Poncini opens new home in Curepipe, where its story began

Four generations after the family established its ties to Curepipe, Poncini has opened a building of its own in the town. Chief executive Jérôme Poncini says the investment is intended to give customers more time, personal attention and lasting service.

Poncini has inaugurated its new premises at the corner of Sir Virgil Naz and Sir William Newton streets in Curepipe, a few doors from where Alfred Poncini, a Swiss-Italian watchmaker, set up his workshop after arriving in Mauritius in 1925. The two-storey building brings together the company’s retail collections and a private space for receiving customers.

Speaking at the opening, chief executive Jérôme Poncini placed the move within a longer local history. The establishment from which the business traces its origins opened at the Arcades in 1912. His family’s connection to the surrounding streets has since spanned four generations, he said. “Curepipe is not just a location on a map. Curepipe is its inhabitants. It’s a story,” he told guests.

The new address also sets out the company’s ambitions in Mauritius. Poncini wants to strengthen its position in watchmaking and jewellery while continuing to offer tableware and writing instruments. Jérôme Poncini drew particular attention to pieces made in the company’s own workshop in Mauritius.

For him, the purchase is only one part of the relationship with a customer. Watches, jewellery and other objects may be kept for decades and passed on to another generation. Advice, workshop expertise and after-sales care determine how well that relationship lasts.

That thinking shaped the building. Its two floors display the company’s collections, while a private lounge gives customers room to sit, ask questions and consider a purchase at their own pace. “We did not build this to be bigger,” Jérôme Poncini said. “We built it so that we could receive people the way we always wanted to.”

At the inauguration, Curepipe mayor Latchmana Pillay joined Jérôme Poncini for the ribbon-cutting. For the family business, opening its own building in Curepipe marks both an investment in its future and a return to the streets where its Mauritian story took shape.