Several years ago almost every person we met at Basel Fair asked: “Oh, Ukraine? Is that Russia?” The question was quite reasonable because not long ago we were a part of the so called Soviet Union and all of us were Russians in the eyes of western world. Yes, in some sense we were all the same. We all inherited the same mentality with its strong and weak features. But the last 12 years of a separate existence has greatly influenced every aspect of our lives. And the watch market is not an exception.

Frankly speaking, when Ukraine became an independent state it had no watch market at all. And here we see the difference between this country and Russia, which has its own watchmaking factories. Ukraine was flooded with all kinds of cheap watches, mainly from Southern-Eastern Asia. And nobody knew anything about good quality watches. Of course, people knew about Breguet from classical Russian literature and Rolex from the Hollywood movies. Some Japanese trademarks were also familiar to Ukrainian consumers. But the other watch brands were unknown.

This situation changed very quickly – Ukrainian businessmen saw the empty niche and began to fill it. The first official contract with a Swiss watch brand was signed in 1993 between Ultra, a private Ukrainian company and the Swiss watch company Numa Jeannin SA, which produced Olma watches. That was the beginning .

Soon after that other Swiss brands came to Ukraine, and then the Japanese, Korean and Hong Kong watch companies began to penetrate the market and consumers, depending on their tastes and financial resources, were offered a choice.

Today's picture of the Ukrainian watch market is quite clear. Low priced watches produced in Japan, Hong Kong and Russia take up the most important sector. Citizen, Casio, Orient, Q & Q, Romanson, Vostok, Poljot, became the most brands for ordinary Ukrainian customers. Happily, the subway stalls with cheap articles and fake Cartiers for US$ 6 are coming to an end and more and more customers today prefer to purchase watches in a more conventional way in the specialized shops.

The middle-class people who seek prestige at a reasonable price, prefer something more refined. Here we must underline that a 'reasonable price' for Ukrainians is a bit different to the Germans or the English. Still they are aware of all the advantages of Swiss watch brands. As a result there is quite a good demand for Swiss made watches ranging from US$ 200 to 1500. The most popular are Tissot, Longines, Edox, Christian Bernard, Atlantic, Appella, Sector and Maurice Lacroix, but the list is far too long to mention here. Tthe middle-class is not very large in Ukraine now but within it we can find today a strong tendency to have several watches for different occasions. And here lies the source of optimism for many watch wholesalers and retailers.

The third segment of the Ukrainian market belongs to luxury watches. Needless to say, only a rather small number of people can afford to buy a jewellery watch or a tourbillon at a prices over and beyond US$ 100,000. It was quite a surprise to find out at the SIHH in 2002, that Ukraine is the 10th largest importer of luxury watches. Naturally, among those who can buy such expensive and extravagant timepieces nobody wants to advertise their purchase. But it is known for sure that Audemars Piguet, Franck Muller and Girard-Perregaux, as well as many other high-end watch brands, have found customers in the Ukraine. And in 2002, Breguet even became the brand of the year in this country.

Step by step, but rather rapidly, the approach to watch retailing has also changed,. Just 10 years ago, an everyday sight was dreary counters crammed full of watches of different brands standing amongst clothes or footwear. Several years later the main players of the watch market understood the necessity of representing their merchandise in an attractive way. The consumer became more experienced and informed. It was not enough for them simply to see Swiss watches. They started to look for ambience, a pleasant and harmonious environment for their purchases. That is why the retailers began to create specialized watch shops.

Today the most significant importers of watches to Ukraine are constructing retail networks. Most of them have their own niche and their own target group of customers. For example, Noblesse Watch Galleries represent only brands of the Swatch Group. Sekunda watch and clock shops sell goods under the slogan 'Watches for everybody' and expose models in the low to mid-price range. Châtel, the network of specialized watch salons deals only with independent Swiss watch brands from the mid-priced to luxury range. There are also some very exclusive boutiques selling only luxury watches to a very selective circle of customers.

Those three enterprises mentioned above are typical but by no means the only ones. Watches have become one of the most popular objects among the broad mass of Ukrainians. Glamour magazines, TV programmes and radio stations make it a matter of honour to include information about different watch brands and advertising agencies use images of watches in their work to underline the accuracy or reliability of the product they are promoting. So it is no wonder that under such conditions new watch retailers or watch departments in large department stores are opening almost monthly.

The Ukraine market is becoming more and more saturated with all kinds of watches. Modern consumers are better informed and more sophisticated and the players in the game have to invent new ways of attracting clients to their products.

Today, I think it is fair to say that Ukraine now appears on the watch maps of the world.