Luxury US watchmaker Jacob & Co has hired former Richemont lawyer Joseph Forgione as general counsel.
Forgione leaves Richemont after four years, where he was legal counsel. He brings more than 20 years of luxury retail experience to his new role, notably around IP and commercial transactions. At Jacob & Co, he will provide legal oversight in all areas of the company’s global operations, including IP protection and enforcement, commercial contracts, strategic transactions, corporate governance and compliance. He will serve as a senior member of Jacob & Co’s executive team.
New York-based Jacob & Co designs luxury watches and other high-end jewellery.
Writing on LinkedIn, Forgione said: “I’m very pleased to share that, after four excellent years at Richemont, I’ve started a new position as general counsel at Jacob & Co. I’m looking forward to collaborating with a talented group of colleagues and working on some very exciting initiatives in this role.”
Prior to joining Richemont in 2022, Forgione spent more than a decade at anti-counterfeiting specialist Gioconda Law Group in New York, where he was group director. Before that he was a legal assistant at Chanel, also in New York.
Jacob & Co told Bloomberg that Forgione’s “many years of legal experience and deep industry relationships” will help support the business with legal strategy, advice and risk mitigation.
Forgione’s exit from Richemont comes three years after the Swiss luxury brand owner named former Kraft Heinz international legal head Thomas Loest as its new group GC. Richemont owns brands including Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels.
In other in-house fashion and luxury-related moves, earlier this month designer brand-owner PVH said it was lining up Elisheva Hirshman as its next chief legal officer, replacing Mark Fischer who is stepping down later this year. PVH owns fashion labels Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein.
Back in January last year, Rosewood Hotels hired former Kempinski GC Hadrian Beltrametti Walker as vice president for legal, overseeing all legal matters for the hotel group’s EMEA and Caribbean business.
And in November 2024, Swiss luxury watchmaker Rolex hired Alexander Troller as GC from disputes specialist law firm LALIVE. Troller is Rolex’s first GC in the company’s roughly 120-year history.
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