asset,” bringing authenticity to events like workshop tours, for example, Luchsinger says.

“They always add a personal touch — explaining the why and how behind a technique,” and often knowing the workers — even on a first-name basis, Luchsinger said.

“A lot of products today are based on very strong storytelling,” he added.

Jewellery has been one of the bright spots in the current luxury downturn. Global demand for high-end goods has been weighed down by a property crisis in key market China, though some local jewellery brands, notably Laopu Gold, are gaining steam.

Conglomerate Richemont has outperformed European peers, with sales for the six months to the end of September up 10 percent to €10.6 billion ($12.3 billion), driven by its four jewellery maisons: Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Buccellati and Vhernier. The company does not break out sales by brand.

High jewellery in particular has performed well, thanks to deep-pocketed clients who are more immune to economic uncertainty, according to Bernstein’s luxury analyst Luca Solca.

“I don’t think that high-end clients are perturbed by political uncertainty, tariffs or the gold price,” said Solca, who notes that when it comes to high jewellery, it’s a product’s beauty and long-term appeal that drive purchases.

“High jewellery is about unique, rare pieces, where stones tend to prevail,” Solca said.

Buccellati produces high jewellery collections once every two years, rather than annually, due to limited production capacity at its high jewellery atelier in Milan, according to Luchsinger.

The collections are usually around 35 to 40 pieces, with a small capsule collection for off years. The next high jewellery collection comes in 2026, while over the summer this year, Buccellati presented three bejewelled bags, a design first created by house founder Mario Buccellati in the 1920s.

The original bags were showcased at the brand’s Venice Biennale exhibition last year, generating positive visitor and client feedback that prompted the house to create the capsule collection.

Erwan Rambourg, global head of consumer and retail research at HSBC, said Luchsinger is an industry veteran with “great discipline and great knowledge of jewellery” and sees Buccellati as a good fit for the Richemont group, complementing styles of larger labels Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels.

The analyst estimates annual Buccellati sales at around €300 million, compared to around €50 million in 2017.

Branded jewellery is taking increasing market share in a sector that remains very fragmented, Rambourg said.

The shift towards branded jewellery, with rising gold prices adding to its attractiveness, is the biggest change Luchsinger has seen in his career.

“When I started, a signed piece of jewellery — by Van Cleef, Cartier, Bulgari or Buccellati for example — had only a little add-on value, like 20 to 30 percent. Today, it’s like 400 to 500 percent more,” Luchsinger said.

Design icons are key when it comes to branded luxury jewellery. Buccellati is known for its bestselling Macri collection, priced from £2,500–£45,000 ($3,333-$60,000). It features a hand-engraved Rigato technique with a wavy, embellished finish. Jewels are topped with diamond-set star-shaped rosettes and tiny gold beads.

The collection was first designed in the 1970s by Gianmaria Buccellati, son of the founder, and named after his daughter Maria Cristina, who, as a teenager, visited the workshop in the afternoons. Too young to wear the bracelet at the time, her father promised she could have it when she was older, and, in the meantime, named the design after her.

“Macri was the nickname my father gave me,” said Maria Cristina Buccellati, currently head of communications at the brand. She was given the bracelet when she turned 18 and the family extended the collection to other pieces.

Global jewellery sales are set to grow in the high single digits in the coming months, according to Rambourg, who recently upgraded Richemont and LVMH, citing optimism for a rebound next year. The luxury sector will be helped by “more palatable price points,” for shoppers after a period of price hikes, especially for fashion and leather goods, and “lots of creativity” from industry-wide designer changes. New styles will likely drive foot traffic to stores starting early next year, Rambourg predicts.

Buccellati will also showcase silverware at the Shanghai exhibit. The label’s decorative silver tableware and animal figures have been a focus of VIP events in Cortina and St Moritz, as well as an immersive display during Milan’s Salone del Mobile design fair. Over five days in April, the nature-themed exhibition welcomed over 10,000 visitors.

The challenge is to find the right balance, says Luchsinger.

“It’s always about exactly how to push and develop Buccellati — finding good opportunities while respecting the tradition and the family identity,” he said. “Bringing it to the next level.”