RADO r5.5 Watch, designed by Jasper Morrison, High Tech Ceramic Bracelet, sapphire crystal, skeleton red counter hands, $3,200.

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Not so long ago, a wristwatch was simply a timepiece. Now, since people tell time with laptops, phones, even keychains, the watch has taken on new roles: wearable art, accessory, status symbol

and fashion statement. The fashion watch, in this context, has become an important segment of the industry.

“Everyone has a Blackberry or an iPhone; technology has replaced the need to carry a watch to tell time,” says Taryn Doobay, national brand manager for Rado watches in Canada, “but it hasn’t eliminated people’s desire to express themselves by putting something on their wrists.”

Mark Friedman, brand manager for Alliance Watch Group, takes the common view that a fashion watch is “any watch brand that is not just a company that makes watches.” For example, he names Kenneth Cole, Dolce & Gabbana and Christian Autiger, designer of the Ed Hardy line, among the fashion watch lines that Alliance Watch Group works with. “If you look at their watches, you see that they really replicate their clothing brands,” he says. “The D&G [watches] are flashy and chic,

whereas Kenneth Cole signifies more of a men’s brand with the suit and tie.”

However, Doobay points out, “over the past five years, the watch industry overall has been paying more attention to the design world in terms of colours, materials and overall aesthetic as they relate to apparel trends. Watches are becoming more and more a personal purchase that makes a statement about who you are. Most watches are more or less tied to fashion.”

Although fashion watches are priced under $1,000, with most in the $200-$700 range, the term is not strictly defined by price point, says Steve Levy, CEO of Ottimo Creations. “We started Ottimo to distribute Fendi watches; I guess you would say that Fendi is a fashion brand,” he says. “But fashion could go to any price. Fendi just came out with a new watch that changes the colour of the stones: diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and so on, so if your dress goes with sapphires, you turn the crown and the 12 numbers show up as sapphires.”

A Timely TrendDoes the fashion watch belong in your window?

By Sarah B. hood

70 CJ j u n e / j u ly 2 0 1 0 w w w. c a n a d i a n j e w e l l e r. c o m

Levy also distinguishes a separate category, the lifestyle watch, a name he uses to describe Ottimo’s TW Steel brand. “It’s not a fashion watch in that it’s not something you would wear to match your clothing,” he says. Instead, the brand (priced from $250 to $1,000) is aligned with a contemporary masculine lifestyle. There are promotional tie-ins with basketball, hockey and football; TW Steel is also the official timing partner of the Renault F1 team.

Stephen Taylor, president of Bulova Canada, sees fashion watches from a somewhat different point of view: “the perspective is that fashion is not so much a product category as a consumer segment,” he says. Based on the company’s own research, which is shared with customers, Taylor identifies 10 specific segments of buyers of watches over $150, of which one is defined as being “specifically interested in a watch purchase as a fashion accessory.”

In this segment of the market, buyers typically “view the watch as a fashion accessory rather than as an extension of their personalities,” he says. The group spans all ages, but it is 85 per cent female. They will buy watches on impulse and wear a different watch for different occasions. “Because they do, they will own many watches, and the price point tends to be less,” Taylor adds. “Diamonds tend to comprise a smaller portion of the watches; crystals make up a bigger portion of the category, and the majority of these watches are non-Swiss made.”

Since the fashion watch customer will typically buy more than one watch, “it’s probably getting to where they are going to have a watch wardrobe,” says Doobay. “In Europe, that’s certainly the case, and I think we’re moving towards that in North America.”

“Somebody who’s not in the watch business may ask: how much volume can you do?” says Friedman. “The truth is, when it comes to fashion items, every year there’s something new.”

Taylor cautions that “we’ve got to be really careful not to define fashion watches as strictly inexpensive watches, but on balance these are going to tend to be less expensive watches. The other thing to bear in mind is that this category represents less than 10 per cent of total watch spending. More purchases are going to be made in a fashion environment as opposed to a jewellery store. Depending what segment you’re in, I wouldn’t suggest that more than 10 per cent of total space be given over to the fashion category.”

The strength of this categoryis evidenced by the success of the Edmonton-based company Watch It! Launched in November 1999 by entrepreneur Darren Bondar, Watch It! carries a wide range of brands – not exclusively fashion watches. The company now has 21 outlets across the country, of which 15 are franchises. “Our primary customers are in the 18-to-25-year-old demographic,” says Bondar.

“we’ve got to be really careful not to define

fashion watches as strictly inexpensive watches,

but on balance these are going to tend to be less

expensive watches.”

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TW Steel CEO Collection. 50mm rose gold plated case with black dial and black leather strap, $795.

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Watch Advertisers in this issueBlue Point Jewelleryt: 416.866.7402

Bulovat: 416.751.7151w: www.bulova.com

Cool Stuff Importst: 416.409.3855

Butterfly Gem Collectiont: 418.660.2909w: www.bfly.ca

Ottimo Creationst: 514.332.0301w: www.ottimocreations.com

But does the fashion watch belong in a jewellery store? Bondar thinks not. “Do you want a $150 fashion watch in a store that is also selling diamonds? It doesn’t necessarily mix,” he says.

However, Friedman points out that the same customer who buys expensive jewellery might also be interested in designer-name watches at lower price points if they match her look: “a lot of the customers don’t necessarily want a high quality watch, but something that looks very nice. A lot of the jewellery stores are not selling the high-end watch, but are selling the $200 to $600 watches,” he says. “The key with the fashion names is that the customers like to look for the names they’re familiar with. And these customers want to buy things for their friends, gifts for their children; they don’t always want to buy a $3,000 gift.”

A line like Rado, which is the $3,000 to $6,000 segment within the Swatch group, caters to the desire for style, but at a higher price point than the standard fashion watch. “We typically are surrounded in showcases by the traditional watch – TAG Heuer, Cartier, Baume & Mercier – but we tend to have more success when we’re grouped with Dior and Chanel, which are in the $5,000 range,” says Doobay. She observes that lines like Michael Kors, in the under-$1,000 category, do well in the same environment. Bulova Canada offers a variety of lines that can be defined as fashion watches. “Caravel, which is our lowest priced brand, fits in that $99 to $250 price range,” says Bulova’s vice-president of sales, Jay Cameron. “Some of the Caravel creep up to the $200 price point with diamonds.”

“Importantly, 25 per cent of what we put into the Caravel category is specifically targeted to this fashion consumer,” says Bulova president Stephen Taylor.

The Bulova brand, at $150 to $750, targets “a more sophisticated consumer,” says Cameron. “These people are looking for something traditional, but fashionable enough that it stands out across the table.” At $125 to $400, the Harley Davidson brand appeals to the well heeled man. “These are pretty affluent, well-educated consumers,” he says. “If men are looking at a fashion brand, this is one that really fits.”

Bulova is also launching a new collection this summer called Adventurer, which targets the younger consumer, in the $250 to $450 range. “I wouldn’t say they would fall into the traditional definition of fashion watch, but they would appeal to the demographic because of the price point,” says Cameron.

Should fine jewellery stores carry fashion watches? “It comes down to how comfortable an owner feels in being able to carry a line,” concludes Doobay.

(top left) Ladies Automatic, BVA-Series 130, 44 Diamonds, $850; (top right) Ladies Automatic, BVA-Series 140, 44 Diamonds, $895; (bottom) Ladies Automatic, BVA-Series 135, Skeleton Dial with 24 Diamonds, $750. All Bulova.

Stullert: 337.262.7700w: www.stuller.com