s Paris Burning?” The film was released in 1966, exactly 60 years ago today. A classic of French cinema, it depicted the Liberation of Paris. Six decades later, the script has changed: desolation and devastation. To the question “Is Paris burning?”, the answer is yes.

Once again, the French capital has been ransacked. Protests that began among students gathered momentum over several weeks, culminating on Saturday 17 October, when authorised marches were joined by radical elements and rioters who inflicted extensive damage on the City of Light, as well as on most of France’s major cities.

Watch and jewellery retailers on the front line

Watch and jewellery retailers are, by their very nature, among the most exposed. They face a double threat: as purveyors of luxury goods, they are prime targets for looters, while their longstanding presence in city centres places them almost automatically in the path of demonstrators.

Sometimes, the impact can be gauged by the silence of those affected. The Maier family, with 14 points of sale in Lyon, and the Lassaussois family, with six boutiques in Paris, did not respond to our requests for comment. According to our information, several boutiques belonging to the Frojo group, which operates 13 stores, mainly in Marseille, were looted. The group also did not respond to our requests for comment. Another retailer, who asked to remain anonymous, reported no damage to his store. Yet “100 metres down the road, it’s devastation”, he said, highlighting the rioters’ erratic movements.

“Pokémon or Vuitton, it’s all the same to them”

In our conversations, parallels with the Yellow Vests emerge almost immediately. Some observers are already calling the new protesters the “Gilets jeunes” — a play on “Gilets jaunes”, replacing “yellow” with “young”. The retailer quoted above does not mince his words: “This goes much further than the Yellow Vests. Today, we’re in a civil war situation. The rioters don’t give a shit about what they find in their path. Pokémon or Vuitton, it’s all the same to them.”

Michel Fréret-Roy, 70, a stalwart of the independent watch scene in Paris, echoes that view: “They smashed up Rolex because they knew the name and because it represents capitalism. They trashed Mauboussin because they wanted to do their Christmas shopping. Some of them are specialists in street warfare. As far as I’m concerned, these are the same rioters as during the Yellow Vest protests, but they’ve taken it up a notch. The mindset is different. Today, the rioters are driven by visceral envy. Back then, the Yellow Vests were demanding a decent standard of living.”

The impact beyond Paris

Elsewhere in France, the picture is much the same, on a scale proportionate to the size of each city. Unlike in Paris, however, some retailers operate numerous stores across these areas, multiplying their exposure to risk.

Such is the case for Edouard and Mélissa Genton, whose family owns 14 boutiques, mainly in eastern France. “It’s a marathon of decline. Completely arbitrary. Where the rioters went was down to chance: the route of the march, how exposed your boutique was, what you had in the window. I suffered no losses, but in Nancy, one of our windows was tagged with ‘ACAB 1312’.” (ACAB stands for “All Cops Are Bastards”, with 1312 corresponding to the letters’ positions in the alphabet — Ed.)

Beyond the damage, Edouard Genton points to a commercial impact extending well beyond 17 October: “The city centre has been deserted for a fortnight.” The first retailer we spoke to tells a similar story: “This weekend, we had clients staying at the Crillon who packed their bags and went straight home when they saw the demonstrations.”

Meanwhile, the Doux family, with a strong presence in Nîmes, Avignon, Saint-Tropez, Courchevel and Deauville, reported no damage. “We closed briefly on Saturday as a precaution, but reopened straight away and had a fairly good day,” says Arthur Doux. In his view, “We’ve never had a problem because we’re in medium-sized towns where luxury retail isn’t concentrated enough to stand out and become a target for rioters.”

Stepping up security - but at what cost?

In the aftermath, reopening for business comes with a bitter hangover. Every retailer is asking questions, first and foremost about security. Reinforcing a boutique with security glazing requires investment that independent retailers cannot always afford.

“If they manage to lift the metal shutter, that’s the tipping point,” says Edouard Genton. “After that, however thick your glazing or however secure your entrance vestibule, even if you have a reinforced door, it may not hold against 40 or 50 people. And they couldn’t care less that they’re being filmed. They know nothing will happen to them afterwards. They feel completely untouchable.”

Insurance in limbo

Then there is insurance. In the aftermath of the riots, this is the crucial issue. The Union de la Bijouterie Horlogerie (UBH) is the French watch and jewellery trade association. Sandrine Marcot is its executive president.

“To date, we have recorded 200 damaged or looted stores out of France’s roughly 4,500 jewellery shops,” she tells us. “The damage affects premises and stock, as well as, of course, lost revenue. The total currently stands at a minimum of €40 million, but this is only an initial estimate two days after the events and could rise considerably. The law governing insurance compensation has recently changed. If our members have taken out business interruption cover, they may be eligible for compensation. But the legal provisions have yet to be fully finalised, and we will fight to obtain clarification as quickly as possible.”

Carry on or call it a day?

Finally, there is the question of whether to stay in business at all. The first retailer quoted, who wishes to remain anonymous, is blunt: “You have to get out, stop doing business and leave France.” He had already begun considering this during the Yellow Vest protests. Now, he is moving towards selling his business.

“Whatever the political outcome (France’s presidential election is scheduled for April 2027 — Ed.), the outlook is not reassuring. Administrative procedures are becoming more numerous and more burdensome, and when it comes to violence, I see no reason why things won’t carry on like this. This weekend, I received a message from an independent watchmaker I represent, who actually asked whether I was still alive. Do I even want to reopen?”

Asked whether he will remain in France after leaving the business, his answer is unequivocal: “My wife has already packed her bags.”