Mark Ritson: Luxury brands should take a stand against the grey market

At first sight it looks very close to insanity: Richemont, the Swiss luxury goods group which owns some of the most prestigious watch brands on the planet, has ‘destroyed’ €481m-worth (£421m) if its own watches. The company, which owns a stable of luxury brands including Cartier, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Panerai, admitted it has been buying back its watches across Europe and Asia.
What on earth is going on? Well, it’s a complication built from the strange mix of a C