MILAN — Because the Timex Group Luxurious Division was arrange in 2005, the watch sector has modified dramatically, with a rising urge for food for top watchmaking items and reportedly much less drive for mid-priced designs.
That hasn’t stopped the Switzerland-based division of the American Timex Group to take care of its momentum, leveraging its portfolio of style manufacturers, which incorporates Versace, Ferragamo, Missoni and Philipp Plein.
“The previous few years have been very optimistic for us, due to sure stylistic decisions and the enlargement of our portfolio,” stated Paolo Marai, president and chief government officer of the division.
That comes in opposition to a not-so-favorable market, he opined. “Export developments, particularly in our worth vary, have been destructive over the previous two years. Quite the opposite, we had been in a position to maintain progressing year-over-year,” he stated.
Marai attributed the division’s performances to its high-quality stance, ensured by its in-house Swiss atelier, and broad distribution, with a footprint in about 64 international locations globally.
“Ten years in the past, after we solely leveraged a few areas, we had been extra uncovered to market and geopolitical headwinds. As we speak it’s rather more balanced,” he stated.
Versace is the division’s jewel within the crown with a robust footprint and shopper curiosity within the U.S. and Center East. It presently accounts for the majority of the corporate’s revenues, though the chief declined to offer actual figures.
The posh division was established by father or mother Timex Group in 2005, debuting its first assortment of timepieces with Versace at the moment. It added Salvatore Ferragamo in 2007 and Missoni in 2019. In 2021 it inked an settlement with Philipp Plein, who, as reported, has massive ambitions, and a private ardour, for watches.
Marai stated the corporate’s goal is to continue to grow the Versace profile, seeing enormous potential throughout geographies. “It’s the lion’s share in time period of revenues,” he stated. “It’s the longest-standing relationship we’ve got and it retains rising at important charges, even past our expectations. It reveals that the model’s vitality is exceptional,” he stated.
The Versace DV One Gent watches.
Marai underscored how from the watchmaker’s perspective, the acquisition of Versace by Capri Holdings in 2017 has been a profitable transfer. It’s but to be seen if Capri’s takeover by Tapestry Inc., doubtless poised for completion in 2024, could have any affect on the watch enterprise however the government sounded assured in forecasting a double-digit enhance in revenues in Versace timepieces subsequent yr.
“The model is experiencing a really optimistic and blissful second. We all know there’s a cyclic nature to manufacturers’ [desirability], and this can be a very optimistic part,” Marai opined.
“It’s been very true to itself with razor-sharp defining codes, which had been telegraphed not essentially all the time in a loud and robust method,” he stated. “The Versace DNA is powerful, by all means, but it surely was expressed in a subtler approach most just lately,” benefiting the watch division, he added.
The primary marketplace for Versace timepieces was the Center East however was just lately changed by the U.S. and extra broadly the Americas, which have seen substantial progress up to now few years, Marai stated.
This aligns with the distribution footprint of the watchmaker’s portfolio.
Though the Ferragamo model is in a restructuring mode and the midterm technique has but to pay again (gross sales within the 9 months to Sept. 30 dipped 8.3 % to 844.2 million euros), Marai stated that the Florentine home is sustaining momentum in its key watch market of Asia, with a very sturdy efficiency in South Korea, the place the division companions with a neighborhood distributor that operates retail models. The model has additionally expanded its footprint in underdeveloped areas, together with the Center East, the U.S. and Europe.
The Ferragamo Curve assortment of watches.
As for the newly licensed Plein, Marai argued that it was the quickest rising model beneath the corporate’s umbrella. “It’s the newest we added, however already a pillar,” he provided. “It’s particularly essential in Europe, which was a deprived marketplace for us. Conventional Swiss watchmaking tradition has penalized us up to now, however Plein has a robust attraction from customers,” Marai stated.
“Our partnership with him could be very tight as a result of he’s founder and designer and spokesman. He obsesses over timepieces and has a robust grip on every little thing, from product creativity to distribution. He’s dedicated on all fronts,” Marai defined.
Plein and Timex Group Luxurious Division’s plans for the previous’s debut within the Swiss watchmaking enviornment had been very bold, with positioning above all different manufacturers within the latter’s portfolio.
“It’s a statement-making positioning, very costly and we’ll launch actions which are thought-about because the Olympus of watchmaking, retailing at about 40,000 or 50,000 euros,” Marai stated.
The inaugural assortment, unveiled on the sidelines of Watches & Wonders final March, kicked off Plein’s “phygital” venture, which boasted a variety consisting of eight Crypto King and 6 Crypto Queen timepieces, every paired with an NFT artwork piece by artist Antoni Tudisco. They’re priced between 2,700 and 20,000 euros.
Timex Group Luxurious Division is betting massive on Plein’s retail footprint, understanding it could have been trickier for it to faucet into the precise shopper for the expensive and loud Plein designs.
“Taking the gathering on the highway, he collected orders from customers world wide who paid for the watches in full and can obtain them in six months’ time… He has an impeccable attraction on finish customers, so we favored direct distribution,” he defined. “That stated, we’re mapping the retail scene to try to discover companions in our community, however we should be cautious as a result of it’s a flagship venture and we’ve got to keep away from missteps.”
Plein’s high-priced timepieces aren’t Timex Group Luxurious Division’s first try at such a positioning. Till 2009, Marai stated, each Ferragamo and Versace provided expensive tourbillons embellished with baguette-cut diamonds retailing for as a lot as 140,000 euros.
“The yr 2009 modified the panorama, and particularly style manufacturers misplaced a few of their attraction on customers when it got here to watches, in mild of the financial disaster,” he stated. “Now this development is flipping once more and we see rising demand for mechanical self-winding actions and diamond-bearing designs. The market is consistently evolving and it’s changing into simpler to promote costly watches moderately than entry-price types, so within the upcoming months and years we’ll financial institution on pricier objects in our collections.”
After inking a licensing deal in 2019, Missoni continues to be on a studying curve.
“It’s a model with enormous potential however nonetheless underdeveloped,” Marai stated. “There’s nearly all the time proportionality between the model’s and the watch enterprise’ sizes,” he added, noting how the Missoni model’s revamp has but to deal with essential pillars, equivalent to distribution. The watch enterprise has “kicked off and the collections have a very good sellout, however market enlargement continues to be a piece in progress,” he stated, declaring that Europe and the Center East account for 2 thirds of the model’s watch gross sales, adopted by the U.S.
Though no deal is on the short-term horizon for the posh division, the chief stated the corporate is actively monitoring the style panorama and interesting in conversations with potential companions.
“That’s the way you guarantee long-term survival for the corporate. We do obtain requests each month for partnerships, collaborations and licensing offers, however we’re very cautious,” he stated. “Fairly often these are manufacturers with no watch enterprise and are laborious to contemplate, after which our number-two precedence for us is that manufacturers have worldwide attraction.”
The division, Marai stated, is anticipated to publish a 22 % acquire in revenues this yr in comparison with 2022 on a comparable foundation, which incorporates offsetting the affect of the tip of the Versus license, the now-defunct Versace sister model, final July.
The portfolio is now centered on the core style partnerships. In 2019 the division introduced again the Vincent Bérard luxurious watch model, one which it had acquired in 2005, shuttered in 2010 and resurrected 4 years in the past with a sustainable ethos. The model has since once more been paused however the government stated it’s not been shuttered completely.
To make certain, the model’s sustainability credentials transcended the green-focused label. The Timex Group has made strides in enhancing its enterprise mannequin, embedding eco-friendly supplies, together with recycled PET, in about 85 % of its merchandise in the newest spring 2024 assortment; lowering 45 % of plastic use from its packaging, and streamlining vitality and water provide. It has additionally arrange a Sustainability Steering Committee that’s answerable for making strategic selections, and dealing teams answerable for implementing sustainable practices throughout operations.
The U.S.-based Timex Group offered a majority 65 % stake in late 2020 to Boston-based funding agency The Baupost Group LLC.
