Time for luxury watches is not standing still with a plethora of brands taking advantage of the rising demand and opening up flagship stores in key city locations across Sydney and Melbourne.
Watches are so popular not just for fashion use but also as investment tools and the 3Ws – watches, wheels and whiskey, are considered the male equivalent to the Hermes Birkin and Kelly Bags.
So high is the demand for some Rolex watches that customers can wait up to six months to have their orders fulfilled.
The new Piaget store at 84 King Street, Sydney
In the latest Knight Frank global Wealth Report’s Luxury Investment Index, watch sales took third place, behind cars and artwork, up 18 per cent.
Watches are considered a top investment and judging by the number of new stores opening, demand is very high for the timepieces,
Knight Frank head of retail leasing Alex Alamsyah
Retail experts said there is a definite split in the sector with spending on luxury handbags, accessories and apparel strong, in defiance of the flat underlying economy.
IBISWorld said the market size, measured by revenue, of the local luxury retailing industry was $4.7 billion in 2022, which was a growth rate of 9.5 per cent on the previous year.
Alex Alamsyah, partner, head of retail leasing at Knight Frank said the Rolex Daytona Oystersteel Panda Dial retails for $22,000, but some sales have reached as much as $55,000.
“Watches are considered a top investment and judging by the number of new stores opening, demand is very high for the timepieces,” Alamsyah said.
Luxury Watches in the Sydney CBD are concentrated in Market Street, where Rolex, Breitling, Van Cleef & Arpels, Grand Seiko and Tag Heuer all have a presence.
Last week, the Swiss watch brand Piaget branched out and opened a flagship store on King Street, bolstering its growing presence in the region. It also has a store in Westfield Sydney.
The boutique, located at 84 King Street, covers 100 square and features the brand’s collections including Piaget Polo, Piaget Possession, Piaget Rose, Piaget Limelight Gala, and Piaget’s Exceptional High Jewellery Creations.
“We are thrilled to extend our impressive retail footprint in Oceania, the new King Street boutique will play a major role in the expansion of our brand identity in this key market”, Piaget chief executive Benjamin Comar said.
Piaget Oceania brand director Gaspard Barthelemy added the opening marks a key step in the brand’s growth across Australia.
“This opening marks a major new step to ensure we offer the best possible experience for our growing prestigious Piaget clients,” Barthelemy said.
It will join other big names including Panerai, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Hublot, Cartier, Montblanc, Chopard, Chaumet, Vacheron Constantin and Patek Philippe, among others.
Vintage Longines and Seiko watches provide good valueCredit:
“If you have two 100 square metre shops sitting side by side, one leased to a coffee shop and one leased to a luxury watch brand, the former can generate between $1.5 million to $3 million sales per annum, while the luxury jeweller can generate more than $10 million sales per annum,” Alamsyah said.
“Using these figures and including a 10 per cent occupancy cost – paid by the tenant – most of the Sydney CBD landlords wish to get luxury watches as their tenants.”
Melbourne’s Collins Street retail strip is also a timekeeping hotspot with luxury Swiss watch retailer Breitling securing a berth in new retail space created by Investa for its refurbished foyer at 120 Collins Street.
The move, negotiated by AP’s Zelman Ainsworth, puts Breitling in the Paris end of Collins Street, a few blocks away from their new hub between Swanston and Elizabeth streets.
Ainsworth declined to comment on the deal which is the latest in a string of leases involving watch retailers.
Ainsworth said major brands are opening “company-owned stores on Collins Streets, as opposed to those under license agreements, which used to be common when international retailers were entering and developing Australia”.
“Luxury retail on Collins St has matured, with multiple luxury groups entering their second or third lease terms in their current flagship locations,” Ainsworth said.
Japanese watchmaker Grand Seiko is about to open a new shop in one of the Block Arcade’s premier Collins Street spaces.
Grant Cohen owner of Melbourne’s Block Arcade which has secured Bremont Watches as a tenantCredit: Eamon Gallagher
Grand Seiko is replacing Wittner Shoes in the 83 square metre shop and will be only the third retailer to occupy the space in the arcade’s 131-year history.
This patch of Collins Street now boasts Watches of Switzerland, Tag Heuer, Bremont, Bell & Ross and retail operations of Singapore-listed watch retailer The Hour Glass.
Such is the demand for luxury timepieces, in Sydney this month, 14 top watch manufacturers participated in the About Time Watch Fair that was officially launched at The Charles Grand Brasserie 66 King Street.
It was attended subscribers to the Australian Financial Review who could go to hourly events in boutiques and flagship stores mainly in King Street and Market Street. The brands at the fair included Breitling, Cartier, Chopard, Grand Seiko and Hublot.
Upmarket Jaeger-LeCoultre, Louis Vuitton, Panerai, Piaget, Ralph Lauren, Roger Dubuis, Tag Heuer and Vacheron Constantin also opened their doors for the event.
There are some big names that are not yet in Sydney in bricks and mortar stores included Audemars Piguet, Blancpain, Breguet, Boucheron, F.P. Journe and Harry Winston, among others.
Alamsyah declined to comment on which ones are coming, but he said he confirmed he is working with some of these names for prime Sydney CBD sites.
