Watch collectors and investors in London are celebrating the reopening of The Watch Gal-lery at the same address as before (129 Fulham Road). It had been acquired by Preston & Duckworth, led by Neil Duckworth, in April 2004 from TWG Distribution Ltd., which wanted to concentrate on its Breitling distribution business. The Watch Gallery suffered a £2.5 million robbery the following November, and in June 2005 Preston & Duckworth went into liquidation. All very sad, but a white knight was on his way to rescue the prestigious business.
He is Eugene LeBlanc, a young Dutchman with watch distribution experience in the Benelux countries. He also distributes Bell & Ross wristwatches in the UK, and naturally they have their place in the revived Watch Gallery, alongside many leading brands. Bell & Ross is 30% owned by the family that controls Chanel.
A hundred yards further down London’s elegant Fulham Road lies the island site of Theo Fennell. This glossy emporium and its equally glossy eponymous design director have gained fame for celebrity customers. Among these Franck Muller gem-encrusted timepieces find great favour. Last Christmas was the tenth during which a unique limited edition Franck Muller watch was on offer. The latest was an adapted Casablanca called Nile. Theo Fennell is expanding fast, with outlets in Harrods and at Heathrow, in Dubai, Barbados (where he plays his golf), and Marbella. More stores around the world are planned, a new Fragrance is on its way, and new investors are coming on board. But Theo continues to design his own watches.
The big news in the retail scene here is the acquisition of the MW Group for £21 million by Baugur Group, an Icelandic company which in recent years has purchased about eight retail chains (mostly fashion, and also the Hamleys toy shop). Importantly these include Goldsmiths, which fetched £110 million and included 170 stores, making it the UK’s second largest watch and jewellery retailer (after Signet).
Goldsmiths (founded in 1778) is the country’s largest distributor for Cartier, Gucci, Rolex and TAG Heuer. It is now to be combined with the MW Group, which, under chief executive Nick Evans, consists of eighteen Mappin & Webb stores, six Watches of Switzerland shops in premier positions, and a Watches 24 outlet. There will be site-swapping no doubt and one or two closures. Jurek Piasecki will probably chair the company, as he was one of the investors in the Baugur consortium. The MW Group had been bought out of Asprey & Garrard by its management and an equity investment company in 1998. Incidentally, Aspreys has just sold its huge new flagship store in New Bond Street to a property company, to help its international expansion plans.
Next to Aspreys stands the gleaming Marcus store, named after its ebullient owner and creator Marcus Margulies. Through his separate distribution company Time Products he handles brands such as Alain Silberstein, Audemars Piguet, Girard-Perregaux, Franck Muller, Piaget – and Hublot, a new arrival. This latter independent watchmaker, now led by Jean-Claude Biver, recently won the Best Design Prize in the Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix with its new Big Bang chronograph.
This exciting model graces not only the windows of Marcus but was also featured in a large national advertising campaign in the months before last Christmas. The newspaper campaign was eye-catching because it brilliantly demonstrated the breadth of the store’s stock. Recent independent brands now on sale there include Carlo Ferrara, Greubel Forsey, Kronotype, Pierre DeRoche, Urwerk and Vogard.
Timepieces in Marcus are big-ticket items, and justifiably so. Unlike easywatches – yes, brought to you online and also in his airspace by the founder of everybody’s favourite low-cost, London-based airline, easyjet. Between £10 and £30 is what they cost. But you don’t get a world timer for such prices. You go to Fulham Road and New Bond Street for those.


Source: February - March 2006 Issue