India is a future market of potential for luxury watch brand Jaquet Droz considering its cultural heritage and propensity to grow, CEO Alain Delamuraz told ET in an interview.
Founded in 1738, and once a supplier to multiple royal and imperial courts across Europe and Asia, under Delamuraz, the luxury brand, a part of the Swatch Group’s portfolio, has done away with distribution, boutiques and retailers. The 160 points of sale, multi-brand retailers, and single-brand boutiques have been replaced by a single sales location in La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland, favouring direct contact between artisans, artists and collectors.Each piece is created by and for a specific collector, and these exclusive pieces are delivered in person during an unboxing ceremony in the presence of Delamuraz. Jaquet Droz creates less than 100 pieces a year and does not sell anything less than 100,000 Euros.
“We don’t have the same approach and concepts like other brands. We don’t have new launches or any points of sales. We are doing only unique pieces of art as per the needs of the customers and collectors,” said Delamuraz. “We are in India to meet the collectors, and to develop personal contacts between the CEO, artists and the final customers. We need to understand the culture of a country, to be able to produce pieces of art that are in sync with the culture. We are convinced that Indians will be able to appreciate our pieces and will be happy to have a unique piece of art on their wrist,” he added.Competition has been intensifying in the luxury watch space in India. Ulysse Nardin opened its first flagship boutique in India this month and Franck Muller is planning to foray into branded residences. Swiss watch exports to India rose to 128.3 million Swiss francs between January and June this year, up 12.7 per cent over 2024, as per data released by the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry. In contrast, shipments to Japan, China, Hong Kong and Singapore fell 3.2 per cent , 18.7 per cent , 13.3 per cent and 3.7 per cent . To be sure, India’s robust growth came on a much smaller base than the other markets.Talking of reports of a slowdown in the global luxury watch industry, Delamuraz, who has worked in the watch industry for over two decades, said the industry is strong enough to withstand the storm and keep floating.
“Post the Covid-19 pandemic, disparity has gone up. We see more and more people with a lot of money and unfortunately, more people without enough money,” he said. “The final customer is a person who is in a position to appreciate and assess the real value of the piece of art. This has increased the average prices of our pieces,” he added.
