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Luxury watchmakers around the world are struggling more than they may be making out, though the cheaper watch market remains strong, it is believed
The market for cheaper and more affordable watches may continue to register a strong rebound, though the luxury watch market seems to be struggling, a new report has asserted.
According to the Globe and Mail, luxury watch makers are saying that the worst is over, though many industry executives, analysts and private entrepreneurs are far from expectant that a quick return to the double-digit export growth rates of the 2000s can be made any time soon.
It was during this period that Swiss watch making doubled in size due to a heady mix of rising prices and improved export volumes.
Fawaz Gruosi, a friend to Bond girl Caterina Murino and supermodel Naomi Campbell who both love his elaborate jewellery, said that 2009 was the toughest year since Japanese quartz watches flooded the traditionally Swiss market in the 1970s.
He asserted: “Everyone is saying the crisis is over. But I don’t have the same feeling. We are selling things that are not necessary to people. Even if they have money, they are more cautious about spending it.”
There have been a number of high-end releases this month, including Longines’ Charles Lindbergh-inspired Atlantic Voyage Watch, which marks the crossing of the Atlantic by the expert pilot.
This year Baume & Mercier is celebrating its 180th anniversary. In 1830 Louis Victor Baume and Pierre-Joseph Célestin Baume founded the watch makers of the same name in the Les Bois village, in the Swiss Jura Mountains. Their motto, “Accept only perfection, only manufacture watches of the highest quality.” In 1920 Baume & Co became Baume & Mercier with the partnership between William Baume, talented watch maker and grandson of the founder, and Paul Mercier.
One hundred and eighty years of fine watch making results in an envious heritage. And now in 2010 Baume & Mercier watches are on the social media network sites Twitter and Facebook. In creating a Twitter account and a Facebook page Baume & Mercier are looking for novel ways of interacting with watch enthusiasts. And they have chosen an interesting way of going about this.
Through Twitter and Facebook this prestigious watch maker invites internet users to rediscover its heritage and its history. On Facebook they present a diary entitled ‘Secrets of a Watch making Family’ in which the story of the birth of Baume & Mercier is retold in both English and French. Through daily ‘tweets’ and updates anecdotes and insights from the daring watch makers are shared with followers and fans.
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