Steady. That is the word they all seem to be using when one asks the big question about Christmas and then January 2006 trading in wristwatches up and down New and Old Bond Street in London’s Mayfair. It is just the same down both sides of Sloane Street, which leads from Knightsbridge south down to Sloane Square, and the beginning of the fashionable long western part of the King’s Road in Chelsea.
The latter is now home to more than 30 outlets that stock watches, although none exclusively… Cartier, Hermès, Tiffany, etc. Yes, such famous brands also have stores in Bond Street, but Sloane Street is becoming more, how shall I put this, more fun.




TANK CRASH by Cartier
18 carat rose gold watch set with round diamonds. Silver grained dial, black powdered toile strap with 18 carat rose gold ardillon buckle set with round diamonds, quartz movement.

FORMULA 1 GLAMOUR DIAMONDS by TAG Heuer
Stainless steel ladies sports watch set with 120 diamonds on the bezel (0.75 carats) and a white satin strap. Quartz movement.


Observations & cars
So, trading here has been satisfactory, but no more. Or so it seems. But a few more questions produce some interesting extra observations. The International Watch Room within the mammoth Selfridges department store on Oxford Street, north of Bond Street, and much less exclusive, stocks over 50 different watch brands, and is an essential port of call for anyone wishing to see an impressive selection of what the world watch industry has to offer to an eager public. And these days, in that street, passers-through in an emporium like Selfridges are a totally cosmopolitan crowd.
The International Watch Room enjoyed a very good trade in February – in fact the best for eight years, and it does not actually know why this should have been so! What it has been, and is, specifically noting is the very good sales of the Breitling for Bentley series. George Pragnell, in Stratford-on-Avon, Shakespeare country, reports a similar unexpectedly large demand for these watches (“…they really have enlarged our customer base”). Historically, there has always been a part-obvious/part-mysterious connection between the market for watches and that for cars. The older and more famous the car marque the better it is to be associated with a modern and complicated wristwatch.
Chopard has long been producing annual Mille Miglia limited edition chronographs, which become collectors’ pieces. Mido produced some Bugatti radiator-grille case designs in the 1920s, of which only about 10 survive. They are very expensive in the sale-rooms. In its early days Corum also made Bugatti timepieces, along with matching luxury items, and a Rolls-Royce watch, in white gold and set with diamonds. These watches appear occasionally in Christie’s and Sotheby’s auction rooms in London, along with other ‘car watches’ from makers such as L. Leroy, Longines, Motochron, Movado, Patek Philippe, Rolex, Vertex, Wittnauer and Zenith. More recently, Girard-Perregaux and TAG Heuer have arrived on the previously-owned sales scene.
J.H. Lunn trades in watches and jewellery in Belfast and Londonderry. Peter Lunn reports to your correspondent that in the last few months he has done particularly well with the Jaeger-LeCoultre-Aston Martin association [See TAG Heuer’s Avant-Garde Chronographs Inspired by Motor Racing, Europa Star 1/2006]. This comment comes from a leading retailer that sells Breitling, Cartier, Chopard, Patek Philippe, Rolex and TAG Heuer, and other leading brands. He joins other retailers in saying that supply, not sales of such car watches, is the problem!




EGERIE COLLECTION by Vacheron Constantin
Ladies’ tonneau-shaped watch in 18 carat white and yellow gold equipped with a VC Calibre 1202 high-precision quartz movement. Bezel set with 48 diamonds (0.94 carats), guilloché wave dial, two 18 carat gold applied numerals and 10 brilliant-sut diamond indices, water-resistant to 30 metres.

REVERSO LADY JEWELLERY by Jaeger-LeCoultre
Stainless steel watch equipped with a manually-wound mechanical Calibre Jaeger-LeCoultre 846 movement with 42-hour power reserve. Silvered guilloché dial, transferred floral figures, case set with 28 diamonds (0.33 carats), alligator strap with folding buckle, water-resistant to 30 metres.


Style & dazzling displays
This year Van Cleef & Arpels, a part of the Richemont Group, quietly celebrates its 100th anniversary. Montblanc is another brand in the Group. On March 9th in London it hosted a great party to celebrate its own 100th anniversary. Over 500 guests enjoyed the fun, and also had sight of a giant ice cube in the shape of the renowned Montblanc ‘snow cap’. It had been flown in from Iceland’s Ice Hotel. Yes, we were impressed! All this year, on both watches and writing instruments (all limited editions), the ‘snow cap’ will feature as a single diamond.
That was style. So is the Marcus watch store in Bond Street, but on an on-going daily basis! Here are dazzling displays of exclusive versions of many of the brand models that Time Products, owned by Marcus Margulies, distributes. He also supports up-and-coming new dial names such as Urwerk, a very small Geneva maker, and limited editions from watch manufacturers such as Harry Winston, with its Opus range.
Marcus, the shop, reports that tourbillons are doing well, alongside pieces from Franck Muller, Hublot (lots of advertising support there), Vacheron Constantin (especially its 250th anniversary models), Richard Mille (which it finds appeals especially to the Far Eastern market), and its other brands are going well in yellow gold in men’s watches.

Complications to the fore
Other retailers report a trend in the market place for high-end (therefore highly priced) complicated timepieces in yellow gold. But the buzz seems to be for high-tech wristwatches. Hamilton & Inches has long been renowned for its wide-ranging stock. Stuart MacDowell, watch manager, reports: “As well as the usual diamond-set pieces that sell so well at Christmas we sold a lot of complicated movements. There was a clear indication that women as well as men are becoming more interested in the technical side of the watches. For ladies, there were two distinct trends: classic diamond-set Cartier or Rolex pieces were as popular as ever, but we saw more and more ladies who were interested in the mechanics of watches, often inspired by partners who themselves owned a complicated Patek Philippe perhaps. A. Lange & Söhne is our most recent brand acquisition, albeit only 18 months ago, and we are passionate about their watches… they really are fantastically made and rival Patek Philippe in terms of manufacture, great watches for the really discerning buyer.” But he differs on one point: “… the emphasis has truly been on yellow and pink gold in the last few months.”
Another retailer with complications in watches on offer is the ultra-smart Mayfair retailer William & Son. It stocks brands such as Arnold and Graham (both British Masters), Audemars Piguet, F.-P. Journe and the challenging brand of Voltime. Journe has been a huge success for William, whose father, John Asprey, had this to say when the shop was setting up: “If you are going to open a showroom and sell watches, then you must have young Journe’s pieces in stock; the man is a genius.”




L.U.C LUNAR ONE by Chopard
18 carat rose gold watch equipped with a mechanical self-winding L.U.C 96 QP movement, COSC certified chronometer with Poinçon de Genève hallmark. Perpetual calendar, date at 12 o’clock, day of the week, leap year and a 24-hour indication, moon phases that ‘orbit’ around the axis of the small seconds display at 6 o’clock, water-resistant to 30 metres. Limited Edition of 250 pieces.

BIG BANG ‘HIGH JEWELLERY’ by Hublot
18 carat red gold case set with 48 white baguette diamonds (2.8 carats). Mechanical chronograph Hublot Calibre HUB44 movement developed with the La Joux-Perret manufacture with 42-hour power reserve. Black sunray dial with gold appliqué indices, faceted hands with luminescent feature, adjustable black rubber strap, water-resistant to 100 metres.


Bits of gossip
And finally, bits of gossip going the rounds here. Fossil have just opened a store near Selfridges in Oxford Street; a precursor perhaps of more of its Swatch-type own brand small retail outlets? Patek Philippe has acquired its own store (previously franchised) in Bond Street; its third in the UK. Could William & Son be keeping a very close eye on the famous premises of the former family store in New Bond Street? (Last year the A & G Group sold this freehold property for £55 million, and the trading there is said not to be exciting.)
Theo Fennell, who hates being called, but is, a society jeweller, and has a good line in watches, is possibly being lined up for a bid. The company is quoted on the London Stock Exchange. But it has no idea who the predator is which might want to grow Theo Fennell into an international luxury brand! Fennell opened a store within Harvey Nichols in Dubai in early March this year, soon after its Hong Kong opening just before Christmas.
In February this year English newspapers got hold of a fairyland story. The end of wristwatches is here, they proclaimed. Why? To quote the Daily Mail, which has a circulation of well over two million: “That’s because up-to-the-minute teens are using their mobile phones and MP3 players to tell the time instead… in the States, Swatch have launched a model called Paparazzi that provides news, horoscopes and nightlife listings on a digital display.” And to think that this so-called timepiece comes from the owner of Breguet!


Source: Europa Star April-May 2006 Magazine Issue