Stéphane Bianchi, currently head of the LVMH group’s watches and jewellery division, will step down to assume the role of LVMH group managing director on April 19. In the meantime, other senior executive changes are taking place within the division. LVMH has not yet announced the name of Bianchi’s successor, but has made various key appointments. The first regards Charles Leung, who has been confirmed as the new CEO of jewellery brand Chaumet, replacing Jean-Marc Mansvelt, who has held the position since 2014. The latter has taken charge of footwear label Berluti, another brand owned by the world’s number-one luxury group, led until now by Antoine Arnault, who remains as president.

Leung, 53, hails from Hong Kong and previously worked at Chaumet between 2006 and 2018. He joined Chaumet as managing director Asia Pacific, notably expanding the business in China, and climbed up the ranks to become vice-president international sales and distribution in October 2012.

Tapping his in-depth knowledge of the brand and his wealth of international experience, Leung’s mission will be to “continue to spearhead Chaumet’s global expansion strategy.” The brand currently operates 80 stores worldwide, as it stated in a press release.

Leung is a graduate of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the ESSEC Business School in Paris. He began his career at Cartier, the jewellery brand owned by Swiss luxury group Richemont, where he worked for 10 years in the marketing and retail departments. After his nearly 12-year stint at Chaumet, in 2018 Leung was named CEO of Fred, another LVMH-owned brand, becoming the first executive of Asian origin to hold such a post in Bernard Arnault‘s group. Chaumet underlined the key role played by Leung “in leading [Fred’s] turnaround, generating strong sales, increasing profits and strengthening the brand’s image and desirability.”

Before taking charge of Chaumet at the end of 2014, Mansvelt had been working at Louis Vuitton since 1994, when he was named marketing director of leather goods. He set up and led the department, developing new collections of leather goods for Louis Vuitton, and in 1998 he was promoted to the post of managing director of leather gods and accessories for Louis Vuitton. 

A graduate of the HEC business school, Mansvelt previously worked for L’Oréal, within the marketing department of the group’s luxury division, notably at Lancôme.

LVMH owns jewellery brands Chaumet, Fred, Tiffany & Co., Bulgari, and Repossi. As for the group’s watches business, at the start of the year one of Bernard Arnault’s children, Frédéric, was put in charge of the newly created watches division, comprising Hublot, TAG Heuer and Zenith.