Fashion watches: Luxury houses concentrate on attracting a new audience, FT.com

FT.com / Reports - Fashion watches: Luxury houses concentrate on attracting a new audience

13/09/2010 07:34

Breadcrumb

Financial

REPORTS FT Home > Reports > Watches and Jewellery

Fashion watches: Luxury houses concentrate on attracting a new audience By Lucie Greene Published: September 10 2010 16:19 | Last updated: September 10 2010 16:19

Luxury fashion brands continue to zero in on the timepiece market.

FT MONEY GYM Try an FTMoney Gym virtual workout to learn more about alternative personal investment strategies. New workouts include spread betting, covered warrants, CFDs and ETFs More

This summer, Louis Vuitton produced the Tambour Spin Time and Christian Dior launched Christal 8, two special edition watches in collaboration with Orny and Girardin. Chanel, expanding its J12 offer to the men’s market, introduced the J12 Marine, a diving watch, following the brand’s J12 Rétrograde Mystérieuse, unveiled in February. Meanwhile, Fendi introduced Crazy Carats in June, its first patented fine jewellery watch, which allows the wearer three changes in the colour of its decorative stones. There are more additions to follow. At the end of the year, Bottega Veneta is set to launch its first unisex timepiece, the BVX, made in collaboration with the Sowind group, owners of Swiss watchmaker Girard-Perregaux. New, interesting timepieces have become a way of attracting new audiences while helping existing fans buy up a price category. Guy Chatillon, chief executive for Ralph Lauren Watch and Jewelry, says: “We’ve noticed that sometimes as many as 50-70 per cent of our timepiece buyers are new to Ralph Lauren.” Timepieces have become a big avenue of growth in Asia. LATEST HEADLINES FROM CNN

LVMH reported a 52.8 per cent boost in first-half profits this summer. By division, watches and jewellery rose the most, adding 28 per cent. In China, the company predicted double-digit growth for watches and jewellery for the remainder of this year. Meanwhile, fashion brands with their sights on the higher price tiers in the market, are upping the ante to show their mettle as credible watchmakers. “It’s partly because consumers aren’t welcoming opportunistic product diversifications any more,” says Ilaria Alber-Glanstaetten, chief executive of Provenance, a luxury consultancy. “They’ve realised you have to go further.” “Clients are much more discriminating now,” agrees Luc Perramond, chief executive of watches at Hermès. “Many fashion brands have tried to access the luxury watch business and failed. When it’s successful, it can be lucrative and bring strong recognition to the brand, but you have to have the reassurance of a legitimate product offer.” To that end, many are introducing new movements with Swiss manufactures, exploring haute horlogerie, while also pushing the boundaries of decorative techniques.

Turkey approves constitutional reforms Israel's PM suggests compromise on settlements possible Mexico captures alleged drug kingpin 'El Grande' Guinea presidential campaigning suspended Church: U.S medical team hopes to be freed in Zimbabwe More RELATED SERVICES FT Lexicon FT Bespoke Forums Market research Growth companies Corporate subscriptions Luxury Travel brochures Analyst Research

MBA-Direct.com FT Newspaper subscriptions FT Diaries FT Conferences FT Syndication services The Non-Executive Director

Louis Vuitton’s Spin Time, which comes in a men’s and a women’s joaillerie expression, has got watch bloggers in overdrive for its unique rotating cube number display. It has no hour hands. As time passes, a staff rotates and a cube turns to reveal the hour around the watch face (while all the other cubes simply feature a neutral V in grey.) Hamdi Chatti, vice-president of watches and fine jewellery at the company, says: “There’s something magic about the rotation. When the number turns over, you hear a click. The design was inspired by the old fashioned train boards in stations, where numbers flick over. It’s a reference to Louis Vuitton’s connection with travel.” “We’ve been building our team, going deeper into haute horlogerie. Spin Time is modern, innovative and playful, but still incorporates Louis Vuitton’s tradition of craft.” Craft is also being explored at Hermès, where artisans have been developing hand-engraved embellishments on mother-of-pearl watch faces, a highly labour-intensive technique. Fendi’s Crazy Carats, for its part, is also a new take on fine jewellery watches, incorporating a rolling mechanism that allows the wearer to change the colours of the semi-precious stones on each hour (save for 12, which is a diamond). The shift to the highest tiers of the watch market is partly related to changes in luxury consumer groups. Aspirational demographics used to drive sales in many markets, but this has dwindled.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/50d2d10a-bba5-11df-89b6-00144feab49a,dwp_uuid=a0261c88-bba7-11df-89b6-00144feab49a.html

Page 1 of 2

FT.com / Reports - Fashion watches: Luxury houses concentrate on attracting a new audience

13/09/2010 07:34

Meanwhile, the world’s population of wealthy people has grown by 17.1 per cent in the past year, according to the 14th annual World Wealth Report from Capgemini and Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management. Chris Sanderson, co-founder of the Future Laboratory, a trends prediction consultancy, comments: “The problem was that luxury fashion brands didn’t have anything in a price unit suitable for this group. They had product up to the tens of thousands price bracket, but nothing above. Hence, the move for many in to haute joaillerie and horlogerie.” “The same consumers buying luxury fashion brands were buying serious watches, but not from them,” says Ms Alber-Glanstaetten. “Fashion brands knew that to compete at those price points they needed to invest. Margins are much bigger with luxury watches and haute horlogerie. Not at investment stage, of course, but in the long term. Plus, it’s that old adage: It’s better to start at the top and go down.” Mr Sanderson, believes fashion’s invasion of haute horlogerie, in particular, is a good thing. “It was almost cannibalising itself before. It became so obscure with too many complications. There were timepieces which told you if it was night or day. “On a design level it was very inward-looking. It was out of touch with the modern luxury consumer, appealing only to niche enthusiasts,” he says. “Fashion brands have added a fresh direction to it, with modern designs and innovations. “They also have a much better understanding of who they are selling to. They are redefining it and taking it forward.” Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web. Print article

Email article

Clip this article

Order reprints

Twitter

Digg

Yahoo! Buzz

Facebook

stumbleupon

Delicious Viadeo

MORE IN THIS SECTION Bright shine that may be short lived Nicolas Hayek tribute: Charm, charisma and a sense of humour Quartz anniversary: Tribute to technology that has redefined an industry FP Journe: Making the most of a rich sense of history Business models: Where do you fit yourself into the new brandscape? The Paneristi: The benefits of engaging with your cult followers Complications: What to buy if you want to keep pushing boundaries Greenery: ‘Prime colour from which all loveliness arises’ Sub-brands: Ways to make most of a second identity Preview: Sparklers to die for at the Grand Palais

FT Home

Site map

Advertise with the FT Partner sites: Chinese FT.com

Media centre

The Mergermarket Group

FT Newspaper subscriptions Investors Chronicle

FT Conferences

Exec-Appointments.com

FT Syndication Money Media

Corporate subscriptions The Banker

FT Group

Help

Careers at the FT

fDi Intelligence MBA-Direct.com The Non-Executive Director

Terms

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/50d2d10a-bba5-11df-89b6-00144feab49a,dwp_uuid=a0261c88-bba7-11df-89b6-00144feab49a.html

Page 2 of 2