Good timing: men's watches
2.8 k views | By Stuart Braun
Men’s watch lines are inundating a market in which the timepiece is a versatile fashion accessory for every occasion. STUART BRAUN reports.
In recent years, the rise of the fashion watch has allowed contemporary male consumers to employ different timepieces for different occasions, thereby satisfying their penchants for style, quality and brand identity. “A watch is a man’s single most important accessory, and men should therefore have a different watch for each occasion,” enthuses Larry Bolt of fashion watch brand Ice-Watch.
Like their European counterparts, Australian men are starting to embrace an assortment of lifestyle watches; however, the trick for retailers will be to second-guess the next trend as eager watch brands flood a hyper-competitive market with ever-evolving styles and technologies.
“Australian men are purchasing fashion brand watches over Swiss brands as it allows them to wear fashionable product at an affordable price,” notes Olivia Bramble of Guess, Maxum and Timex distributor Designa Accessories.
Indeed, Designa is typical of a slew of distributors selling branded watch lines from some of the biggest fashion labels in the business. “Branding is the greatest differentiator,” Bolt argues. “One needs to connect with their target market to both create and maintain market presence.”
Indeed, Ice-Watch exhibits the affordability and hype to make it a favourite among upcoming buyer demographics exposed to the global fashion matrix – men’s magazines have been quick to splash this hip accessory over its glossy pages in a bid to attract a new generation of male watch consumers to this relatively new brand that was launched in 2007.
John Papaioannou, founder of Melbourne international watch distributor Time Essentials, notes that successful fashion branding also inspires upper-scale men’s watch sales. “Police is a good example – it has been growing at over 80 per cent in the past year, despite the Global Financial Crisis and its price tag is around double that of the ‘mass’ fashion brands.”
Papaioannou, who set up Time Essentials after heading Tag Heuer in Australia, says Police “appeals to the urban male who has a very clear view of their place in the world, is confident and prepared to make a statement with their watch and other accessories.” The continuing popularity of well-known luxury watch brands such as Police is perhaps helped by the “play-it-safe” mindset of post-GFC consumers. Eric van der Griend, founder of prestigious timepiece retailer Watches of Switzerland, says that men in 2010 favour a more conservative look, choosing recognisable names over some of the obscure, complicated brands that have previously flourished. “The heritage values of mechanical brands is also important, with functionality taking precedence over the more complicated movements of the past few years,” says van der Griend.
Good timing
One of the most difficult aspects of stocking watches is the giant wave of styles that confronts retailers with each new season.
This raises the question of whether Australian men are ready to embrace such high-fashion styles, when they have traditionally been consumers of robust and versatile timepieces designed for the outdoors. Designa Accessories is one supplier who, via Bramble, believes that retro styling and designs are also tipped to make a comeback in the later part of this year.
“The average Australian guy is still quite casual, and I think the trend in watches in the Australian market often reflects this,” she says. “Cuffs, for example, continue to perform well in distressed black and brown leathers, as this relaxed look sits well with denim jeans and casual wear, while gun metal will be an emerging trend for gents watches and will be launched in the Guess men’s range in August.”
Other established brands in Australia are also due to continue recognising this longstanding watch trend, like Seiko.
“Sports and functionality remain a constant. For instance, the need for water resistance measures of five to ten bar in Australia is stronger than in Europe,” argues Stuart Smith, group marketing manager, Seiko Australia.
Police
“There are still more sports watches sold than dress watches,” Smith continues, “but the styling of sports needs dress characteristics – a watch for all occasions.”
Indeed, retailer John Whitaker of Whitakers has found that when customers buy watches, they want flexibility. “Different types of guys do it differently,” he says, “some men will have a certain watch that they wear casually, and then they also own a dress watch – while others want it all in one watch.”
As ever, alarm chronographs and kinetic calibres are the mainstays of the popular, high-performance, Seiko watch lines for men. “The preferred design executions are in two-tone and steel with bracelet,” Smith says, affirming long-running preferences for steel bracelets in the local men’s timepiece market.
Bramble confirms that Australian men still seek a watch that can accommodate the demands of their environment – including water and scratch resistance, while still incorporating the chronograph and multi-functioning. “Australian brands such as Maxum continue to have a surf inspired approach,” she says.
Time Essentials is another supplier that typically distributes brands that combine sporty features with fashion branding, and its catalogue includes JAG Watches, Fiorelli, Bulova watches and, as mentioned, Police.
“The biggest story for us this year is the launch of the comprehensive Bulova range of quartz and mechanical watches,” notes Papaioannou of the seminal global watch brand that has maintained innovation and classic styling for over a century. The range will include the worldwide launch of what is claimed to be the most accurate quartz watch in the world – the Precisionist features a sweep second-hand and is due to be launched around September/October internationally.
Time Essentials is already promoting the launch of the new Bulova range of watches, giving customers a sneak preview of the Precisionist while equally celebrating 50 years since Bulova introduced the biggest change to timekeeping with the launch of Accutron, the world’s first completely electronic watch.
Other established mid-range brands that traditionally focus upon technological innovation are now introducing hints of style to products intending to offer consumers that perfect balance of functionality and fashion.
“Citizen will be introducing a new range of titanium models that have the added benefit of Citizen’s IP technology,” notes Elise Mah Chut, brand manager, Citizen Watches Australia. The new line combines lightweight titanium with Citizen’s ion-plating technology to further harden the watch surface and make it more scratch resistant.
Skagen continues to keep its focus on ultra-slim cased profiles. Managing director Nils Rasmussen says: “The inclusion of materials such as titanium and carbon fibre, and the continuing use of hypoallergenic stainless steel, will be reflected in our new Performance Driven campaign, which is due to launch in August.”
The appeal of such robust features and innovations for Australian men has been further utilised in local fashion watches from the likes of JAG, distributed by Time Essentials. “With JAG men’s watches, the best sellers are the 100m stainless steel with either a multifunction or chronograph movement,” notes Papaioannou. “In Police, we see a lot more of the detailed dials, cases and bracelets, with very rugged styling working exceptionally well.”
Another innovation due to hit the Australian watch market soon is a fashion-forward touch screen watch from Kenneth Cole, distributed by GDL Accessories. Director Matt Campbell says: “We’re really excited about this – it’s not often that a new technology of this level comes along in fashion watches.” The watch also includes world time and chronograph.
Substance and Style
While sporty and casual watch styling remain popular with Australian male consumers, Euro fashion designs are becoming more and more prevalent on the wrists of local lads, notes Bramble. “A brand such as Marc Ecko is definitely being purchased as a fashion accessory and has moved far away from the norm of Australian men purchasing sports inspired watches,” she says. “Iconic for the use of bling, oversize cases and extensive detail, brands such as Marc Ecko are definitely offering statement fashion watches.”
Bulova
Gautam Sharma, country manager for watch and accessory distributor Fossil Australia, adds fuel to the notion that Australian men are starting to choose style over substance, saying, “We continue to see great sales in our watches that are sports-inspired but, over the past three or four years, we have seen a strengthening of timepieces that may be viewed as more European in styling. The Australian male has evolved to become a consumer who understands how to utilise fashion in expressing personality, and a watch is the most accessible fashion accessory male consumers can tap into when expressing themselves.”
Fossil has witnessed continuing growth in timepiece collections made under license from fashion brands like Burberry and Emporio Armani. “Their styling, design and price point allow the Australian male consumer to tap into the luxury category, express and showcase the latest fashion trends, and be secure in the knowledge that they are purchasing a quality timepiece from brands that are recognised as fashion leaders globally,” Sharma says.
Ice-Watch, meanwhile, continues to make inroads with its best-selling Silicone Collection, offering distinctive fashion watches in ten different colours and three sizes. “This creates a fun, fashionable, sporty and quality timepiece,” Bolt says, adding, “and it allows customers to collect the range and own multiple watches to suit their lifestyle.”
Inspiring consumers to own multiple watches is, of course, the key to the retail equation. Ice-Watch represents an ongoing revolution in watch marketing and design that began with Swatch in the 1980s when the Swiss watch company created arguably the first ”fashion watch” to resurrect an ailing empire then dominated by Japanese quartz technology. Like Swatch, Ice-Watch is bent on innovation. “The Chronograph range offers a traditional chrono with an Ice-Watch twist,” Bolt says. “Sleek, sporty and stylish, it provides men with a quality and substantial timepiece at an accessible price point.”
Amid such hectic competition for the emerging men’s watch niche, quality and stylish timepieces are consistently retailing within affordable pricepoints, and selling fast.
“Guess men’s leather cuff watches continue to perform extremely well, as they are casual yet fashionable and great prices.” Bramble says, promising that every product in the Maxum range will fall within this affordable range as of August 1.
Though fashion watch labels like Guess, Emporio Armani and Nina Ricci represent a mass-market fashion watch that cannot claim the prestige of luxury Swiss watch brands like Rolex or Tag Heuer, they are nonetheless reinvigorating the middle segment of the market by offering innovation and style at a fraction of the cost.
Indeed, this segment might need to be further embraced by retailers who are set to lose out as top-end watch brands like Tag Heuer move to open their own flagship stores, closing the accounts of potential competitors in the process.
The Fossil concept itself, representing what it calls “a unique kind of inspired creativity” and “the concept of accessible cool”, was founded in 1984 in America to transform the “concept of timekeeping from the merely functional to chic and stylish must-haves for the wrist,” according to the company’s own marketing material.
This hugely successful fashion watch retailing concept symbolises the key area for expansion in the Australian men’s watch market, showing how retailers can combine functionality with seasonal style and sprinklings of brand identity to keep up with the times.
Posted August 01, 2010