Are Boutique Edition Watches Making Timepiece Shopping More Outlet Specific?
3 min read
As the trend of exclusivity and limited edition timepieces catches on, there is now a wide set of watches that are boutique specific, what does this mean for shoppers who still like to look at a whole array of options?
Late last year there the monumental decision of Rolex acquiring retail giant Bucherer left the watch world in a tizzy. The friendship between the houses dates back to the early 1920s and while Bucherer has always sold Rolex timepieces, the fact that now Rolex will be the owner of the group left many in deep uncertainty. But this is just the start, with almost 50 brands under their umbrella, would the future of their sales be defined by the house of Rolex themselves? According to the official statement made by the brand, “Bucherer will keep its name and continue to independently run its business. The Group’s management team will remain unchanged. Bucherer’s integration into the Rolex group will be effective once the competition authorities have approved the takeover transaction”
But this is one end of the spectrum, on the other hand we see brands like IWC, F.P. Journe, Omega, Zenith amongst others focusing on ‘Boutique Edition’ timepieces. This means that the said model will only be available in select boutiques around the world and nowhere else. Most of these boutiques are known to be owned solely by the brands themselves and these editions almost never reach retail partners, shifting the brand loyalists' purchasing habits to particular locales.
While Limited Editions and Unique pieces have always been a part of the watch lingo for as long as one can remember, point-of-sale-specific pieces have become a trend of the recent past. A reaction to this would be retailer-specific timepieces that have also become a wave that seems to be tiding the market over. Watch giant Ethos has been known to collaborate with Bovet and Raymond Weil, while Kapoor Watch Company created a timepiece with Franck Muller and Rose Watch Bar collaborated with Bulgari. Limited in numbers too, these pieces were quickly sold out and only a select few got access, pivoting customers who have been ardent shoppers from the said retailers to ‘special status’ granting them access to pieces only legible to their own database.
With the plethora of brands entering and re-entering the India market, the chatter of where to buy these special boutique editions still remains. While today there is an array of stand-alone stores for various watch brands, that are slowly but surely stocking these in boutique editions in limited quantities, these stores are now hubs for true collectors.
The future from here appears to be that of a customer who is fully informed and knows what they want, people are sure of their choices and for those who aren’t the multi-brand stores will always serve as a starting point to understand their choices, see what is out there and what fancies their palette.
