LOLLY’s by Cacharel. Symbolic little accessories and Murano glass pearl in a chain bracelet watch.


Is a microwave oven a watch? Is a cellular telephone a watch? Is a key ring a watch? Watchmakers are asking themselves these questions, especially in France. And, their answer is a resounding ‘yes’. But, this does not mean that they approve of this disconnection between the object of this letter – the wristwatch – and its function, which is to tell the time. They are merely observing this phenomenon, that’s all. If telling time is everywhere today, then the watch is also everywhere. As a consequence, in order to give the watch a new boost, it is necessary to kill ‘Father Time’.
Sylvie Clerc, the Director of Marketing for the TWC group (Clyda, DDP, Oxbow, Lapidus) is working in this direction. “It is urgent that watchmakers and jewellers start to adopt fashion codes rather than watchmaking codes,” she declares. “If not, soon we will no longer need watches.” This change of perspective is already well underway in France, a little by necessity.
In this nation, the watch industry, faced with foreign competition and especially the unstoppable Swiss time machine, does not have the resources to exist by itself. Yet, it is ingenious, and it has ideas. “French watchmakers are succeeding well in their diversification into jewellery, contrary to jewellers who are stagnating,” notes the owner of a number of watch brands.
This diversification can be seen at TWC, as well as within the Christian Bernard group (Christian Bernard, Fontenay, Cacharel, Morgan, Balenciaga, Guy Laroche), which realizes a large part of its turnover in the jewellery sector. To be precise… in this context, jewellery does not mean haute joaillerie, but rather fantasy pieces in gold, silver, or steel with prices that are affordable for the average man and woman. However, it is not only in France that we are witnessing this evolution. The Swiss Swatch and the American Fossil are also moving into jewellery.
To jewellery per se, we also need to add the jewellery watch, or if you prefer, the watch as a fashion accessory, the object par excellence of the future, as it is defined by Sylvie Clerc. Herein lies the commercial strategy followed by the groups such as TWC, IJD (Féraud, Rykiel) and Christian Bernard, whose sales, in volume and in value, are pulling the French watch industry upmarket. The traditional watch brands are disappearing before the signatures of the fashion designers, who, one after the other, are making watches under licensing agreements. TWC thus earns 70 percent of its turnover from fashion labels.
Watches are now appearing in thematic collections of products as well. This is the case, notably, at Sonia Rykiel, where we find studded watch bracelets, studded handbags, and a studded perfume stopper. So, does this mean that watch brands and their design teams are adapting more to fashion than they are succeeding in imposing their trends on fashion designers? If ‘liberty’ fabric is the vogue at Cacharel, will Christian Bernard make watch bracelets with ‘liberty’ overtones?
The tendency of French watchmakers this season is to align more with commercial strategies rather than to any particular form. This is less the case, however, for Péquignet, for example, which makes ‘real’ watches, or Swiss Made watches. For TWC or Christian Bernard, merchandising is of primary importance. The presentation is as important as the product. This way the client can choose between several ‘universes’ that are promoted by a ‘visual’ – in a sort of scenography.
“We have made a lot of efforts in merchandising,” explains Yann Duclos, Director of Advertising at Fontenay and Guy Laroche. “For the first time, we have foreseen a collective distribution for our Fontenay products.” In other words, retailers are expected to sell a kit, made up of both the brand’s watch and jewellery collections. The client can, of course, purchase only one article, but two or three would be better…
The TWC’s Sylvie Clerc adds unequivocally, “Jewellery creates a universe that is favourable for the watch, which can benefit from an impulse buy. By impulse buying, we mean ‘I want that right now’.” DDP, which sells clothes in the Diesel niche, has recently ordered a collection of watches from the TWC group. In its boutique on the Rue Etienne Marcel in Paris, DDP has already designated the space where the watches will be displayed. It is near the cash register… like sweets in a supermarket.


Source: October - November 2005 Issue

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