Sean Polan, national sales director for Axessimo International, which distributes Maurice Lacroix and Davidoff, is anticipating the Swiss franc saga will have a definite effect on sales, which when coupled with Canada’s own currencies woes, may make for some trying times.
“I think things will be a little more difficult over the next two to three years,” says Polan.
“People will be more careful in terms of what they buy and their spending budget won’t be as high. At some point, you have no choice but to increase prices, which a lot of brands have done already this year. With our Canadian dollar being weak, it’s costing us more money to buy product, even though our pricing has not increased with the brands we distribute.”
Virginie Riot-Billet, vice-president of Gc International, says that based on retailer feedback on its latest models, things look optimistic for 2015.
“This reception bodes well for the rest of the year and we feel confident the market is still buoyant for Swiss watches as long as they provide some point of difference in their look and offer a good quality/price ratio,” she explained, adding that offering lower price points will also helping to cushion sticker shock at the retail level.
Trend news from the aisles included a return to more reasonably sized cases, an about-face from previous years where oversized watches were the norm. Designs also leaned toward vintage, while open work or skeletonized dials allowing a peek at movements were also popular. If you scanned the collections of many brands, watches featuring blue dials or blue leather straps were sure to be among this year’s offering.
But without a doubt, the talk in the halls centred on the smartwatch showdown between Switzerland and Silicon Valley, as each aims to infiltrate the other’s domain by highlighting their own strengths and the other’s weaknesses. With a record number of 4300 journalists attending this year, many speculated the world’s press converged on Basel eager to report on a wave of smartwatches introduced at the show from Swiss brands, including Frederique Constant and Tag Heuer.
Sian Williams, president of Bulova Corp., says smartwatches were definitely the subject of discussion at the show and in the company’s booth in particular, with clients asking if the brand would be designing a wearable of its own.
“They’re certainly asking us, and since we’re owned by Citizen, we’ve been told we can have a smartwatch in 18 months if we need one,” she said. “But we’re not ready to jump on it just yet. It’s not our position to chase it at the moment.”
Polan says he believes smartwatches are a temporary threat to the traditional watch sector, particularly when it comes to Apple’s 18-karat gold model, which starts at $10,000 US.
