Swiss Watchmaker Cuervo y Sobrinos Opens in Vietnam with Havana Heritage
Swiss watchmaker Cuervo y Sobrinos, born in Havana and rooted in Art Deco heritage, officially debuts in Vietnam with heritage and contemporary craftsmanship.
Cuervo y Sobrinos, the Swiss watchmaker born in Havana, has officially landed in Vietnam. The brand, represented by exclusive distributor Golden Phoenix Vietnam and market partner Avanti-Group, marked the milestone with a series of launch events across La Casa del Habano Vietnam, Habanos Specialist Vietnam, Habanos Specialist Nha Trang and Habanos Specialist Giảng Võ this summer.
The opening ceremony brought together brand owner Mario Girardi, Swiss Consul General Werner Bardill, and local figures including actor Trần Bảo Sơn, beauty queen Giáng My and fashionisto Thuận Nguyễn — a signal of how the brand intends to position itself within Vietnam's luxury sphere.
The Havana-Swiss Balance
Founded over 140 years ago, Cuervo y Sobrinos exists at a rare intersection: Cuban cultural DNA paired with Swiss watchmaking precision. The brand's design language draws from Havana's early 20th-century Art Deco movement, Caribbean colour palettes and the layered aesthetics of its original home. Today, each piece is manufactured in Switzerland yet retains the visual signature of the city that birthed it.
This heritage informs every collection. The Historiador Gran Reserva features a smoked sunray dial in Caribbean-inspired hues — burgundy red, ocean blue and tropical green. The Robusto 1935 reinterprets a 1935 Art Deco design with contemporary proportion, balancing historical reference against everyday wearability. For women, the Primera Dama speaks the language of jewellery; its mother-of-pearl dial and diamond detailing blur the line between timepiece and adornment.
Other signature lines including Espléndidos, Iconico Doble Tiempo and collections of classical, elegant and contemporary silhouettes reflect the brand's breadth — a deliberate move to appeal to both collectors and those seeking daily luxury.
Why Vietnam Matters
Vietnam's entrance onto Cuervo y Sobrinos' global map underscores the region's growing appetite for heritage luxury outside the mainstream Swiss and Italian houses. The brand's arrival via specialist Habanos retailers also signals a deliberate positioning: not mass-market, but curated, tied to the cigar connoisseurship and lifestyle communities already present in Vietnam.
With no prior Southeast Asian foothold, the Vietnamese market becomes a test case for how a 140-year-old Havana-born brand translates its story to an Asian audience.
