May Garland

Sowind Group, the parent company of independent luxury watch brands Girard-Perregaux and Ulysse Nardin, has been recognised by Deloitte Private as one of Switzerland’s Best Managed Companies for the third consecutive year. The latest recognition follows the Group’s landmark achievement in 2024, when it became the first company in Switzerland’s luxury industry to receive the distinction. It successfully retained the title in 2025 and again in 2026.

For decades, travel retail meant airports, with the watch industry’s relationship to the sector built around duty-free concourses, hurried passengers and last-minute purchases squeezed in between security checks and gate departures. Cruise retail, by contrast, was not central to brands’ global strategies. But that hierarchy is beginning to shift. Luxury cruising is booming, and watch brands are taking notice.