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You are what you wear

Luxury watch sales keep rising despite inflation and a tough economic environment

Nina Suebsukcharoen

``A watch is a very sophisticated form of contemporary art,'' says Narun Thamavaranukup, managing director of PMT The Hour Glass. The new joint venture between his family's Prima Times and the well-known Singaporean upmarket watch chain is off to a healthy start, with combined sales up 80% in its first three months.

The Thai passion for luxury watches is as strong as ever, judging by the hoopla surrounding the current expositions of high-end timepieces at leading department stores.

While there are concerns about rising inflation, there is not a murmur among affluent consumers when it comes to buying a pricey watch, because it is so much a part of our psyche that we are what we wear.

Narun Thamavaranukup, managing director of PMT The Hour Glass, said that different watches represented different images. Patek Philippe has a very authentic traditional style while Chopard is a very young and sporty brand that also has a reputation as a fine jeweller. Then there are independent watchmakers such as Philippe Dufour, Vianney Halter and Kari Voutilainen who create watches just for the passion of it.

"A watch is a very sophisticated form of contemporary art. Some watches take five years of innovation and one year of manufacturing and it requires highly skilled watchmakers to complete each piece. Each watch would contain more than 200 parts while some contain more than a thousand," he added.

Switzerland remains the world's champion maker of these jewels that adorn our wrists. However, Mr Narun quickly pointed out that Switzerland's storied independent watchmakers were by no means better than the big brands - the difference is that they focus on making contemporary and art watches.

Devotees of Philip Stein timepieces include Oprah Winfrey, Jackie Chan and Madonna.

The history of the industry is itself fascinating. In the 19th century, it was the English who dominated this industry and first made the marine chronometer which helped their navy be the best in the world. However, toward the end of the century, when the industrial revolution took hold, the industry faded away in England and the Swiss took over.

"The Swiss were very good at it and the interest in watchmaking grew so much in Switzerland, peaking at around 1950s and 1960s. In the 1970s, when the quartz movement was developed by the Japanese, Swiss watchmaking basically died. There were 90,000 watchmakers in Switzerland in the 1970s, but after the quartz crisis there were barely 20,000 watchmakers left. Today, if you look at the perspective of how much demand has risen since the 1970s, there are 45,000 to 50,000 watchmakers."

While the Swiss have risen again in this arena, they have not embraced the quartz technology wholesale. Although some Swiss watch brands have incorporated it in their timepieces, the value of a Swiss watch still lies in its mechanical movement that does not involve quartz.

"It's all a flow of energy within the watch that creates the unique mechanism that makes a watch tick, so in a way, I would say it's also art."

Other European countries too are now competing quite well against the Swiss, with the Germans having developed their industry substantially. "There is some influence from the Swiss watch industry but the Germans also have their typical watchmaking styles, unique in themselves, and then the French and the English also have their own traditional ways of watchmaking."

Mr Narun added that the Americans are also a force to be reckoned with in the world of watches, having come up with something totally unique - Philip Stein Teslar watches.

"Basically you have to think of it like this: the two chips that are embedded in the watch interact with the watch movement to create a unique frequency that is around 7 to 9 hertz. This frequency is so unique that it is only emitted when the human body functions efficiently, when you are in a state of calm, peace, when you are meditating or when you are performing your best ... this frequency will counter all the negative frequencies in the modern metropolitan lifestyle, all the stresses, the signals created by mobile phones, TVs and computers. These frequencies you experience everyday make it harder for you to sleep, recover from jet lag and prevent you from performing your level best. The way this science works helps you sleep longer and deeper."

According to Mr Narun, the best way to find out about this technology is to read the testimonials of those who have worn a Philip Stein watch. One of the key spokespersons is Oprah Winfrey even though she is not paid a single dime to say anything about it. Other celebrities that have taken to it include Asian stars such as Jackie Chan and pop superstar Madonna. "The Belgian Tour de France cycling team were wearing Philip Stein while racing."

Of course, they are those who say these health claims are quite dubious and buying these watches is a huge extravagance. But time will tell.

While there are no internationally famous Thai watch brands, Mr Narun says the country is in fact one of the major exporters of watch parts. "There are some very big watch part factories in Thailand. They make dials and hands for some brand names."

Mr Narun's fascination with watches stems from his family's involvement in retailing luxury timepieces for the last 10 years through Prima Times, where he has been involved for the last three. His family has also operated the Blue River Diamond jewellers for 30 years.

After Prima Times registered 35% growth over the last three years, Mr Narun decided to link up with the Singaporean watch retailer The Hour Glass, which has 22 boutiques in several countries including Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia and Australia. The new joint venture company, PMT The Hour Glass, opened its doors last April and is off to a bright start with combined figures of the first three months of its operation jumping 80% year-on-year.

"I think our customer base has doubled. Prima Times' customer base used to be very much focused on high-end jewellery timepieces whereas The Hour Glass has been focused on complication watches."

While admitting the Thai economy has seen inconsistent growth over the past three years, Mr Narun said he went ahead with the joint venture because Prima Times had succeeded in increasing sales during this shaky period and The Hour Glass too did very well in Hong Kong and Singapore.

"Yes, there's always risk in all the business decisions we make but we have to counter that with the opportunity."

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