Friday, June 09, 2006
Are Wristwatches Being Phased Out?
Are Wristwatches Being Phased Out?
The LA Times has an interesting article on the future of watches. With cell phones, iPods and computers all telling time do we still need wristwatches? The results of sales data seem to indicate that for the most part cheaper watches are the ones that are most likely to be phased out. Digital watches in particular no longer sell well and for the youth the watch can sometimes seem an antiquated gadget. Last year, the number of people who bought non-luxury watches dropped 12% from 2004, according to a market research group. The runaway favorite brand for teens, A consumer tracking group did find that the number of people buying watches that cost more than $1,000 dropped only 2% last year.
Is the watch being phased out? It's an interesting topic in light of the fact that the big watch and jewelry shows, Baselworld and SIHH just took place. A record 94,200 visitors (up 5% from last year) recently attended BaselWorld 2006, an eight-day watch and jewelry exhibition and 13,000 showed up at SIHH. It seems that the future of the watch industry lies in the watches that are prized for more than just telling time but instead offer status (through recognizable brands), craftsmanship (tourbillons and watches with many complications) or the chance to accessorize with a noticeable and showy piece of jewelry. I think this is why the prestige watchmakers have been making case sizes larger and larger. For the watch collector or aficionado replacing a watch with a cell phone ins unthinkable.
The LA Times has an interesting article on the future of watches. With cell phones, iPods and computers all telling time do we still need wristwatches? The results of sales data seem to indicate that for the most part cheaper watches are the ones that are most likely to be phased out. Digital watches in particular no longer sell well and for the youth the watch can sometimes seem an antiquated gadget. Last year, the number of people who bought non-luxury watches dropped 12% from 2004, according to a market research group. The runaway favorite brand for teens, A consumer tracking group did find that the number of people buying watches that cost more than $1,000 dropped only 2% last year.Is the watch being phased out? It's an interesting topic in light of the fact that the big watch and jewelry shows, Baselworld and SIHH just took place. A record 94,200 visitors (up 5% from last year) recently attended BaselWorld 2006, an eight-day watch and jewelry exhibition and 13,000 showed up at SIHH. It seems that the future of the watch industry lies in the watches that are prized for more than just telling time but instead offer status (through recognizable brands), craftsmanship (tourbillons and watches with many complications) or the chance to accessorize with a noticeable and showy piece of jewelry. I think this is why the prestige watchmakers have been making case sizes larger and larger. For the watch collector or aficionado replacing a watch with a cell phone ins unthinkable.
# posted by milu @ 5:49 AM 
