Telegraph Watch Supplement

[tribe125]

Because of Baselworld it's watch supplement time for British newspapers. Here are some snippets from The Telegraph:


Watch sales in Britain

• Watch sales in the rest of the world have dipped but in Britain have risen by 2.3%. The last decline in the UK was in 2002, and there was even slow growth in the crash of 2008.
  
  
• This is evident in Bond Street where Patek Phillippe and Jaeger-Le Coultre have doubled their space, Breguet has grown and IWC and Blancpain have opened boutiques. The new Watches of Switzerland branch in Regent Street is Europe's largest watch store. This is in spite of lower sales to Russian, Chinese and Middle East tourists.
  
  
• Most of the overall increase in sales has come not from London, but the regions. 70% of Bremont sales are outside London. The hotspots are tourist towns such as Bath, York and Edinburgh, and university cities such as Glasgow, Leeds and Cambridge, which are attracting foreign students and their families.
  
  
• Men and women increasingly want different watches for different occasions. Customer's watch knowledge has increased.
  
  
• Patek Phillippe and Rolex have 'the lion's share' of the British luxury market.
  
  
• Zenith is enjoying double-digit UK growth.
  
  
• The customer experience at Mallory in Bath may include private plane trips to Patek Phillippe.

James Dowling on 'British' watches

Referring to Bremont, Schofield, Uniform Wares, etc., and debates about the origin of components, he says: 'I think they have every right to call themselves British, as all their watches are designed in Britain and it is design that defines a watch'.



Carlo Brandelli, creative director at Saville Row tailor Kilgour

Believes that formal watches should be rectangular, because rectangular is more masculine than round. He wears and admires rectangular digital watches.

[CFR]

Carlo Brandelli, creative director at Saville Row tailor Kilgour

Believes that formal watches should be rectangular, because rectangular is more masculine than round.

[geoffbot]

Thanks for the summary Alan. And happy birthday!!

[Nokie]

Good info.