In the new world of transparency, the consumer has the final say and in the latest Ultra-Luxury Watches Brand Status Index survey, conducted by the New York City-based Luxury Institute, Franck Muller earned top honors as the most prestigious purveyor in the Ultra-Luxury Watches segment (score of 80), as rated and ranked by America's penta-millionaires. Patek Phillipe placed second with 79; Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet, and Breguet tied for third place in a field of superstar brands.

“The results indicate that the top brands differ in perception along different dimensions of the pillars of a luxury brand, said Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute.”It was a close ratings process overall, but with different winners in the individual pillars of luxury. Patek was rated best in consistently superior quality, and as the brand that delivers the most social status. Franck Muller distinguished itself as the truly unique and exclusive brand and the brand that can make the acquirer feel special across the entire customer experience. It was also rated most worthy of a significant price premium."

Seventeen brands were rated overall including (alphabetically): Audemars Piguet, Bedat, Blancpain, Breguet, Cartier, Franck Muller, Girard-Perregaux, Harry Winston, Hermes, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Patek Philippe, Piaget, Rolex, Ulysse Nardin, Vacheron Constantin, and Van Cleef & Arpels.

The proprietary Luxury Brand Status Index (LBSI) is the only measure available of the value and equity of leading luxury brands to wealthy Americans, based on statistically meaningful objective and independent data collected from wealthy consumers themselves. The LBSI incorporates four main “pillars” of value: consistently superior quality, uniqueness and exclusivity, a measure of enhanced social status, and a measure of the ability of a brand to make a customer “feel special.” Seven point scale ratings are converted to a 0-100 scale.

In addition to individual and composite metrics by age, gender, income and net worth segments among the wealthy, the survey measures a brand's ability to merit a significant premium price and measures the correlation of price premium worthiness with the composite index of the four critical factors above. Another critical metric of the research is a rating by wealthy consumers as to the brand's erosion or enhancement over the past 12 months.

Using LBSI, the Luxury Institute surveyed a nationally representative, statistical sample of more than 400 households with a minimum of $200,000 in gross annual household income and minimum household net worth of $5 million (including home equity). Brands rated were selected with the assistance of leading industry experts including manufacturers, retailers and journalists. The low awareness of many brands rendered them unable to be rated for lack of a statistical sample. To be rated a brand must not only be on the market, but it must also generate enough awareness within the ultra- wealthy consumer market to be measurable.

About the Luxury Institute
The Luxury Institute is the uniquely independent and objective research institution that focuses solely on the
top 10 percent of America's wealthy. The Institute provides a portfolio of proprietary publications and research that guide and educate high net-worth individuals and the companies that cater to them on leading edge trends, wealthy consumer rankings and ratings of luxury brands, and best practices. Publications include the monthly Wealth Report, the Luxury Brand Status Index surveys, the Luxury Best Practices surveys and the Luxury Consumer Experience Index surveys. To reach the Luxury Institute, please call 646-792-2669 or go to www.luxuryinstitute.com


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