Limited editions are hotter than ever before. Most companies with an established tradition of limited editions report that just about every one they introduce at BaselWorld or the SIHH sells out before the stands are dismantled.
With the limited edition market so healthy, however, many more companies are looking to capitalize on this trend. The presence of too many watches that aren't so limited, or have no reason to be limited, is a threat to the success of all limited editions.




BUBBLE ROYAL FLUSH by Corum
Stainless steel watch (45 mm) equipped with an automatic CO – 082 movement. Hours, minutes and seconds functions, green lacquered dial with five appliqué cards, red and black indices, skeleton hands and dollar sign on seconds hand, crocodile strap with folding clasp, water-resistant to 200 metres. Limited to production in 2006.

SANTOS 100 by Cartier
18 carat yellow gold case equipped with a self-winding mechanical movement. Champlevé enamelling and set with round diamonds. Engraved dial inlaid with eight different woods, yellow gold hands, blue alligator strap with adjustable gold deployant buckle. Limited Edition of 20 numbered pieces.

CHRONOGRAPHE MALTE by Vacheron Constantin
Platinum watch equipped with a hand-wound mechanical chronograph Calibre 1141 movement. Micro-grain finished dial with hour circle and minute and seconds divisions, telemetric scale based on one kilometre, 30-minute counter and sub-dial for the running seconds, dark blue alligator strap with platinum buckle. Limited Edition of 75 pieces.


The success of limited editions
There are a number of reasons why limited editions are so successful. In today's very popular watch market, customers are looking for things that are different and unique. Sometimes that means a new brand that few people have discovered while in other cases, limited editions fit the bill. At the beginning, limited editions were for the collector market and collectors like watches that are rare and, for the most part, the rarer the limited edition, the quicker it sells.
Sure, some lower-end watch companies do limited editions with thousands of pieces, but in higher-end watchmaking, the numbers are most often in the hundreds, if not the teens and sometimes single digits. Limited editions are special watches, which is why they are in such high demand.
Corum has been extremely successful with limited editions, ranging from the iconic Bubble to the Artisan series. “If pieces at this level are limited, they are more in demand,” acknowledges Stacie Orloff, President, Corum USA. "We have a very nice collector's base of both men and women and many of our collectors are multiple Corum collectors, particularly in our Artisan series.
“One of the headaches of limited editions that sell well is doling out the numbers, because so many collectors are after a specific number. “Our collectors book their number in advance and some even buy in every series,” Orloff confirms. For Corum and many other companies, the truly limited editions often sell out before the Swiss shows are over. For example, Corum's Limited Edition Baron Samedi Bubble will not even hit the stores – it has already sold out.
“The desirability of these special editions depends strictly on the manufacturer who is issuing the piece,” says Andrew J. Block, Executive Vice President, Tourneau (USA). “The consumer/collector wants what everyone else can’t have. Plus, these pieces, again depending on the manufacturer, should increase in value. Also the number of pieces made plays a big part in the success of the piece.”
Brands and retailers are finding that limited editions are not just for collectors, however. The appeal of limited editions is spreading to the regular watch buyer who wants something that his friends can't get.




ROYAL OAK OFFSHORE LADY ALINGHI
CHRONOGRAPH by Audemars Piguet
Stainless steel watch (37 mm) equipped with a Calibre 2385 self-winding movement. Steel bezel clad in white vulcanized rubber and set with 32 brilliant-cut diamonds (1.25 carats), silvered dial with red Alinghi logo on counter at 9 o’clock, luminescent hands, 30-minute and 12-hour chronograph counters and chronograph sweep seconds hand, date at 4.30. Limited Edition of 320 pieces.

PROFILE LADY ELEGANCE by Montblanc
18 carat white gold case (23 x 35 mm) equipped with a high precision quartz movement. White gold bracelet and watch set with a total of 628 Top Wessleton VVS diamonds (4.21 carats) and 136 baguette-cut rubies Top Birman (7.14 carats). White mother-of-pearl dial with 30 diamonds, domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflection coating, crow set with unique Montblanc diamond (0.055 carats), water-resistant to 30 metres. Limited Edition of 3 pieces.

JUMPING HOUR BIG SECOND HAND by Perrelet
18 carat gold or stainless steel watch equipped with a P-191 Calibre automatic movement. Off-centre minute dial at 6 o’clock. Limited Edition of 100 pieces in palladium.


What makes up a limited edition?
For the companies who have been making limited edition watches the longest, these watches have something special that calls out for them to be limited and therefore harder to get.
“I like limited editions if they have a purpose,” says Thierry Nataf, President and CEO, Zenith. “I hate it when companies try to trick the customer. If it's truly limited and there's a reason, then it makes sense. At this level of price, people are smart. We have integrity, if we do a limited edition, it's because the material, the technology or the spirit is limited.”
Some limited editions are limited because it's impossible to make more than a handful - it takes too much time and watchmaker manpower. Others are limited because the material used is something that isn't easy to obtain. Some limited edition watches are so high priced that making more than a few wouldn't make sound financial sense; there just wouldn't be enough buyers. Watch brands like Carl F. Bucherer, Dubey & Schaldenbrand, Armand Nicolet and others have made limited editions from old movements and the watches are limited because no more movements exist.
“First and foremost a limited edition must be an interesting product,” explains Ron Jackson, President of Girard-Perregaux and JeanRichard USA. “Then if it also has an emotional attachment to a person, place, thing (car, boat, etc.) or activity it becomes more interesting to those people who have the affinity for these external attractions. Finally, the quantities and metals offered must come as close as possible to the actual market demand for such a product concept. If too many are offered it diminishes the value, and if too few are offered it improves the value but dilutes the commercial impact.”
In the past, companies making limited editions estimated what they thought would be the demand, made the watch and hoped for the best. Now, things have changed dramatically. Because so many more retailers and consumers are aware of limited editions, brand managers in each country allocate the limited editions right away, reserving certain numbers for specific collectors.
“I allocate all the limited editions to our retailers right away now, which is something I couldn't even dream of doing four or five years ago,” says Patrik Hoffmann, President, Ulysse Nardin NA. “It's amazing how important limited editions are and they are really driving the watch industry. You have to have the look of your brand, but you also have to come up with new things to put some excitement into the brand. We just did a limited edition exclusively for East Coast Jewellers (in Florida) of 100 pieces, our diver's watch in yellow, and it's going to sell out.”
Retailers are on the phone to their best customers as soon as they hear about a new limited edition. They know what their clients are looking for and try to get the watches for them. Rare is the limited edition today that languishes in a retailer's case.

Dangers
There are some dangers to the limited edition market. It's so successful and limited editions are so popular, watch brands have to be careful not to be tempted to make too many or seem like they are taking advantage. Some watch brands come out with limited series, sell them all, then come out with new hands or a slightly altered dial, then sell another limited series. This kind of thing could easily kill the limited edition market.
“The problem with limited editions is that for me, there has to be an obvious reason for making a limited edition, like our 'Tribute to Mimi,' which was a special watch to commemorate a special person and it had a limited number of movements,” says Thomas Morf, President and CEO, Carl F. Bucherer. “Many brands, when they base their commercial success on limited editions, they forget to build a brand. If you only create limited editions, you are only selling a product. If the economy goes the wrong way, these are the brands that will disappear first. They think it makes the brand more attractive, but they haven't built the brand.
”Too many brands think they can take advantage of this trend towards limited editions, introducing watches that have no reason to be limited editions,“Morf continues.”If there is justification for limited editions, then you need to keep them at a certain level. There are a lot of limited editions that shouldn't be limited editions and are only there to capitalize on the market."
Most brands and retailers feel that, over the long term, consumers will recognize what a limited edition means and ignore the watches that are pretenders.
“It is our job as industry experts to advise the customers about which limited editions are genuine and which are just marketing tools,” says Melissa Oster, Owner, Oster Jewellers (Colorado, USA). “If you stick with the finest and most exclusive companies then you are guaranteed a lot more rarity and exclusivity than if you buy the hot new Brand X Limited Edition of only 5000 pieces.”
Until consumers wake up and separate the wheat from the chaff, retailers may have to deal with and sell against all kinds of so-called limited edition watches. “Consumers will understand soon what a valuable limited edition is, one with a real added value like the Monaco Vintage Limited Edition of this year, based on the brand's history, and the Calibre 360 Carrera because of the technological breakthrough of its 1/100th mechanical chronograph,” says Stephane Linder, Product Director, TAG Heuer. “The good limited editions will always remain on the market and the bad limited editions will be less popular. An exception to that is the Japanese market, where just adding a symbol or pattern on the dial and engraving the number in the case's back is most of the time successful even if no real content is proposed.”

The future
As long as limited editions are truly limited and really special, the potential is unlimited. The good news is that, since limited editions are popular, the best watch brands have the opportunity to come out with truly spectacular watches. What better way for watch companies to push the envelope and try truly unique things than in a limited edition? If the limited edition is really successful, sometimes the technology, materials or concepts will make their way into the brand's regular line.

The sky is the limit
For the creation of his first chronograph, the wonderfully named Robusto, Antoine Preziuso has carved the case of his timepiece in a unique material, a one-of-a-kind and naturally very ‘limited’ meteorite. In this case, it is the Gibbeon meteorite, discovered in 1838 and which has a chemical composition of 90 percent iron. The remaining ten percent is made up of cobalt, phosphorus, kamacite, taenite, enstatite and tridymite - all rare metals.
Fully conserving the rugged nature and fascinating surface of this metal projected through space, Preziuso has combined it with a carbon fibre dial and an automatic movement including components which have been darkened with ruthenium.
A ‘magic’ watch, uniting time and space.




GRAND CHRONO ROBUSTO by Antoine Preziuso
Gibbeon meteorite cased chronograph equipped with an automatic movement – Calibre 7750RM3. Carbon fibre dial, 42-hour power reserve, double sub-dials with hand indicators, hand-decorated movement with a fibre strap.


Jean Dunand - ultra limited
A recognizable trend in the limited edition market is super expens-ive, ultra limited watches. The ultimate luxury, people who buy these watches are getting one of ten, one of five or, in the case of Jean Dunand, one of one. Jean Dunand watches, the result of a collaboration between Thierry Oulevay, the President of Jean Dunand and high-end watchmaker Christophe Claret, are piece unique, ranging in price from US$300,000 to around US$1,000,000.
“There is a trend towards personalization, individualization, at the highest end of the market and it is our conviction that we have to pull the market higher,” Oulevay explains. “We think we have identified a tip at the very top of the watch pyramid - the extreme watch that is complicated, innovative and extremely rare. The scarcity aspect is very important to tap into in this market. We want to produce very limited watches. It's an important part of the strategy that Jean Dunand is not producing volume, it's like a concept/niche brand.”
Oulevay estimates that the worldwide market for this kind of watch is between 1,500 and 2,500 collectors/buyers. In the past, these very unique watches were destined for a collector's safe, often as an investment, but things have changed. “We have seen many new wealthy people wishing to make a statement with a watch and they are wearing the watches,” Oulevay points out. “Now, our watches are worn more and more.”
Jean Dunand's strongest market is the USA. “The USA is the most difficult market to penetrate,” Oulevay acknowledges. “We decided to enter the US market first. If you can succeed in the USA, you will do well in the rest of the world.”





TOURBILLON ORBITAL by Jean Dunand
Platinum one minute flying tourbillon (45 mm) equipped with a manually wound calibre IO200 rotating movement on a ball-bearing system. 110-hour ‘fuel gauge’ power reserve indicator in the caseband, moon phase indication on the left of the caseback, winding and setting mechanism on the right of the caseback, curved sapphire crystal for the dial and case band apertures, water-resistant to 30 metres. Each watch a unique piece.



Source: Europa Star August-September 2006 Magazine Issue