Larry Pettinelli, president, Patek Philippe North America:

“We are not retailers by nature. We know how to make watches, retailers are much better equipped to sell them. We don’t want to undermine the partners who helped build the brand. Our retailers are the best retailers in the country.

Maison Patek Philippe, Shanghai

“I know a lot of the brands would like to go to the brand only presentation. I think that’s very difficult. In the US, you’d have to open a boutique in the top 20 cities to have a full presentation, and even then you will miss people who won’t drive to the bigger cities.

“We have some great local accounts who service people who wouldn’t otherwise hear about Patek. We do a lot of advertising and PR, but at the end of the day, we count on the retailers to talk about Patek as a third party endorsement. Retailers can point things out that others cannot. We can only get that with partners we have had a relationship with for a long time.”

Brand Boutiques - Pros and Cons

Introduction

Patrik Hoffmann, president, Ulysse Nardin

Ehren Bragg, Managing Director, Devon

Marc Gläser, president, Maurice Lacroix

Thomas Morf

Greg Simonian, president of Westime (Los Angeles, USA)

Ayman Nassif, president, BTC (Egypt)

Jeremy Oster, co-owner, Oster Jewelers (Colorado, USA)

Alon Ben Joseph, CEO, Ace Jewelers Group (Amsterdam, the Netherlands)

Source: Europa Star August - September 2013 Magazine Issue