Hermes buys control of Swiss luxury watch manufacturer

  The subsidiary of the French luxury watch Hermes Group says it has taken control of a Swiss watch company, Joseph Erard Holding strengthens its strategy with high-end watches.

Clock Hermes said in a statement that it had withdrawn its previous holding of 32.5 per cent since September 2011 in the Swiss family to an unspecified him a majority control level.

"To Hermes, which is a natural part of ongoing efforts to master the craft of watchmaking," the French group said.

Joseph Erard Holding specializing in manufacturing watch cases. Hermes last year took over the control of another Swiss company Natéber what dials. In 2006, Hermes has taken a stake in Vaucher, a Swiss company that makes mechanical watch movements within.

The watches are a small but growing segment in lines Hermes. Last year, the subsidiary of revenue has expanded by 17 percent to 173 million euros, which represents a total of five percent of the Hermès Group sales.